After a month or two of working on it, we have revamped the Midwest SCC website. The previous version was excellently handled by our former webmaster but his departure gave us an opportunity to revisit the site and make some tweaks that will help with community building.

It’s my hope that this new website becomes a model for how all the websites throughout the chapter can be revised. We will begin posting content from the meetings and solicit comments . Ideally, the website will become a place where chapter members will interact and swap information about cosmetic science in the Midwest.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

Midwest SCC website

Today, I went to the Midwest SCC Technical Symposium and was pretty impressed with the event. The talks were nicely done (no awful slides) and the topics were really engaging. Of course, I might be biased because I did give one of the talks but I thought overall, the talks were better than most events that I’ve attended. A great job all-around.

Cosmetic science topics

The topics included

Formulating Products for the Growing Ethnic Skin and Hair Care Markets
Eunice Cofie, president and chief cosmetic chemist at Nuekie

I did not realize ethnic hair care was a $1.2 billion industry.
Also learned about http://Houseofmikko.com which is a great place for seeing what consumers care about.

Designing Devices for Better Skin Care Efficacy
Robb Akridge, PhD, co-founder and VP of clinical affairs for Clarisonic

An interesting story about the development of the Clarisonic skin device.
Came from the people that worked on the Sonicare toothbrush
A good summary of the product development process

Choosing Successful Fragrance for Personal Care
Jill Costa, PhD, chief perfumer at Bell Flavors and Fragrances

Learned lots about fragrance for example, why vanilla fragrance works better from candles than citrus

Specks and Flecks, Lumps and Bumps–Identifying What Shouldn’t Be There
Kathleen Martin, Research Scientist/Spectroscopist for McCrone Associates

Ever wonder what those little unknown bits are in your products?  Kathleen does. She looks at these things using a microscope and figures out what they are.  Usually bug parts, paint chips, or pieces of dirt.

Interpreting the FDA’s Final Rule for Sunscreen Formulation
Farah Ahmed, Chair of the Personal Care Product Council’s Sunscreen Task Force

Pretty good summary of the new proposed rules.

Internet Research in Personal Care Formulating
Perry Romanowski, Brains Publishing

This was my talk on how a cosmetic chemist can best use the Internet for doing their job.

I especially liked the student posters.  This was the first time we had posters at an event like this and it is encouraging to me to see new people come into the industry.

Networking

In addition to the talks and posters, I enjoyed catching up with so many cool people in the industry.  I’ve known most of the people in the Midwest SCC chapter for more than 10 years and it is always fun to swap stories.  One of the biggest companies here is shutting down and lots of people are losing their jobs so there was plenty of talk about what people are going to do.

Overall, a great event! If you get a chance to go to one of these in the future you must do it.

Incidentally, if you are on Twitter you can get our complete reporting of the event by searching the hashtag #midwestscc.

The Society of Cosmetic Chemists is probably the best organization for any cosmetic chemist to join.  It connects you with cosmetic chemists around your area, around the country and even around the world.  There are scientific conferences, a bimonthly journal of cosmetic science (peer reviewed research) and a host of chapter events every month.

Also, if you are looking for a job there are often jobs posted in the various SCC chapter newsletters.

SCC Chapters around the country

Here is a list of all the chapters for the SCC around the country including 2 in Canada.  If you are not sure which chapter you belong to click on the map (to enlarge it) then click on your area of the country.  You’ll be taken to the correct website.

Here is a list of all the website included on the map.
California Chapter
Carolina Chapter
Connecticut Chapter
Florida Chapter
Intermountain West Chapter
Lake Erie Chapter
Long Island Chapter
Mid-Atlantic Chapter
Midwest Chapter
New England Chapter
New York Chapter
Ohio Valley Chapter
Ontario Chapter
Quebec Chapter
Southeast Chapter
Southwest Chapter
St. Louis Chapter
Twin Cities Chapter

National Chapter

Maybe in a future post we’ll put a map of the entire world and connect to all the IFSCC websites.

The SCC Midyear meeting is fast approaching. It’s scheduled for June 3-4 in Long Island, NY. It’s an excellent meeting for any cosmetic chemist to attend but if you are on the fence as to whether attend or not, here are a few reasons that might help convince you to attend.

Reasons to attend the mid year SCC meeting

1. Go for the talks. The line-up of speakers that have been arranged is top notch. They include people speaking on such topics as

• a. Green Chemistry – Sustainability, Natural formulations, etc.
• b. Hair formulation – Including a talk by Dr. Marsh who leads the industry in colored hair research.
• c. Formulating – Focusing on consumers, lip gloss and other makeup products
• d. Dermatology & Cosmetology – Speakers include Dr. Zoe Draelos, Dr. Vince Gruber, and other skin care researchers.

