Cosmetics & Toiletries^® Launches Four Online Video Education Courses

CAROL STREAM, IL—Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine, in partnership with program director Perry Romanowski, has launched four courses in its Complete Cosmetic Chemist Training Program, an online community purposed with developing the skills of new formulators and seasoned cosmetic professionals alike.

Each multi-lesson course provides insight and information from the industry’s most esteemed experts, and the Web-based video format allows participants to learn at their own pace and at their convenience. Each course lesson features quizzes designed to ensure comprehension of all subject matter, and a Certificate of Completion is awarded upon successful closure of each course. An online discussion forum and monthly live chats with our subject matter experts are also available to course participants to take the learning experience even further.

The courses available include the following:

Beginning Cosmetic Chemistry—12 lessons, Total approx. run time: 11 hours, 22 minutes

Led by Perry Romanowski, this course covers all the essentials of cosmetic science to help chemists become confident and competent formulators. A copy of Romanowski and Randy Schueller’s best-selling book, Beginning Cosmetic Chemistry, Third Edition is also included in the registration for this course.

Developing Natural Cosmetic Formulations—9 lessons, Total approx. run time: 10 hours, 13 minutes

Experienced, international educators and hands-on natural formulators Judi Beerling and Art Georgalas present this course, which will afford new and seasoned formulators alike the opportunity to learn all about the raw material palette and practical aspects of constructing natural personal care products for the growing naturals market. A copy of Anthony C. Dweck’s Formulating Natural Cosmetics is included with the purchase of this course.

Optimization for Cosmetics—5 lessons, Total approx. run time: 4 hours, 56 minutes

Steven Abbott, PhD, delivers a series of lectures based on the ideas of his recently departed colleague and collaborator, Johann W. Wiechers, PhD. This course allows seasoned chemists and formulators to think afresh about many of the fundamentals that apply directly to their everyday work ethic. Participants in this course will receive a copy of Abbott’s Rheology for Skin Care Formulators Guide, data analysis spreadsheets and the data analysis software program referred to throughout the course.

Physiology of the Skin—8 lessons, Total approx. run time: 6 hours, 25 minutes

Board-certified dermatologist Zoe Diana Draelos, MD, presents an exclusive look at how cosmetic scientists, when armed with the medical knowledge of how and why the skin functions and what really makes it beautiful, can also apply their cosmetic science knowledge to proper product development in order to make the best and safest products possible.

For more information about these courses, or to register, visit learn.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com.

Chemical free claims always bug me. You see them a lot in the sunscreen market where people claim “chemical free sunscreens.” For some reason they don’t see titanium dioxide or zinc oxide as chemicals. But they are chemicals! Every substance is a chemical.

Chemical free anti aging cosmetic

So, how is it that this headline is about a chemical free anti aging cosmetic? Well, it’s based on this story about research carried out at Jena University. Researchers found that when people surrounded themselves with other people who were much old, observers judged the younger people to look even younger than they really were.

That means you can create a chemical free cosmetic. Just get a bus full of senior citizens and hire them out to follow people around who want to look younger. A totally new and innovative beauty product.

And it really is “chemical free”. (Except for the chemicals in the people of course).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qJ81qCEI1k

Transcript of video

Hi I’m Perry Romanowski and Welcome to Cosmetic Science in 300 seconds brought to you by Chemists Corner.

Today’s topic is Cosmetics.

Cosmetics are used by people all over the world and represent a huge industry that sells over $300 billion a year. Almost every person on the planet uses some form of cosmetic product. This is true now and has been since the dawn of civilization.

Throughout history people have used cosmetics for three primary purposes. Camoflauging flaws, improving overall appearance, and enhancing attractiveness to the opposite sex.

The first direct evidence for cosmetic use are some 30,000 year old cave paintings in Europe that show people with colored faces. In ancient Egypt from around 3500 BCE cosmetics were routinely used for religious ceremonies, aesthetic and hygenic reasons. They used a variety of natural ingredients like oils, honey, natron, and even lead. There is also evidence of cosmetic use by people in ancient India, China and the Americas.

The ancient Greeks & Romans had records of cosmetic use. The first cosmetic formulation book was produced by Galen during the Second Century. Recently, archeologists have uncovered the oldest skin lotion which is over 2000 years old.

During the Middle Ages use of cosmetics was at times frowned on but technology developed along with medicine. The term Make-up was introduced in the 17th century and during these times, cosmetics were generally produced at home. In the 19th century most cosmetic & perfume development was done in France where it was more acceptable. It wasn’t until the 20th century after World War 1 that regular use of cosmetics was viewed as socially acceptable.

