5 Beauty Products that Started as Something Completely Different
By Alexis Farah, Everyday Health
Most of the skin care ingredients on the market are products of years of research and testing by leading cosmetic chemists in labs. But every once in a while, a discovery is made outside the world of physical enhancements that can do wonders for your skin, hair, or lashes.
We reveal the non-traditional back stories behind some of the beauty industry's most iconic - and effective - skin and hair treatments.
1. L'Oréal Paris Advanced Haircare Volume Filler = Windshield Glue
Women with fine hair rely on L'Oreal's Volume Filler collection to plump up their strands for a fuller, thicker look. But the star ingredient in the line, Filloxane, was originally used to mend cracked car windshields. The filling agent bulks up limp hair in the same way it helped mechanics fix auto glass: by injecting gel particles laced with the ingredient in chips and crevices. No wonder the product takes your hair from zero to 60.
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2. Latisse = Medicated Eyedrops
In 2001, patients being treated for intraocular pressure noticed an unusual side effect of the medicated eye drops they were prescribed - their lashes started growing in longer, fuller, and darker. This led Allergan to study the medication's active ingredient, bimatoprost, specifically for growing lashes. Latisse was approved by the FDA in 2008 and has been responsible for fuller fringe around the world, and on celebrity fans like Claire Danes and Martha Stewart, ever since.
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3. Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant = Horse Treatment
Elizabeth Arden's famous Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant has some major horse power behind it. The fix-everything balm was originally used to soothe Arden's famous thoroughbred horses' bruised legs. The petrolatum, beta-hydroxy, and vitamin E concoction was so effective, it was deemed the "8-hour cream" because a client used it to treat her child's skinned knee, which healed in eight hours.
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4. Benefit Benetint = Nipple Blush
Cult-favorite lip-and-check stain Benefit Benetint earned its reputation by delivering the ultimate sexy flush -- but how it originally started may make you blush in a whole different way. In 1977, Benefit founders Jean and Jane Ford were running a makeup store in San Francisco when an exotic dancer came in asking for a long-lasting makeup product that she could put on her nipples to make them more rosy and perky. The sisters crafted the perfect rosy stain, a secret concoction containing steamed rose petals. The potion was so popular they released it to the public later that year. Now, one bottle of Benetint is sold every minute worldwide.
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5. Alterna Bamboo Volume Uplifting Root Blast = Air Duster
You know how when you clean your computer's keyboard with an air duster, it seems to have the power - and sound - of a leaf blower? That direct and effective delivery system was channeled by Alterna in its Bamboo Volume Uplifting Root Blast, a formula meant to take your hair to new heights. The similar-looking bottle makes it easier to coat your roots with the right amount of booster for major volume (without damaging your eardrums).
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This article originally appeared on EverydayHealth.com: 5 Beauty Products That Started as Something Completely Different