2. Go for the courses. Of course, you may want to just attend to go to the continuing education courses like the mini breakfast seminars on topics like sunscreen stability, skincare research, and color use in cosmetics. Then there is the Beginning Cosmetic Chemistry course taught by yours truly and a Formulating for naturals by Art Georgalas.

3. Go for the new ideas. If you are feeling like you’re in a rut as a formulator a meeting like this can do wonders for shaking up your brain. I get no less than a dozen good ideas while attending SCC mid-year meetings.

4. Go for the networking. It’s an excellent opportunity to meet and speak with cosmetic scientists around the country. See how they might be doing things different than you.

5. Go for the location. The meeting is just a short distance from Manhattan. If you’ve never visited New York City, well, that itself is a good enough reason to attend.

BONUS: Meet some of the people behind the Chemists Corner website and podcast. I’ll be there and there is also a chance that the coolest cosmetic chemist will also attend.

If you want to attend, just fill out this form and forward it to the National SCC office.

Are you attending the Mid-year SCC meeting? Why or why not? Leave a comment below.

On Friday afternoon, I walked out of the New York Hilton and waved down a cab. The drive got out of his taxi and I said, “Can I get a ride to LaGuardia?” “Sure,” he says as he went back to his car to open the trunk.

Just then a man and his wife asked if I wanted to share the cab. They were going to the airport too. I momentarily hesitated, then said, “Alright.”

The entire cab ride we discussed the SCC meeting, the posters, the talks, and different ideas for beauty products. It turns out he was a dermatologist from Florida who attends SCC meetings to inspire new ideas. We had a great talk. When we finally got to the airport, I was happy to have shared the cab. It also occurred to me that this one ride illustrated some of best reasons to attend a National SCC meeting. Here are the 5 best.

5 Reasons You Should Attend a National SCC Meeting

1. Best talks about the latest science in our industry.

This year’s meeting featured over 35 presentations about skin, hair, testing methods, sustainability, and fundamentals of polymer/surfactant delivery systems. It featured many of the industry’s biggest and best speakers including Dr. Manuel Gamez-Garcia, Dr. Robert Lochead, Dr. Yash Kamath, and Dr. James Gruber. Even the famous dermatologist Dr. Zoe Draelos presented. It was the best line-up seen at any industry meeting in years and attendees learned a ton of new stuff. The Chicago mid-year meeting promises to attract equally impressive speakers, so mark down June 4 & 5 now. As an added bonus, your hotel in Chicago won’t cost nearly as much as in New York.

2. Information about over 100 new raw material product offerings

If you’re from a small company you’ll rarely get proper attention from big raw material suppliers, missing out on their latest technologies. And at big companies, you probably don’t take meetings with small raw material suppliers, so you might have missed some unique, little-known technologies. At the National SCC meeting, you can over come both of those problems. In the poster session you can find all types of new and interesting technologies. If you can’t get a new idea here, you just aren’t trying. At the very least, you should be able to get an invite to one of the hospitality suites for drinks and food later.

3. Meet more friendly cosmetic chemists than anywhere on the planet

While you may meet a few new people at your local meeting, that’s nothing compared to the number of fellow cosmetic chemists you can meet at a national event. Attendance this year was well over 1100 people and the majority of them are cosmetic scientists. You can find out all sorts of useful information like how things work at other companies, what techniques they use to develop products, and maybe even learn what new approaches to solving problems. Making friends throughout the industry is great for your career.

4. Inspire new ideas

Perhaps the best reason to go to a National SCC meeting is that you will come back brimming with ideas. It might be from a talk you heard, a poster session you attended, or even a conversation over a couple of beers at the hotel bar. Just remember to write them down and follow-up when you get back home. I came up with 15 new ideas that will directly help my business.

5. Help other people get what they want.

If you want to sell something, get something, or just develop more friendships, there is no better way than to figure out what people want and give it to them. The National SCC meeting provides an excellent opportunity to meet people and discover what they want. You can then spend time figuring out how to help. If you’re sincere and offer real solutions, they’ll be inclined to help you when you need it.

The National SCC meeting is a special event that can have a significant impact on your chemist career if you let it. If you only get to attend one meeting a year, this is certainly one you should consider.

Were you at the SCC meeting in New York this year?  Leave a comment and let eveyone know what you thought.