Throughout history there had been instances of cosmetics harming people. Lead & mercury were common ingredients until it was discovered that they were poisons. In the US, the cosmetic industry was largely unregulated until the passage of the 1938 Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. This helped set safety standards and provided the current definition for cosmetic products.

According to FDA regulations cosmetic products are…

“articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and (2) articles intended for use as a component of any such articles; except that such term shall not include soap”

What this means is that cosmetics are pretty much any product you put on your body that is meant to change the appearance. It also means that cosmetics are not supposed to have any significant effect on the biochemical processes of the body. If a product does, it is classified as a drug.

There are 5 cateogries of cosmetic products including hair, skin, oral, makeup, and fine fragrances. In each category that are numerous types.

Skin cosmetics are the most popular types of products and include moisturizers, lotions, anti-aging creams, facial scubs, body washes, deodorants, self tanners, and toners. Sunscreens and anti-acne products are often sold with cosmetics but they are technically over the counter drugs.

Hair cosmetics include shampoos, conditioners, hair colors, hair sprays, hairdressing, styling gels, and various other hair styling formulations.

Color cosmetics or makeup is what people usually think about when they hear the term cosmetics. This includes any type of product for temporarily changing the color of skin. It includes lipstick, lip gloss, eyeshadow, foundation, blush, nail polish and more.

Oral care products are designed to take care of the teeth and mouth and include things like toothpaste and mouthwash. Note however, that toothpaste containing flouride is actually an OTC drug according to the FDA.

Fine fragrances are the last category of cosmetics that we will consider. They include perfumes, colognes and mists and are some of the oldest types of cosmetics. Some fragrance formulations have been unchanged for over 100 years.

While products in the cosmetic industry have not drastically changed since the 1960′s they have steadily improved in both effectiveness and safety. In the future we will see a blurring of lines between what is considered a drug and what is a cosmetic. A group of compounds called cosmeceuticals look to get pharmaceutical effects from cosmetic applications. Nanotechnology also promises to drastically improve the performance of current cosmetics.

For cosmetic chemists who formulate cosmetic products, the future holds some interesting developments. And the cosmetic industry will be around for years to come. As long as there are people interested in changing and improving how they look, the cosmetic industry will be here to provide them solutions.

This brings us to the end of Cosmetic Science in 300 Seconds. If you want to learn more about cosmetic science and formulating please visit our website Chemists Corner.com. I’m Perry Romanowski and thanks for watching.

There are a number of raw material supplier shows around the United States and around the world. Last March, the Midwest SCC chapter held their Teamworks show which featured cosmetic suppliers from around the country. It was well attended.

However, on May 15 and 16 the New York SCC will be holding the biggest cosmetic raw material supplier show in the country, their Suppliers’ Day 2012 event. Here are some of the details.

When: May 15 & 16 (2012)
Time: 8:30am – 4:30 pm
Where: New Jersey Convention & Expo Center

Why Attend?

If you want to see all of the suppliers in the industry and the new materials you can get from them, this is the place to go. Every large and medium sized supplier will be there. You will be able to ask questions, get information, get samples, and network with people throughout the industry.

Looking for jobs? This is a good place to start networking. You can use the show as research for where your next source of employment may come from. Remember, being a cosmetic chemist does not mean you work only for finished goods manufacturers. Many chemists work for raw material suppliers.

Looking for samples? Many of the suppliers give out free samples of their materials. If you want to get anything, this is the place to go.

Looking for answers? If you are having a problem that you’re not able to solve, there will be experts at the show who you can talk to and most likely find answers.

Looking for free stuff? Well, you’ll find it here too. Free samples, literature, candy and food.

So, be sure to bring a stack of business cards and a list of questions you want answered. Bring a notebook and write down ideas that might occur to you. Notice trends in the industry and hopefully it will lead to new product ideas.

I’m not going to make the show this year but it’s definitely on my calendar for next year.

You might have an idea for a cosmetic product but how do you know if it is any good? Well, you can ask your friends and family but they might not give you honest feedback for fear of hurting your feelings.

Enter Quirky.com.

This website allows you to join a community where you can post an idea (for $10) and get feedback from the community about whether it is a good idea or not. I’m not sure how valuable this information will be however, a mere $10 should be a great value.

Here’s an article which claims that paraben-free cosmetics are gaining popularity. They say that it is due to consumer demand but I suspect there are other more significant forces.

1. Fearmonger press releases. Whenever someone writes about awful things in cosmetics, they always cite paragons. But when consumers are asked about them, they don’t even know what a paraben is. The press attention gets the attention of cosmetic marketing departments who ask their formulators to remove paragons.

