Mid Brain and Sarah keep bugging us about doing a Beauty Brains podcast.  I'm a little skeptical but if they want to take it on as an experiment, that's fine with us.

But if they are going to do it, I told them we should first get some input from the Beauty Brains community. 

Here are a few questions you can answer to help them in their new Podcast "experiment"

1.  How long do you think the show should be?

2.  What topics should be covered most? (skin, hair, make-up, beauty news, brains questions, etc.)

3.  How often should there be a new episode?

4.  What do you think of the idea (good, bad, or apathetic)?

Thanks for all your feedback and participation in this forum.  Reading your discussions (and commenting when I can) is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Ah, I’m ecstatic! That is a wonderful idea!

1. I would recommend a 30 minute show for the first 2-3 podcasts. As you gain more subscribers (along with letters, callers ect.), you can increase it to 1-2 hours.

2. Topics (ranked from most curious to least)
-Science of Beauty (product formulation, placebo control, stability of formulas, fillers)
-Beauty News and Developments (what’s so special about pentapeptides? penta= 5. peptides=chain of amino acids. How is a chain of 5 amino acids better than a chain 4 or 6? What’s wrong with tetrapeptides? Is it because pentapeptides has 3 Ps and more fun to say? )
-Makeup (are long lasting formulas harmful? Do powders/bronzer with SPF expire?)
-Marketing (Isn’t it misleading for the models to wear false eyelashes for mascara ads?! Why do you even need the model? Just use a blow up Barbie doll-at least its eyelashes were there from the beginning, Regulation of claims in the US)
-Beauty Truths and Myths (how effective are multi-functional products? How much foundation do I need to put on to achieve the SPF rating? Explain importance packaging)
-Hair (hair loss treatments, hair thinning, hair damage)

I think you should have segments (e.g. Hair Affairs, Misleading Marketing, ect.)

You can also devote the last 10 minutes of every podcast to questions from your subscribers. Discussing technical subjects (e.g. ingredients/formulation)
could alienate some of your subscribers. Having a 10 minute Ask-the-Beauty-Brains segment would draw more people in the shows. I would only
recommend this for the first few shows though. When addressing controversial topics like Natural vs. Synthetic ingredients, you’ll receive lots of comments
and criticisms. You should have a segment where you can refute these contentions, especially the ones with the ridiculous claims and evidence.

Once you get a stable audience/number of subscribers, devote an entire show to answering questions at the end of every month.

Guest appearances (e.g. dermatologists, marketers, environmental activists) would be fun too. I’d love for Left Brain to duke it out with Dr. John Louis Sebagh and his “rare French melon extract”.

3.Once a week.

4. I love the idea. In this technological age, information is widely available, so consumer education is definitely increasing.
Unfortunately misinformation is everywhere and it is difficult for the average American to scourge through the rubbish.
Yup, the Beauty Brains Broadcast arrived just on time.

Please add more features to the board. It's a little difficult to organize my thoughts when I can't indent or bold.

I'm apathetic -- I'm not a podcast fan. I like reading more. Minor point: try to have transcripts for deaf/hoh brains.

If I were a podcast type, I'd like the following:

Interviews! Don't just read a post, do something that can only be done best in an audio format. Interviews are great that way. "Today we'll be talking to XYZ, who runs the much loved blgo about blah!" "Today, let's hear from ABC, cosmetic chemist with whoever." "Today, a panel discussion between P, D, and Q." That sort of thing. The type of live, talky stuff that either can't be done in text format or sucks when you try.

Reports from beauty events -- woman-on-the-street type interviews, going around in beauty product tradeshows and talking to sellers, that sort of thing.

Hot topic discussions: "It's all about liquid eyeliner in the magazines today, let's hear how it works and how to use it." For product-specific podcasts, think in terms of Alton Brown talking makeup. How does it work? How can you make it better

Again, I'm not a podcast type in general (partly because I read at work on a text browser), but these types of things could be fun. I think the panel discussion, if done from time to time, could be a real slam-dunk. Fun, and not at ALL something you can do in a text format.

And again, don't forget transcripts. And make them available as MP3 downloads so people can subscribe and put them on their ipods or other mp3 players. URL-blocking streaming stuff bites wax tadpoles.

Other ideas as they occur ...

@LoonyLollipop - We've done a couple of experimental podcast episodes and haven't been happy with the results.  But I still would like to see this happen so stay tuned.

We are going to be answering questions about makeup in the new book, but I don't know if the questions you posed are specifically in there.  I'll be sure to address your question in an upcoming blog post.

thanks

Left Brain