Professor Regan's beauty parlour.

Horizon looks at the issues facing the cosmetics industry. Medicine has to be tested thoroughly, although cosmetics face a strange paradox. If a cosmetic product works too well, it might be classified as a drug - requiring it to pass a far greater number of tests and regulations. Many lotions and potions come with impressive lists of scientific-sounding ingredients. Professor Lesley Regan, an obstetrician, investigates. Firstly she looks at the scientific markers relating to ageing. She looks at her teeth, hair, followed by her skin. Uneven colouring on female skin can be accelerate the appearance of ageing, particularly as a result of sun damage. Professor Regan looks with some cynicism at some of the major face cream brands as marketed by saleswomen in a typical department store. There are no industry standards for the claims on packaging, except for suncream. Professor Regan visits Boots research laboratories and looks at some of their tests. A hair testing laboratory is also visited. To test whether hair conditioners formulated for colour treated hair actually work, she is sent two samples to trial on each side of her head. Later in the programme, anecdotal evidence suggests that the most effective product has been specially formulate for dyed hair. Identical male twins suffering from hair loss receive an effective treatment, which we discover is a licensed medicine - they will, however, have to take it for the rest of their lives. Nobel prize winner, Harry Kroto, describes the science behind C60 which contributed to his joint Nobel prize. Tests for free radicals are carried out in a laboratory. Professor Regan then goes on to report what manufacturers divulge about the results of their creams were in vivo ie. on people. This information is not readily available - in case they are effective enough to be considered as a medicine and then no longer be easily marketed until they have been rigorously tested.