PASCAL Platinum 6th Edition

ChemistryMakeupHow many women would take out their chemistry set and whipup their own make up? Well the answer is none. Most womendo not know the chemistry behind all that stuff they put ontheir face, called ‘make up’.Have women ever wondered what goes into the most populartype of makeup, lipstick? Half the weight of the product isaccounted for by a thick, insoluble mixture of waxes and castorbean oil that will not dissolve when a woman licks her lips ordrinks a beverage. A lipstick base must balance the propertiesof the oil ingredients with those of wax. The oil in the lipstickmakes it thick and sticky, so that the colour sticks to the lips.The waxes become fluid only when stirred, so that the lipstick retains its shape and doesn't smear or melt inheat. Another key ingredient to lipstick is esters which are formed when reacting alcohols with acids. Esters areadded to make the dull colour of the lipstick shine and appear more attractive also the addition of esters helpthe lipstick be applied on the lips with more ease.Also mascara relies on relatively heavy bases in particular paraffin and carnauba palm wax, not only to keeplash-darkening pigments stuck to the eyelashes through water and tears, but also to thicken and separate thelashes.On the contrary makeup products such as eye shadow, blush, and other powdery products are made by usinglighter bases like; mineral oil, because they aren't constantly under attacked by makeup-dissolving liquids.William Ehrhartsmann, 6AWhy is Organic Chemistry Important in Our Life?Organic chemistry is the study of compounds of carbon. The nameorganic goes back to a much earlier time in history when chemiststhought that chemical compounds in living organisms werefundamentally different from those that occur in non-living things.The belief was that the chemicals that could be extracted from orthat were produced by living organisms had a special “breath oflife” given to them by some supernatural being. Therefore, thechemical compounds associated with living organisms were giventhe name organic to emphasize their connection with life.Beyond our bodies’ DNA, peptides, proteins and enzymes, organic compounds areall around us. They are found in the clothes we wear (wool, cotton, leather,synthetics), the commodities we use (wood, plastics) and the sources of energywe use everyday (petroleum, natural gas, coal). Moreover they are used inindustries such as the rubber, plastics, fuel, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergent,coatings, dyestuffs and agrichemicals industries. In fact, the very foundations ofbiochemistry, biotechnology and medicine are built on organic compounds andtheir role is in life processes while most of all of the modern, high tech materialsare composed of organic compounds.Andreas Soteriou & Ioanna Zachariadou, 5A24PASCAL Platinum6th Edition