INTERVIEW
Lastly, one cannot ignore the environment and future of the planet when it comes to formulation design. The international pressure on global warming and environmental sustainability has generated a whole new category of cosmetic products that are focused on biodegradability, environmental conservation, waste reduction and recyclability, all of which add up to the many manifestations of various concepts that all sit under the universal umbrella of ‘clean beauty’.
What initially sparked your interest in the cosmetic sector?
Ever since I was a child, I have been keenly interested in science and chemistry. Indeed, it was this interest that led me to blowing up my parent’s kitchen when I was 11 years old, during my first attempt to make gunpowder! Having studied honours in chemistry at Kingston University in London, I initially worked as a chemist in the polymer industry, designing hydrophilic polymers for soft contact lens applications. It was purely by accident that I stumbled on a career in cosmetic science, when the contact lens company in the UK I was working for was relocated to the US, leaving me behind. Within three months, I found myself in the position of development chemist for Johnson & Johnson in the UK and the rest, as they say, is history.
ADVANCES IN raw MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES have made it POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP HIGHLY EFFICACIOUS products, WHICH OFFER targeted END-USER BENEFITS, enabling consumers to SELECT PRODUCTS that are most SUITED TO them personally. What is it about your work that appeals to you?
I love what I do for a living and never have I found myself saying on a Sunday evening, ‘Oh no, it’s work tomorrow!’ I think that my main fascination for cosmetic science is that it requires all the discipline needed for any scientific career, combined with the freedom to be as artistic and creative as the individual mind will allow. Good formulation design requires a high degree of understanding of how many different raw materials will work together, combined with the spiritual freedom of creativity that brings everything together to result in the best possible outcome for the consumer.
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Photo by R.F_studio from Pexels
Do you personally have any hero skincare ingredients that you particularly favour?
I suspect that all cosmetic scientists have their favourite raw materials, just as all artists have their favourite colour palettes, and without question mine is hyaluronic acid. I first became wedded to this enormously flexible and highly efficacious raw material when I joined Justine Skin Care in the UK in 1995 as their research director. The then owner of the business, Veronica Devine, introduced me to this wonderful material and I haven’t looked back since. Indeed, one of the first developments that took place at Justine Skin Care under my watch was a 3-step skincare treatment called ‘Age Defying Actives’, which was way ahead of its time and did incredibly well in the marketplace. Step 2 of this regimen was called ‘Justine Hydrating HA Complex’, an intense moisturiser based on hyaluronic acid, and probably one of the best products of its type that I have ever formulated, even until this day.
Are you able to mention which skincare brands you have worked on?
Over the years Cosmetic Solutions has worked on many skincare brands and each one is equally important to us. The company prides itself on service excellence and building relationships with our clients, to the point where we often become friends by the time the products are launched. Two companies that I would like to specifically mention are RégimA and Sh’Zen, both highly successful brands run by extremely accomplished ladies, both of whom I would now consider to be personal friends. The positioning of these two companies in the skincare sector couldn’t be more different. RégimA is very much a ‘high-tech’ skincare company that operates on the boundary of therapeutics, whilst Sh’Zen, by stark contrast, attracts its clients through the gentle powers of scientifically proven natural ingredients. It is the contrast between meeting the needs of both clients that makes what I do such a fascinating challenge.
I believe that you have both local and
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