Beyond the Broomstick: Examining the Wicked Witch's Powers and Abilities

The Wicked Witch of the West is a character from the famous children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" written by L. Frank Baum. She is one of the primary antagonists in the story and is known for her malevolent and wicked nature. The Wicked Witch of the West is introduced to the readers as the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, who was killed when Dorothy's house landed on her. Enraged by her sister's death, the Wicked Witch of the West seeks revenge on Dorothy and her companions. She possesses incredible powers and is known for her ability to use dark magic to achieve her goals.

Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.

As for hair care, it is a non-volatile silicone meaning that it stays on the hair rather than evaporates from it and smoothes the hair like no other thing. A light-feeling, volatile meaning it does not absorb into the skin but evaporates from it silicone that gives skin a unique, silky and non-greasy feel.

She possesses incredible powers and is known for her ability to use dark magic to achieve her goals. Throughout the story, the Wicked Witch of the West creates numerous obstacles for Dorothy and attempts to steal her silver slippers, which possess immense power. She sends her minions, such as the winged monkeys, to capture Dorothy and her friends.

Magic skin beautifier bb cream roles

Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.

It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.

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Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.

One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.

A clear, colorless and odorless, highly volatile (meaning it does not absorb into the skin but evaporates from it) liquid that's used as an emollient. It gives a nice non-oily light skin feel and it can improve the slip of the formula without leaving a tacky residue behind.

It's also popular in make-up products as its volatility makes mascaras and foundations last longer. If that would not be enough, it's also an excellent solvent, and it's a regular not only on the ingredients lists of make-ups but also on makeup removers.

A super commonly used 5 unit long, cyclic structured silicone that is water-thin and does not stay on the skin but evaporates from it (called volatile silicone). Similar to other silicones, it gives skin and hair a silky, smooth feel.

It's often combined with the non-volatile (i.e. stays on the skin) dimethicone as the two together form a water-resistant, breathable protective barrier on the skin without a negative tacky feel.

Also-called: Glycerol | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

• A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
• A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
• Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
• Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
• High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin

A light-feeling, volatile (meaning it does not absorb into the skin but evaporates from it) silicone that gives skin a unique, silky and non-greasy feel. It has excellent spreading properties and leaves no oily residue or build-up.

A silicone emulsifier that helps water and silicone oils to mix nicely together. It can also be used together with plant oil + silicone oil mixtures.

Porous spherical microbeads (tiny little balls) that can give an elegant silky texture to the products. They are also used to scatter light to reduce the look of fine lines on the skin, as well as to absorb excess oil and give a matt finish.

Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.

BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin.

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It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive.

Probably the most common silicone of all. It is a polymer (created from repeating subunits) molecule and has different molecular weight and thus different viscosity versions from water-light to thick liquid.

As for skincare, it makes the skin silky smooth, creates a subtle gloss and forms a protective barrier (aka occlusive). Also, works well to fill in fine lines and wrinkles and give skin a plump look (of course that is only temporary, but still, it's nice). There are also scar treatment gels out there using dimethicone as their base ingredient. It helps to soften scars and increase their elasticity.

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As for hair care, it is a non-volatile silicone meaning that it stays on the hair rather than evaporates from it and smoothes the hair like no other thing. Depending on your hair type, it can be a bit difficult to wash out and might cause some build-up (btw, this is not true to all silicones, only the non-volatile types).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

An organic derivative of hectorite clay, Disteardimonium Hectorite is used as a viscosity controller - it thickens up formulations to make them less runny.

It’s most popular use in cosmetics is in sunscreens, under the trademarked name Bentone 38 from Elementis. According to the manufacturer info, it is a real multi-tasker, including the ability to prevent pigments settling during storage, stabilizing a formula for longer, creating a light and smooth skin feel and enhancing the water-resistance of sunscreen formulas.

Boron Nitride is a graphite-like, crystalline material that has light-diffusing and texture improving properties. It is quite the multi-tasker as it can blur imperfections, add an exceptional creamy feel to products and act as a mattifying agent.