2. Raw material suppliers. They want to expand their sales and paragons are relatively inexpensive. If they can get formulators to switch to a more expensive ingredient, that will make more money for them.

I doubt that paragons will ever be completely removed from cosmetics because they are safe & effective. Plus the alternatives haven’t been nearly tested as well. But for now getting parabens out of your formula is something you might have to do.

I always like to discover free online information.  The University of Minnesota is working on a new program where they make full textbooks available online (and there is the option to buy them too).  This is great!

You can see a free Chemistry Textbook here.

Here is an introductory chemistry book too.

Of course, if you can get the information for free you might wonder how the authors can make any money off their hard work.  Good question.  In truth, while some people can read a book and immediately understand concepts this is not true for most people.  Most people need information from books explained further before they get it.  You can read the entire Beginning Cosmetic Chemistry book but there will still be things that are hard to understand.  Books (whether free or otherwise) will never replace classrooms and instructors.

I remember reading about this years ago and then stumbled on it while doing research for the next Cosmetic Science in 300 Seconds video. It was interesting enough that I thought I would share.

Archeologists have discovered a container of color foundation makeup that is over 2000 years old. It was found in a dig in Southwark which is just outside of the southern part of London.

The cream was made from animal fat, starch and tin oxide. When researchers made a modern version of the formula they said it left a smooth powdery texture when rubbed into skin. Of course, I’m not sure how different the starting raw materials were. The biggest differences would be in the purity of the compounds used.

Anyway, the article doesn’t say whether the formula separated but if it didn’t, that would be an incredible feat of formulating. Imagine a 2000 year long stability test. I’ve had some formulas that have lasted 4 or 5 years, but 2000? Wow.

Although the ancient formula may not have passed all the stability testing. According to the researchers when they opened the jar there was a strong pungent rotten eggs smell. Not quite the kind of thing you want to put on your skin.

But it leaves me wondering, how would you modify a formula to be stable for 2000 years?

Today we’re going to take a look at a hair gel. This is one of the best selling formulas in the category and may even be worth using as a benchmark for your future hair gel formulation efforts. Also, this formula is pretty typical of hair gels so it should make for a descriptive analysis.

Let’s take a look at Aussie Sydney Smooth Tizz No-Frizz Gel

LOI – Aussie Tizz No Frizz Gel

Water, Laureth 23, PVP, Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract (Guava Extract), Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Fruit Extract, Euphrasia Officinalis (Eyebright) Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Fragrance (Parfum), Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Benzyl Alcohol, DMDM Hydantoin, Polyquaternium 4, Disodium EDTA

Real Ingredient Order

The first step in dissecting an ingredient list is to figure out where the 1% line is. This helps give an indication to which ingredients are crucially important. And it can let you get a rough guess as to the amount of each raw material used.

Like most gels, this product is primarily water. Laureth 23 is high up in the list as is the styling polymer PVP. The first obvious claims ingredient is Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract. This most certainly does not have any significant impact on the performance of the gel and it is safe to say every ingredient below PVP is used at levels less than 1%.

If I had to guess at what the ingredient list would look like if it was listed in order of concentration, I think it would look like this. (With guesses at ingredient levels)

Water ~ 94%
Laureth 23 – 2%
PVP – 2%
Carbomer – 0.6%
Fragrance (Parfum) – 0.5%
Triethanolamine – 0.4%
Polyquaternium 4 – 0.4%
Disodium EDTA – 0.3%
DMDM Hydantoin – 0.2%
Benzyl Alcohol – 0.1%
Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract (Guava Extract) – <0.01%
Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract- <0.01%
Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Fruit Extract- <0.01%
Euphrasia Officinalis (Eyebright) Extract- <0.01%
Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract- <0.01%

What the Ingredients do

There are five types of ingredients in this formulation: Styling polymers, Conditioners, Claims ingredients, gel system, and aesthetic additives.

GEL SYSTEM – This is made up of the Water, Carbomer, and Triethanolamine. From these ingredients alone you can make a gel.

STYLING POLYMERS – To make the gel work to hold hair you need a styling polymer. They use the classic PVP. This ingredient works great (although it also is prone to absorbing water in humid conditions so it can make hair feel sticky).

CONDITIONERS – The Polyquaternium 4 is added to make the PVP film more flexible which will improve the hair feel and polymer performance. It works as a plasticizer.

AESTHETIC ADDITIVES – To make the product more appealing a fragrance is added. The Laureth 23 is likely added to help solubilize the fragrance. For the preservative system you have Disodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin and Benzyl Alcohol to help. It would be tough for anything to grow in this system!

