Episode 42: Cosmetic Chemist Valerie Patton
Interview: Valerie Patton - Starts at 2:00 
Valerie began her cosmetic chemistry career in men’s grooming before transitioning to hair care, her true passion. She has expertise in formulating various hair care applications, and is currently working on the latest research in hair color and oxidative hair color chemistry with top industry experts. Valerie is also responsible for current line item maintenance and loves her job troubleshooting formulation issues as a “cosmetics detective.”
She is a formulation Chemist at John Paul Mitchell Systems. She is also currently Chair Elect of the Southern California Chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists.
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Text of the show
Questions to ask when Getting Raw Materials
What application(s) is this ingredient for?
What have studies shown?
What are recommended use levels of this ingredient?
What pH range is it stable at?
What is it soluble in?
Are there any incompatibilities to be aware of?
Cosmetic Science News
There’s one more topic I wanted to talk about. Have you seen all these beauty bloggers who have started their own lines?
The most famous beauty blogger turned cosmetic brand is Michelle Phan who made a splash last year or the year before by launch a brand with L’Oreal. Well there are others including Emily Weiss who has a line of moisturizers and lip balms, Cara Brook who has a makeup line, Elizabeth Dehn who has a line of Organic beauty products, and a surprising entry…a guy, Eric Bandholz who has a brand called Beardbrand. He’s got a red beard and a good following so I guess that makes sense.
I’ll be curious to see how these brands do. I mean if you can get a following on the Internet you should be able to get enough consumers to buy your stuff.
I’m often asked why we at the Beauty Brains haven’t launched a product line or even why more cosmetic chemists don’t launch their lines. Have you ever thought of it?
Yeah, it seems like almost every cosmetic chemist has. It just makes sense.
But there are a number of reasons why a cosmetic chemist might not want to launch their own line.
Announcements
First, you can still join our Natural Formulating course. This is a course that teaches you how to create cosmetics that can be sold as ‘natural’ cosmetics. If you are serious about following a natural product marketing spin, this is the class you need. It’s filling up fast and if you’re listening to this show in the future it might be closed to new students. To find out more information go to Chemists Corner.com/natural
And finally, I’ll also be giving a one day seminar on Cosmetic Product Development on April 13th in New York at the SCC headquarters. Go to scconline.org for more information.
As always, feel free to post questions or comments in our cosmetic science forum. We are up over 1000 discussions and it’s still free to join.
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