What makes a cosmetic chemist – Episode 168

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

Hi, I'm Perry, and you're listening to The Beauty Brains.

Hello, and welcome to The Beauty Brains, a show where real scientists answer your beauty questions and give you an insider's look at the beauty product industry. This is episode 168 I'm your host, Perry Romanowski, and with me today is Valerie George.

Valerie George (0:27)

Hey, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:28)

On today's episode, we're going to be answering your beauty questions about how natural products are preserved, heat protectants for hair, is thinning hair inevitable, is it bad to keep nail polish on your toes, and we'll discuss what one personal care product you would buy. Plus, we'll cover a couple of beauty stories in the news. But before we get into that, let's say hello to our fellow co-host.

Valerie, how are things going?

Valerie George (0:54)

Hey, Perry, they're going well. Still on the road. If you remember last time, I was in Italy, and then we were in New York together at the Society of Cosmetic Chemists annual scientific meeting.

And now I'm still on the road at one of our other manufacturing facilities, but good news is I get to go home this week. So pretty excited about that.

Perry Romanowski (1:18)

Home to the West Coast here in the United States?

Valerie George (1:21)

The warmest coast. Well, if you're down south in Los Angeles.

Perry Romanowski (1:26)

Indeed.

So as you mentioned, we were in New York City. First time I had seen you in a while, but we were attending the 72nd annual Society of Cosmetic Chemists Science and Technology meeting.

Valerie George (1:40)

Yeah, for those of you who follow Perry and I on social media, you may have seen us tweeting about it using the hashtag SCC72, which you still may be able to pull up in the search engine on Twitter if you go on there.

Perry Romanowski (1:54)

Yeah, and there we heard talks about some of the latest things in cosmetic science or even beyond cosmetic science.

There was a cool talk about how 3D technology might affect skincare products and how your sense of smell and touch and taste can all affect cosmetic products in the future. There were some really cool talks.

Valerie George (2:16)

Yeah, I really enjoyed the talk on synesthesia. I had to practice saying that word a lot, but that was a good one as well about how sounds and the other senses that you mentioned can affect purchasing patterns or feelings towards a product. I thought that was pretty cool.

Perry Romanowski (2:32)

Yeah, and we got to see all of our cosmetic formulating friends, which is always fun.

Valerie George (2:36)

Yeah, it's a good chance to see everyone. And I did get some questions on social media about, oh, wow, this event looks really cool. How do I get to go?

I think it's actually open to the public. I think there's some non-member pricing. Is that correct?

Perry Romanowski (2:50)

That is correct. Yeah, you do not have to be a chemist or formulator to go, but you'll meet a lot of them when you're there.

Valerie George (2:58)

Oh, cool. Yeah, so anyway, to everyone, the show is every year in December. Perry and I go. It's a great space to meet people in the industry and hear all about the latest and greatest in cosmetic science research.

Perry Romanowski (3:10)

You know, more than a few people came up to me and said they were happy to hear that The Beauty Brains were back.

Yeah, it was fun. And actually, you know, another funny thing happened to me, I had come back from the show, and I was at a friend's holiday party. My wife's work friend had a party, and so we're there, and I was talking to this woman who happens, I think she works in the beauty industry, like at Kodi or something like that. And she asked what I do, and I said, oh, I write on the internet about beauty products. And she says, is it The Beauty Brains you do? I go, yeah, yeah, The Beauty Brains. And she says, oh, I thought I recognized your voice.

That's the first time that ever happened. So the word is out. The Beauty Brains are spreading.

Valerie George (3:59)

Oh, good. Glad we're back.

Perry Romanowski (4:00)

All right, Valerie, how about we enter and do a couple of beauty science news stories?

Valerie George (4:11)

All right. So Perry, you found this interesting article that just came out, and it's really about what makes a cosmetic chemist.

Perry Romanowski (4:19)

This story was published in a website called Insider back in November, and they were talking about the luxury skincare brand Sunday Riley and whether the founder is actually a cosmetic chemist.