Chemists Corner

Welcome to Day 30 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we focus on your career as a cosmetic chemist and talk about how you can increase your career success chances by becoming a well-known expert on some topic in cosmetic science. In this episode you’ll learn: The benefits of becoming a cosmetic science subject expert The three key things you can do to become an expert Research you need to do to become an expert Why you need to be a generalist and specialist The importance of sharing your expertise How to keep increasing your knowledge and learning Today’s challenge Our final challenge is an obvious one but will take more than just a day. Today’s challenge is to become a subject expert. Make a plan. Figure out what type of expert you want to be. Create a list of books, magazine articles, blogs, patents or anything else to help you learn. Immerse yourself in the topic and learn everything you can. Start writing about that topic. Make people love your subject as much as you do. Find a place where you can give a talk about your expertise. I’d love to hear what topic you choose to become an expert in. So after you have given it some thought leave a comment as to what you are going to become an expert in.

Welcome to Day 29 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we talk about the cosmetic industry and specifically the trend of natural cosmetics. As a formulator you are going to be asked by your marketing group to come up with formulations that can tap into hot trends and the natural marketing trend is hot. This episode will help show you what people mean when they talk about natural cosmetics and how it affects formulations. In this episode you’ll learn: The size of the natural cosmetic market History of the development of the natural market Various definitions of natural Governmental and non-governmental organizations affecting natural products The marketing approach of successful natural product brands Buzzwords and concepts in the natural cosmetic market Today’s challenge Look through some of the brands in the natural cosmetic market and see if you can figure out what qualifies as natural for them. Go to their website and look at their background information and story. Also look at their product offerings and see if the ingredient lists fit in with their natural positioning. Is the brand simply a greenwashing brand or do they really try to make an effort to be “natural.” When you’re finished put your comments about what you found below.

Welcome to Day 28 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we cover product testing and how you can become an expert evaluator of the personal care products you create. In this episode you’ll learn: Why you should test your own products How personal evaluations can direct your revisions What product use can teach you about raw materials 8 step process for evaluating cosmetic prototypes Today’s challenge Run a blinded test on two different products. For example, go get a sample of a low-cost shampoo or body wash and another sample of a similar smelling higher priced product. Or you can use your own formulas and compare them to a market leader. First use the product and write down scores for the characteristics we talked about earlier in this show. If you are testing a hair product make notes about the different aspects of the foam and how well your hair feels and combs after your done. Give your prototype and the benchmark scores for each characteristic. Then see if you can tell any differences. See if you can reduce the cost of one of your formulas by 10%. When you’ve completed the challenge come over to the show notes and leave a comment about your experience.

Welcome to Day 27 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we talk about a little discussed topic for cosmetic formulators, cost savings or how to reduce the cost of your formula without sacrificing quality. In this episode you’ll learn: Five strategies for reducing the cost of a formula How to find and eliminate unnecessary ingredients Which ingredients can be safely reduced The ingredient which usually has the most impact on formula price How to find alternative ingredients that cost less The power of dilution Today’s challenge See if you can reduce the cost of one of your formulas by 10%. Example of a cost reduction exercise  

Welcome to Day 26 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we’re going to discuss raw material samples including how to get them, when you should get them and what to do with them after you get them. In this episode you’ll learn: How to get raw material samples from suppliers Alternative sources for obtaining raw materials What information you should collect about a material Questions you should ask about your new raw material How to evaluate a raw material The importance of testing new materials on a blind basis Today’s challenge Start your own raw material evaluation system. Spreadsheet for tracking new raw materials  

Welcome to Day 25 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.   Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we discuss cosmetic science and specifically talk about how skin moisturizers work. This is a topic that all cosmetic formulators should know whether you work in skin care or not since moisturization and skin moisturization in particular is one of the most basic functions of cosmetic products. In this episode you’ll learn: The basic function of skin Skin structure and why moisturization products are needed Ingredients that make moisturizers work The differences between humectants, emollients and occlusive agents Today’s challenge For today’s challenge get some of the different skin moisturizing ingredients and see if you can tell a difference between them when placed on the back of your hand. Get a sample of glycerin, mineral oil and petrolatum and see if you notice any differences. Write about your experience testing these ingredients in the comments below. Skin moisturizing experiment

Welcome to Day 24 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we will show you how to develop your online profile and why it is important to get accurate information about you on the Internet. In this episode you’ll find: How to determine your current online reputation The benefits of a good online reputation and problems with a bad one What you can learn by Googling yourself Key elements to include in your LinkedIn profile Profile tips for other social media sites Tips for improving your online reputation Today’s challenge Take control of your online reputation. Go through the steps and figure out what your online reputation is now by doing a Google search of your name. Create a profile on LinkedIn and other social networking sites. Make sure the profile you create has the key elements of a good profile and reflects what you want the world to know about you. Think in terms of what a future employer might be saying about you. Connect with me on LinkedIn!

Welcome to Day 23 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we cover a topic that will make you better educated about the cosmetic industry. You’ll learn about Non-Governmental Organizations and how they impact cosmetic formulators. In this episode you’ll find: Who are the NGOs that affect the cosmetic industry Claims they make about cosmetic products Toxic chemicals, animal testing and other issues of NGOs What NGOs are trying to achieve How NGOs are impacting the cosmetic industry Why NGOs are more effective than scientists What formulators can do to combat the effect of NGOs Today’s challenge The challenge today will be for you to become familiar with one of the NGOs that we talked about and get an idea of the types of claims they make, how they generate money, and how it might affect your formulations. After you complete today’s task go to the show notes page and leave a comment about what you found out. Also, if you are left with questions that you can’t answer please post those as it can start a valuable discussion.

Welcome to Day 22 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we cover Cosmetic product testing and research. Specifically, you’ll learn of a way to use information found in patents to help improve your formulation efforts. In this episode you’ll find: The reality of test methods in the cosmetic industry How foam testing is really done The different parts of a patent and what you can learn from them How to read a patent Where to find cosmetic patents How to get starting formulas and test methods from patents Today’s challenge Go to the Google Patent page and find a test method or formulation that you can use in your lab. Focus on finding something that will help you in your prototyping work today. If you work on hair care products, look for a new way to measure some aspect of hair that you hadn’t thought of before. If you work on skin products, search for ways to demonstrate the product makes skin look or feel better. After you come up with your method, post a link to the patent you used and let us know what you found there.

Welcome to Day 21 of the 30 Days to Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist series This 30 day challenge is all about giving you lessons and basic exercises that will improve your abilities as a cosmetic chemist.  Get your copy of the Become a Better Cosmetic Chemist workbook In this episode In today’s program we cover how to figure out the cost of a cosmetic formula. In this episode you’ll find: Four step method for calculating formula costs Getting your formula to be consistent Obtaining cosmetic raw material costs Calculating component costs Calculating the cost of the complete formula Today’s challenge For today’s challenge, I want you to figure out the cost of one of your formulas. Just follow the steps outlined above and you should be able to do it. Cosmetic Formula Costing Spreadsheet

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