In powder makeup products (think blushers, highlighters), it enhances the skin feel and improves the color pay-off. In lipsticks, it gives a creamy feel and a better color on the lips.

It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.

It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.

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Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).

It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.

A silicone emulsifier that helps water and silicone oils to mix nicely together.

Sodium chloride is the fancy name of salt. Normal, everyday table salt.

If (similar to us) you are in the weird habit of reading the label on your shower gel while taking a shower, you might have noticed that sodium chloride is almost always on the ingredient list. The reason for this is that salt acts as a fantastic thickener in cleansing formulas created with ionic cleansing agents (aka surfactants) such as Sodium Laureth Sulfate. A couple of percents (typically 1-3%) turns a runny surfactant solution into a nice gel texture.

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If you are into chemistry (if not, we understand, just skip this paragraph), the reason is that electrolytes (you know, the Na+ and Cl- ions) screen the electrostatic repulsion between the head groups of ionic surfactants and thus support the formation of long shaped micelles (instead of spherical ones) that entangle like spaghetti, and viola, a gel is formed. However, too much of it causes the phenomenon called "salting out", and the surfactant solution goes runny again.

Other than that, salt also works as an emulsion stabilizer in water-in-oil emulsions, that is when water droplets are dispersed in the outer oil (or silicone) phase. And last but not least, when salt is right at the first spot of the ingredient list (and is not dissolved), the product is usually a body scrub where salt is the physical exfoliating agent.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

An organic derivative of hectorite clay, Disteardimonium Hectorite is used as a viscosity controller - it thickens up formulations to make them less runny.

The witch's ultimate desire is to regain the silver slippers so she can use their power to rule over the Land of Oz. Despite her evil nature, the Wicked Witch of the West is not entirely invincible. She is vulnerable to water, which causes her to melt away. This weakness comes into play during the climax of the story when Dorothy accidentally throws a bucket of water on the witch, causing her to melt into nothingness. The character of the Wicked Witch of the West has become an iconic figure in popular culture. She is often depicted as a green-skinned woman wearing a pointed hat and riding a broomstick. Her appearance and reputation have made her a symbol of evil witches in many adaptations of the Oz series. In conclusion, the Wicked Witch of the West is a central antagonist in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." She is known for her wickedness, dark magic, and her desire to obtain Dorothy's silver slippers. Despite her powers, she is weak against water, which ultimately leads to her downfall. Her character has become an enduring symbol of evil witches in popular culture..

Reviews for "Breaking the Curse: The Wicked Witch's Tragic Backstory"

1. Jane - 2/5 - I was really disappointed with "Wicked Witch of the West Oz". I found the plot to be confusing and poorly executed. It was hard to understand the motivations of the characters and the story seemed to jump around without any clear direction. The writing style was also quite dull and lacked any real depth. Overall, I didn't enjoy this book and wouldn't recommend it to others.

2. Mark - 1/5 - "Wicked Witch of the West Oz" was a complete waste of time for me. The writing was repetitive and the characters were one-dimensional. I didn't feel any emotional connection to the story and found myself skimming through pages just to finish it. The author tried to create a unique twist on a classic tale, but it fell flat in my opinion. Save yourself the trouble and skip this book.

3. Emily - 2/5 - I had high hopes for "Wicked Witch of the West Oz", but it failed to live up to my expectations. The pacing was slow and the story dragged on unnecessarily. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, making it hard for me to fully engage with the characters. There were also several plot holes that left me feeling unsatisfied. Overall, I was left feeling underwhelmed by this book and wouldn't recommend it to others.

4. David - 2/5 - "Wicked Witch of the West Oz" was not what I expected. The narrative was disjointed and the pacing was off, making it difficult to follow the story. I also found the characters to be poorly developed and lacked depth. The ideas behind the book were interesting, but the execution fell short. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book to fans of the original Wizard of Oz series.

From Page to Screen: The Witches of Oz in Film Adaptations