Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Who are the best mentors in this forum?

  • Who are the best mentors in this forum?

    Posted by nielrobertlim on March 8, 2024 at 12:05 pm

    Can you recommend me the best mentors in this forum especially those experienced in formulating? Can any of you guys recommend some mentors?

    Tee17 replied 8 months ago 7 Members · 18 Replies
  • 18 Replies
  • nielrobertlim

    Member
    March 8, 2024 at 12:08 pm
  • nielrobertlim

    Member
    March 8, 2024 at 12:10 pm
  • nielrobertlim

    Member
    March 8, 2024 at 12:13 pm

    some of it include drbob@verdient.biz, graillotion, pharma, markbroussard, bill_toge, chemicalmat, philgeis, bobzchemist, belassi, perry44. If I lack some people in the list, please recommend

  • nielrobertlim

    Member
    March 8, 2024 at 12:19 pm

    Some of it include philgeis, drbob, belassi, philgeis, graillotion, chemical matt, bobzchemist, microformulation, perry44, bill_toge. If I forgot to mention any, please add to the list

  • Microformulation

    Member
    March 8, 2024 at 1:19 pm

    As a mentor, I recommend focusing your inquiries within the Forum. This
    allows experts to provide insights openly and at their convenience.
    Finding a private mentorship might be challenging, as it often involves
    significant commitment. I find that my most impactful mentoring moments
    with my team occur in the lab and during the day-to-day operations of an
    R&D facility. Additionally, make use of the search function; past
    discussions within the forum have addressed numerous questions,
    providing a valuable repository of knowledge over time.

    • nielrobertlim

      Member
      March 12, 2024 at 9:50 pm

      thanks for your invaluable tips as always! I am currently looking for mentors who can help me find breakthrough technologies in asian skincare. My lab currently just copy what my competitor does. I feel like my potential is really limited on what my competitor does. I am also very doubtful on what my supplier is pitching to us since I don’t see any effect while using their active ingredients despite their efficacy data. I am starting to feel that my suppliers are becoming sellers of fairy dust and not learn much from them.Do you have any lead where I can discover technologies for asian skincare ( effective whitening, soothing skin for super sensitive skin among babies etc. )?

      • Microformulation

        Member
        March 13, 2024 at 9:57 am

        Not to be curt, but what you are asking for is likely paid Work Product. You are looking for specialty information to generate fungible intellectual properties.

        • nielrobertlim

          Member
          March 13, 2024 at 6:42 pm

          Nope. Not a paid product. It is very useless to ask for paid product in this industry since this industry is full of snake oil sellers. I will be just wasting money buying finished ” fairy dusts ” and ” snake oil “. I want some mentors who can steer me in the right direction of development.

      • mikethair

        Member
        March 13, 2024 at 7:19 pm

        @nielrobertlim If you are following what your competitor does and relying on what your ingredient supplier suggests, then you are certainly limited.

        I have mentored a few African companies that wanted to break out of this mould. I developed their capacity to manufacture body wash, face wash and shampoo via the saponification of plant oils. I did this all remotely.

        These companies are now doing extremely well, and exporting their products globally. One of them is currently attracting a lot of attention attending a trade show in Europe.

        My factories were located in Viet Nam and Malaysia, so I guess we were into “Asian skincare.” But certainly not “whitening.”

        • nielrobertlim

          Member
          March 13, 2024 at 9:29 pm

          sent you private message. please check

      • ketchito

        Member
        March 14, 2024 at 6:41 am

        If you look back and see where the breakthrough technologies that @Perry44 mentioned came from, it was from big companies with the best scientists and huge research budget. If you don’t have that budget and technical capability, it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to develop those type of technologies. And if you want to find a good mentor, many of the best were mentioned in some previous message. You can also check their scientific publications, work experience and products launched.

  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 9, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    As someone who has been mentored by two of the most brilliant people to have graced this forum, for many years, I can only express the extreme gratitude for the gift those mentors have given me. I can also say, mentoring is no small undertaking…..as both of these brilliant men took thousands of hours of their time, to invest in me. Why? I can never guess, beyond their extreme generosity. I now consider them, two of my closest friends.

    I did not get to choose my mentors. My mentors chose me. The Master chooses the grasshopper.

    Neither of my mentors currently frequent the forum. 🙁

    • Graillotion

      Member
      March 9, 2024 at 3:56 pm

      I just checked my e-mails from my lead mentor….. There are 5,568 lengthy e-mails between the grasshopper and the Master. He was what I would describe as the PhD amongst the PhD’s. How lucky am I. Many of those early e-mails went way over my head…but over the years I was able to grasp all the concepts….even if they took a while to soak in. (I always wanted him to call me grasshopper…but usually he called me ‘dumbass’.) ???? I read them at some level almost every day, as G-mail has some really nice search options…which allow me to find past conversations on topics of current interest.

      The first mentor, his PhD focused on pharmacognosy (the branch of knowledge concerned with medicinal drugs obtained from plants or other natural sources), and phytochemistry (the branch of chemistry concerned with plants and plant products). This allowed me to work towards natural aspects without falling for mommy blogger lore, and the host of fake ingredients with no efficacy.

      The second Mentor was the perfect balancing bifecta…. a chemist plus a dermatologist. This allowed practical chemistry to be applied to skincare. I was truly blessed. This chemist….has at least as many conversations, but the format is different….so I don’t know how to count his conversations.

      Good Luck.

      • Graillotion

        Member
        March 9, 2024 at 4:12 pm

        Let me just reiterate what Microformulation mentioned, the search bar is a valuable tool. Much can be learned with the search bar. As with any forum, not all contributors have the same value, so some discretion is required.

        I’ll be the first to say….I have searched and read EVERY SINGLE comment EVER made, by several of the contributors. If searching preservation….of course search for Dr Geis’s comments. Want amazing industry hacks… and experience….hard to beat Chemical Matt…..so on and so forth.

        • nielrobertlim

          Member
          March 12, 2024 at 9:40 pm

          other than the two, do you have any other recommendations with people at least in the same level as them?

      • nielrobertlim

        Member
        March 12, 2024 at 9:42 pm

        Any tips on how to find mentors the way you did?

      • Tee17

        Member
        March 31, 2024 at 2:37 pm

        Thanks for sharing this uplifting story.

        This warms my soul.

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