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.

I saw some interesting development in the creation of artificial skin. According to scientists at Ohio State University, synthetic skin is getting good enough to mimic animal skins in test labs. This means that cosmetic companies will no longer need to do animal patch testing.

Of course, the technology is still a little way from being a replacement for animal testing (or for replacing human skin for burn victims) but they are making progress.

Things like this can really have a big impact on the development of better cosmetics. One of the biggest hurdles to developing better skin cosmetic products is that you don’t have a good substrate to test new formulas on. Sure, you can use living humans but most of them don’t take to kindly to having chemicals put on them for hours days and weeks.

This could be a great invention. I can’t wait until it happens.

If you ever wanted to create a Valentine’s Day themed cosmetic product, here is an ingredient you might consider adding.  Synthetic pheromones.

In a study from San Francisco State University researchers  men were found to be more attracted to women wearing pheromones in their perfume which resulted in more dates, kisses, cuddles and even sex.

Pheromones

Pheromones are a type of compound that allows animals to chemically communicate with each other. They are versatile chemicals that help ants figure out how to get home, that let dogs mark their territory and that let mammals know when to mate. The word pheromone comes from the Greek words pherin, to transfer, and hormone, to excite.  Pheromones are similar to hormones but instead of working within the body, they work between bodies.

How do they work?

The chemical communication of pheromones is simple. One animal (or human) releases the pheromone and another senses it. In essence, the behavior of the sensing animal is controlled by the pheromone releaser. In mammals, pheromones are detected by an organ called vomeronasal organ (VMO) which is located somewhere in the head between the nose and mouth. Pheromones are a bit like odor molecules but they have a much different effect.

So do pheromones really work?

Well, if pheromones really worked it would mean that controlling the behavior of people would be simple. If you wanted someone to fall in love with you, you could simply spray some pheromones whenever they’re around. Fortunately, human behavior is a bit more complicated than that.

It is still debated among scientists whether pheromones have an effect or not. These researchers demonstrated that women actually saw an increase in sociosexual activity when wearing perfume that contained pheromones. The impressive part of this research was that it was compared to a placebo control. But one study (of 36 women) isn’t enough to substantiate these incredible claims.

Other researchers have looked at all the human pheromone data and the results are inconclusive. Yes, pheromones are real. Yes, they may have some physiological effect. But how much pheromones change behavior is still unclear.

On a different day I’d be more skeptical on this one, but what the hell, Happy Valentines Day!

Articles about anti-aging treatments always catch my eye because let’s face it, that is one of the main functions of cosmetics.

This article about new anti-agining treatments focuses on things that dermatologists are doing to fight aging. And as these treatments come down in price, they represent real competition for cosmetic formulations. As a formulator, you should know about these. You should also use them as your benchmark for how well your formulations should work.

Skin care anti-aging treatments

Fillers
The newest anti aging skin treatments include fillers and lasers. According to the article, fillers are designed to give the face a more plump, youthful look. The most common filler is botulinum toxin (botox), hyaluronic acid, and collagen. But the FDA has recently approved Calcium Hydroxylapatite which is supposed to restore facial volume and promote collagen production for up to a year. This will remain a hot area of research with scientists trying to find materials that last longer and are less toxic.

Lasers
The other skin rejuvenation technique is laser technologies. These are getting better and have been used for removing age spots, spider veins and circles under eyes.

Stem Cells
While stem cell technology is not ready for prime time, it could have big implications in the future. The idea is to get stem cells in skin to somehow turn on and create more skin structure under the surface. This seems a long way off.

Cosmetic chemists

For the moment cosmetics continue to provide the most cost effective anti-aging solutions available to consumers. However, we will certainly have our work cut out for us in the future. I’m not sure topically applied treatments will last to the end of the century.

If you are a science student in college or even in high school and you have an interest in pursuing a career in cosmetic science, then you might be curious which classes will be most useful.

Here are the ones that had the most relevance.

Chemistry

It’s surprising how much of what you learn in most chemistry courses is not applicable to a cosmetic science job. The most relevant are the following.

General Chemistry – this will give you a good background to get you started. Much of what you learn won’t be used but some of the key concepts include pH, solutions, and surfactants.

Organic chemistry – while the chemical reactions that you learn are interesting, there is very little synthesis that you will do as a cosmetic formulator. Mostly, you mix chemicals together and hope nothing happens which is the opposite of Organic synthesis. However, information about chemical names and structures will be helpful as will lab skills, chemical reaction types and learning how to read IR spectroscopy graphs.

