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Why more cosmetic chemists aren’t doing research?
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On another post about wrinkle treatment breakthrus, Louise asked this excellent question which I thought would make a good post because people just starting out in the cosmetic industry might wonder the same thing. Why aren’t cosmetic chemists doing research? The basic premise of this question is that cosmetic products haven’t really changed much over [...]
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Three reasons:
1) Because we're all too damn busy formulating products. Research, particularly published research, takes time that our employers would rather we spend making money for them.
2) When we do conduct research, it is almost always to solve a very specific problem. It is nearly impossible to publish those kinds of results without either revealing proprietary information or being so vague as to be mostly useless. As a result, permission to publish research is rarely forthcoming.
3) Little to no payoff for the chemist. Given that work time has to be spent working, even if we do get permission to share some of the results of research we've done, the preparation of an article for publishing/presentation would have to be done at the least on our own time, and possibly even at home. Even if you're accepted to present a paper at a conference, you still have to pay the full conference fee.
As a result, the majority of non-academic chemists doing research are working for suppliers who are trying to sell ingredients, and only just enough research is done to establish talking/selling points for the salesforce. Why would the any of the rest of us bother to do this?
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Great points Robert!
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Robert, thank you for sharing :)Question for the cosmetic chemist working in a R&D job: what does the 'research' part stand for in this case?
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R&D is just a title given to people who are scientists. They don't really fit anywhere else in the corporation. But most everyone in the cosmetic industry is a Developer not a Researcher.Of course, there are different types of research. For example, non-scientific disciplines like Journalism or History so "research" when they go to different places, read old archives, and do interviews. This is the same kind of "research" that most product developing chemists do.Scientific research is different. This type of research involves finding the answer to a question that hasn't already been discovered. So, if you want to know what is an active ingredient that will make hair grow, you can go through the literature and find studies that have already been done. This is background research but it is not "research" since you are just learning what has already been discovered.Scientific research would be taking various ingredients and testing them on biological surfaces to see if they actually have any effect. Since this is so hit-n-miss, developers have limited time to do this on their jobs.
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I am a Consultant Formulator with several large Private Label accounts. My research is limited for various reasons;
1. I am quite involved with the Manufacturing ramp-up as well. Clients in my arena are quite price concious and ultimately it will come down to cost per unit. This is not conducive to a great deal of research.
2. The majority of my business is in developing similar products to established "standards." The majority of research in this case is researching patents, similar Formulations and raw materials.
Now this does not rule out any R&D entirely. I maintain a strong relationship with my Chemical reps and have had the opportunity to get samples of new raw materials months before most Formulators get to use them. The cost in this case is a great deal of paperwork to formally evaluate the product and it's performance.
Also, in my spare time I identify hot items in the Market and knock them off on my own. This has given me experience with the materials, equipment and procedures. Also, I have a large Formulation library which has paid off. I have been called with a requested product, already had a Formula and gotten a sample out in less than a day. This has paid off in the long run.
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Thanks guys! Actually I would consider testing out different raw materials, doing triangle tests and manufacturing some raw materials as research. What do you think, Perry?Mark, as you run an independent lab (something I'm working on), it's really interesting to hear about your work and experiences. Thank you for sharing :)
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@Eliza - it certainly could be considered research. The thing is that testing out raw materials that already exist probably will not lead to any break-thru products. It will lead to slightly improved products but not a quantum level improvement. That is why the cosmetics of today are only a little bit better than the ones of 30 years ago.Things that could make vast improvements in cosmetics would be things like quantum dot technology, electronic inks, or structured polymers. These things are just too complicated to and not far enough in the development process to be seriously considered in the cosmetic industry. Perhaps in the future but it will take the research of university groups to move the technologies along. Cosmetic companies will not do it.
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Eliza,
I think you will love running an Independent Lab. My biggest frustration in working in Contract Manufacturing was being limited in my access to the client. Marketing hated when the Chemist talked to the client. I even had this issue when I owned half the company!!
Now I deal directly with the client. It has paid off in the fact that I have yet to go past revision 2 with a client. They know what they want, you can discuss and critique it and then make it without having to rely upon a non-Chemist marketing intermediary.
Mark
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Thank you, Perry, I understand. Remember the podcast you did a year ago or so with Johann Wiechers? He is a wonderful example of cosmetic scientific research, but he doesn't do much developing. So maybe it's the one or the other?Also on the campus where I hope to settle there are different ways to exchange results in scientific research and maybe even contribute. There are 3 pathways: Knowledge to Knowledge (mostly between universities like you say), Knowledge to Business (like the researchers want to test the applicability of their work) and Business to Business like between raw material suppliers and developmental cosmetic scientist.It's fascinating stuff!Mark, it sounds like heaven to me too :) Although I hope to do both: the R&D part and selling the end products (with a contract manufacturer helping out). But maybe that will change, I'm still a novice ;)
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Eliza,
I got away from the Sales and Production since this is not my passion and as such not enjoyable. I am in the unique position of having already retired once so I have more control over what I do.
If you are looking into getting into the Sales and Production, start cultivating your contacts right now. Either through Trade Shows, Chemical Reps or Word of Mouth I have developed a strong network of Manufacturers who will do smaller runs. Believe me, Minimum run quantities will be a huge issue as you proceed.
Mark
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Thank you, Mark, you are so very true! I've just began so I'm realizing I have a bumpy road ahead of me ;) Time will tell. Finding contract manufacturers for 10000 pieces is do-able and so far they all offered advice on supplies as well. Just need the time to build the sound relationships like you. I'm not giving up any time soon, so I guess time, patience and perseverance will lead to something beautiful (pun intended LOL).
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An interesting thing is big Asian cosmetic companies (Japanese/South Korean) publish much more studies than western cosmetics brands.Some examples:If you type "Shiseido" (top 7) on Pubmed, you'll find about 400 papers that was published from this brand. Many of them in high impact journals, like the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. But if you type "Avon", you'll find just about... 10!Why Shiseido has about 40x more published papers than Avon if Avon is bigger than Shiseido?More examples:Kao Corporation (top 8): about 430 papers. Estée Lauder (top 6): about 40.Amore Pacific (this South Korean brand even doesn't appear in the top 20): about 100 papers. LVMH (top 11): about 50.And the list goes on...Basic research is a long term investment. But for cultural reasons, western companies doesn't think long therm, they think short therm (there are some exceptions of course). In fact, western cosmetics companies even doesn't see basic research as an investment, but as an expense.
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This is a fascinating discussion. Thanks for sharing!
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