A Piece of History and a Slice of Cosmetics

By: Katie Schaefer, Cosmetics & Toiletries

Posted: June 10, 2009

The cosmetics industry assembled in the Windy City for the Society of Cosmetic Chemists' Annual Scientific Seminar. It was fitting that an industry with such rich history gathered at the historical Chicago Hilton for the event. When the hotel was first built in 1927, it was the largest hotel in the world with close to 3,000 rooms. Although the hotel has since been down-sized, the hustle and bustle surrounding it has not slowed, with its location near Grant Park, The Chicago Cultural Center and Lake Michigan. That traffic multiplied on June 4–5, 2009, as formulators and cosmetic chemists alike filed in, to learn about the latest technological developments in personal care.

But before the science began, the industry gathered the evening before at the Chicago Cultural Center for the SCC Midwest chapter's Social Night 2009, where the theme was “Cosmetic Inspired Concoctions,” reflected by the cocktails and bites offered. Attendees mingled in Preston Bradley Hall beneath a 38-foot Tiffany glass dome, the largest Tiffany dome in the world, designed by artist J.A. Holtzer. The cultural center is a city landmark, and the site where Chicago mayors have welcomed presidents, royalty and diplomats. Diplomats of the industry in skin, hair and sun care, color, and more discussed trends and news while overlooking Millennium Park and the Chicago skyline before retiring for the next day's sessions.

After marveling at the history or “aging” of Chicago, attendees focused on turning back time with a morning session on antiaging, moderated by Mindy Goldstein, PhD, of The Estée Lauder Companies. The session began with a keynote address by Gail Vance Civille, president of Sensory Spectrum Inc. Among her many insightful points on consumer perception, Civille noted that before quantitative data is taken, it is beneficial to gather qualitative data. “Qualitative data is very scary for scientists,” said Civille, who went on to recommend qualitative data as an inexpensive way to gather information before delving deeper into expensive quantitative data.

Moving from testing toward ingredients, Smitha Rao of Arch Personal Care introduced her company’s fermentation process to produce resveratrol for antiaging applications. During this process, Pichia pastoris, a species of yeast that is 95% identical to saccaromyces, is used to ferment the phytochemical resveratrol, which is used to treat inflammationthe first step in aging. Continuing the inflammation discussion was Carla Perez of Seppic who discussed her company’s active that encourages neovascularization without inflammation. Palmitoyl glycine, according to Perez, has the ability to rejuvenate cell/tissue phenotype through inflammation reduction, improvement of ECM production, and radiance boosting. Howard Epstein of EMD Chemicals Inc. then wrapped up the morning session with a discussion on bioflavonoids from such sources as adaptogenic herbs including emblica and ginseng, which are said to increase the body’s resistance to stress. Epstein emphasized that gene analysis is the “future of cosmetics testing,” and used this method to show that tiliroside upregulates catalase, which decreases with age.

The awards luncheon followed the morning session, where Mike Fevola, PhD, of Johnson & Johnson accepted the Best Paper Award, sponsored by Rhodia, on behalf of all the co-authors. This award recognizes the best paper presented at the 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting. “This award is great affirmation that we are working on the right things,” commented Fevola, who dedicated the award to industry great Des Goddard.