This has been a great year for Chemists Corner and I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project. We’ve got some big things planned in 2012 but before we get there, here is a list of the top 10 highlights of 2011.

1. Complete cosmetic Chemist – First developed in 2010, we teamed up with Allured to make the program even better. It has been satisfying to help introduce people to all they need to know to get started in cosmetic science.

2. Trip to China – I traveled a lot this year and got to talk about cosmetic science. My trip to China to speak at the PCHi show was an excellent experience.

3. Trip to Europe – The inCosmetics event in Italy was also a great experience. I was fun to meet people from around the world who knew me only through this website. It was also great to see all the new technologies in the cosmetic industry. The other part of the trip sent me to Berlin to talk to a pharmaceutical industry group about stability testing. Then I went to the UK and spoke at an SCS event. An incredible experience.

4. Media appearances – This year I did a number of TV appearances. It was all the result of the launch of my book Can You Get Hooked on Lip Balm. TV has its challenges but being on the Rachel Ray show, Dr.Oz, and numerous local news broadcasts was lots of fun.

5. Talks around the country – I was fortunate to be invited to do a number of talks around the country including places such as Connecticut, Long Island, Dallas, San Jose, and Boston. I also spoke at a few events here in Chicago.

6. Cosmetic Science forum – I was very happy about the launch of the cosmetic science forum this year and even more pleased at the quality of discussions that are going on. Thanks so much to all of you who participate! If you want to join the forum just click on the Forum link at the top of this website.

7. Five-minute cosmetic science talks – This was an experiment I tried with our November SCC meeting here in the Midwest. Essentially we had 7 speakers give 5 minute talks about a variety of cosmetic science topics. It worked well and I hope to expand the event in the future. Here is the link for my five minute cosmetic science talk.

8. Podcast – We doubled the number of podcasts that we did this year. The guests have been excellent and so has the feedback. I look forward to recording more next year. We might even get a sponsor!

9. Regular posting – Perhaps the biggest change on this website is that we went to a “post every day” model. Whereas the beginning of the year we posted maybe 5-6 times a month, now we post every day. This has been challenging to continue to generate fresh content but I love the challenge. Hopefully, next year we will have a few more authors who will contribute more articles.

10. Website traffic – One of the most satisfying things for me about this blog is how much traffic growth we’ve seen in 2011. At the start of the year we were getting around 7000 visits a month. In November, we got over 27,000 in a month! I’m proud of those numbers and hope to double them next year.

Thank you so much for your participation in this website. I especially enjoy the comments and questions that you continue to send. This direct contact with cosmetic chemists around the world has really re-invigorated my interest in this subject.

Thank you also to the people who have helped me build this website by providing articles, comments, and ideas. And thank you to Allured for the excellent work you’ve done on the Complete Cosmetic Chemist training program.

Have a great 2012!!

This is an unfortunate story. There has been a big spike in the number of melanoma cases in young women and it has been linked to tanning bed used prior to special events like Prom or Homecoming.

I know the indoor tanning industry says that the product is perfectly fine but this is evidence that it is not. As cosmetic chemists, you will often be asked about all kinds of beauty topics and it makes sense for you to be well versed on a variety of topics. Indoor tanning is one of these topics.

The bottom line is that indoor tanning is not safe and it has been proven to cause melanoma. If someone tells you otherwise just have them look up what the American Academy of Dermatology has to say.

The Internet is an excellent source for information, learning, and research. Unfortunately, it is not nicely organized and it can make you unproductive if you spend too much time trying to find the information. Here is a system I use to keep informed about the latest in cosmetic science using the minimum amount of time. If you follow a similar set-up you will be able to maximize the information you receive while minimizing the time it takes to get it.

Objective

Staying informed of important developments in the cosmetic industry.

Step 1: Create a homepage

The first thing to do is to create a homepage which is the first thing you see when you access the Internet. On the homepage, you’ll want to include only the most relevant information and links. There are many different options but we suggest you use iGoogle as your homepage. It’s easy to set up and best of all, it’s free!

Step 2: Find websites to follow

In the old days you used to have to go to websites to see their new content. Today, the websites will send links to their new content to you. This is much more efficient for you because you will only have to go to a page specifically to see information you want.

So, what sites are the best to follow for a cosmetic chemist? Follow these and you’ll be off to a great start.

List of sites to follow
1. Cosmetic Industry news
Cosmetic World
C&T
GCI
Happi
Perfume and Flavorist
Cosmetic Design EU
Cosmetic Design
Cosmetic Business
Specialchem 4 Cosmetics

2. Beauty Blogs
The Beauty Brains
Total Beauty Blogs
Splendicity
Glam Network beauty blogs
Beauty Blog Network
Alltop Beauty

3. Science sites
Science Daily
Eurekalerts
New Scientist
Science blogs
eScience News

4. Innovation blogs
Innovation Tools
Killer Innovations
Idea Connection
Opine Consulting

And you can find other blogs of interest by using either of these sites.
Technorati
Blog Search

Step 3: Subscribe to relevant websites

The way to follow websites is to click on their RSS feed and add it to your Google Reader page. There are other RSS reader applications but Google is by far the easiest to incorporate into your home page. The RSS is the little button in the address bar that looks like this. (See the top of your browser).

When you click on the orange button it will take you to a page asking if you want to subscribe through your reader or your home page. I suggest adding the website to your reader for most sites. For websites you want to read every day, you should add it to your home page.

Step 4: Scan your feed reader daily

Now that you are subscribed, you should check your feed headlines. Most sites update once a day so checking your feed daily makes sense. This doesn’t mean you have to read every article every day, it just means you should spend some time checking your feed to see if there is some relevant information that will help you do your job better. Checking your feed for 30 min to an hour at the end of the day is a strategy that has been successful for me.

Step 5: Read or tag articles to read later

Just setting up the system is not helpful if you don’t use it. So, when you do your daily check of your feeds be sure to read headlines that you find most relevant. Scanning articles is helpful here too. Another trick is to use bookmarking to tag articles you want to read later.

If you want to be an informed cosmetic scientist who knows the latest happenings in the world of cosmetic science and the cosmetic industry, there is no better way to accomplish this than by following and reading the feeds of relevant websites.

Good luck.