Physical Chemistry – one of the most complicated of all chemistry courses with lots of math. If you had trouble with this one, don’t worry, being good at this subject is not critical for good formulation. It will be useful for Process Engineers and aerosol chemists but not much for formulators.

Analytical Chemistry – this will be most important for people who end up in the analytical labs. It will be helpful for formulators to know this stuff but not critical.

Inorganic Chemistry – not much applicable to cosmetic science.

Polymer Chemistry – Many raw materials that you use in formulating will be polymers so this course provides useful background information.

Biochemistry – while this course may not be directly applicable, the future of cosmetics will be moving more and more to cosmeceuticals that interact with biochemical mechanisms. Therefore it will be helpful to learn about biochemical mechanisms.

Non-Chemistry Courses

There is more to being a cosmetic chemist than chemistry. Here are some courses that will also be useful for cosmetic chemists.

General Biology – this course is a requirement of most university science programs but much of the information won’t be directly applicable. The important topics include microbiology and human physiology. If you could take courses in both of these topics, that would be a great idea.

Statistics - Typically science majors will take Calculus but the most useful math course for formulators will be statistics. Much of the cosmetic testing you do will require a good grasp of statistics.

Marketing – In the cosmetic industry the Marketing people drive most product development efforts. It will be extremely helpful for a chemist to understand what is important in marketing.

Market Research – While this type of research isn’t the same as lab research, it is an important type of experimenting that is crucial for launching new products. It’s a great idea to take a market research course.

Psychology – Designing cosmetics depends on more factors than just chemistry. Creating cosmetics that appeal to people’s psychological needs is also critical. A psychology course can help you understand what is important.

Not all of your college courses will be relevant to your job as a cosmetic chemist but there are certainly ones in which you should pay more attention than others.  Of course, you don’t go to college merely to get trained for a career.  Learn whatever you can in all your courses.

One of the fundamental principles of cosmetics and personal care products is the action of surfactants in a solution.

Here is a video that demonstrates what happens to the surfactant molecules when they are put into a solution of water. Essentially they form structures called micelles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdKlyofu0Xw

There is a lot more activity going on in the cosmetic science forum and we are delighted! The questions have been excellent and the responses too. I am especially happy to be learning from the different experiences of my fellow cosmetic chemists.

Here is a run down of the hottest topics.

1. What is the proper way to label an ingredient via INCI?

2. The best way to work with Carbomer.

3. How do you stop product rancidity?

4. Tips for scaling up batches from lab to production

Feel free to add to the conversation or post your own questions or comments. It’s free to join and participate in the Cosmetic Science Forum.

There are a couple of things I like about this video.

1. It encourages girls to be interested in science.
2. It demonstrates simple safety testing that should be done

They do brush over the science a little too much but maybe that is best for this audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLHhHqH8P84

Click here to find out how you can purchase this cosmetic science kit

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!!

Yesterday, I wrote about what makes a good scientific study and how you can prevent fooling yourself. The key was to remain skeptical and create studies that are blinded.

Here is a video which shows just how one can be done. Granted this video is not about selecting a cosmetic ingredient level. However, it does illustrate the proper way to do a scientific study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-drpViV5LSw

Here’s what they do.

1. Start with a hypothesis. In the video, the hypothesis is that people with different immune systems will be more attractive to each other than people with similar immune systems.

2. Figure out a way to test the hypothesis. There are a number of implications of this hypothesis that can be tested. In this video, they look at the relationship between natural odor preference and genetic makeup.
In the video, the hypothesis is that a woman’s natural odor will be prefered by a man based on their mutual genetic composition. If the hypothesis is correct, the man should pick the woman who has the least common genetic immune system.

3. Do a blinded test. The evaluator is unaware of which sample is which so he is blinded and therefore, unbiased. Of course, this isn’t a perfectly blinded test because the evaluator does have some information about the study (like why he should pick a difference). A better study would have been to have evaluators that are completely unaware of the purpose of smelling the t-shirts.

However, in cosmetic formulating it’s rare that you could use unaware panelists to help in this way.

This study is a bit simplified and for real science you need to be more rigorous (e.g. have a lot more panelists) but overall, this type of study is a nice example of how you should create studies for evaluating new raw materials in your cosmetic formulas.