CLAIMS INGREDIENTS – To support the brand they add things that sound like they are natural and came from some exotic place. If you didn’t include those extracts it’s unlikely you would notice any difference.

Formula Commentary

Overall, this is a standard hair gel that is going to perform well enough for most any consumer. It may not work as well in high humidity conditions but under normal indoor circumstances it will do great. It will also wash out of your hair easily since PVP is water soluble. Nice job Aussie.

Note the information in this post is just a guess and not based on any information other than my years of  formulating experience. 

To become an expert cosmetic chemist, it is not enough to learn the science of cosmetic raw materials and which ones are compatible or not. Indeed, this information is criticial but another part of the cosmetic formulator job is just as important. Evaluating your prototypes.

Evaluating cosmetic prototypes

We’ve previously written about the importance of trying your own formulations. However, we did not get into the details of what to observe while doing that. Here is a system that you can follow which will help make you a formula evaluation expert.

Step 1 – Pick a benchmark

It is almost never the case that you will be working on a product that is completely new to the market. There is always a market leader that you should be comparing yourself to. This can be a competitive product or one of your own formulations. You just need to pick some product as a starting point. This is the thing you are trying to beat.

If you’re looking for a benchmark, it is always a good idea to look at sales information and see which ones consumers are buying most often. This is a good place to start.

Step 2 – Develop your baseline skills

In 2005, I believe that I had the most shampooed head in America. That year I was working on a new shampoo formula and a conditioner formula. I washed my hair over 1500 times. Yikes! While I did develop some redness and an itchy scalp, I always developed keen senses to differences between formulations. To be able to tell differences you have to experience the products.

Each formulation will be different and you may want to focus on some specific aspect however, there are some general things to start noticing.

For hair products the most important characteristics include…

1. Rinse time – how long is takes to be reomved from hair
2. Flash foam – how fast the foam forms
3. Lather feel – does the lather feel creamy or loose
4. Feel in hair – how does the product feel in the hair
5. Spreadability – how easy is it to move through hair
6. After feel – what does hair feel like after using it
7. Dry feel – when hair dries how does it feel
8. Lasting feel – how does hair feel later in the day

For skin products…

1. Rub in time – how long it takes to disappear
2. Greasiness – how does it feel on skin
3. Tackiness – does skin feel sticky
4. Overall feel – after you’ve applied it how does it feel
5. Whiteness – how does it effect skin color
6. Reapplication time – how long does moisturizing effect last

For each of these characteristics you should develop a rating scale (1-5 or 1-10 works well). Then use your benchmark formula and give ratings for each important characteristic. It’s good to repeat this process and see if your scores stay consistent.

Step 3 – Make prototypes

Once you’ve gotten your baseline skills down, test out one of your prototypes. Ideally, you have created a prototype in which you’ve changed only one variable. This will make it easier for you to identify which ingredient can create a signficant change. If you continually test radically different prototypes it will be more difficult for you to get formulating direction from the results of your test.

Step 4 – Test prototype alone

Just as you did with the baseline sample, you should test your prototype a few times and then rate it for the most important characteristics. Be sure to try and forget what your scores are for the benchmark product. At this point it is not that important to be blinded however, as you’re just trying to see if your new prototype is worth further testing.

Step 5 – Compare samples

Once you find a protytpe that you want to explore further, set up a blinded test and do your evaluation. The key to a blinded test is that you have no way of knowing which samples are which. So, if there are color differences keep your eyes closed when evaluating the product. If there are odor differences try to hold your nose. Ideally, you could match fragrances to eliminate this variable.

You can give ratings for the samples or you can just decide which you like better. If you like your prototype better, great! But don’t celebrate just yet. Re-run the test a couple of times to see if you consistently pick the prototype over the benchmark. If you can’t, then you don’t have an improvement.

Step 6 – Get opinions from others

If you are satisfied that your testing shows your prototype is better, then try it out on a few collegues. Give them samples of your prototype and the benchmark and ask them if they notice any differences. Also, have them pick which they like better. Make it a forced choice.

Step 7 – Revise prototypes

Make revisions to your prototype based on the response you get from your own testing and that of the other people who have tried your cosmetic formulation. You really should try at least half a dozen revisions before being satisfied with any results.

Step 8 – Performance tests

If you are satisfied with your in-use tests, it’s time to do some laboratory performance tests. The specific tests you do depends on the type of product you are making. For cleansing products you’ll want to test foam. For moisturizing products, test moisturization. Color products you test wear. There are just innumerable number of tests you can conduct.

Once your prototype outscores your benchmark, it’s time to move forward and push the product along to development. Congratulations!

Now, just one other thing…don’t forget to do an early stability test.