The opening half day of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists' (SCC) Annual Scientific Meeting and Technology Showcase, held Dec. 11-13, 2024, in Los Angeles, began with a welcome from outgoing president Tony O'Lenick. "This meeting highlights the best in science, innovation and inspiration."
He added the afternoon session would tackle the challenging issue of scientific communication (sci-comm), with a keynote and panel discussion "featuring industry leading science communicators."
The Committee on Scientific Affairs' (COSA) chair and vice chair, Caryn Weiss, of Amway, and Paul Lawrence, Ph.D., of BioCogent, respectively, kicked things off with an introduction to they keynote speaker duo, sponsored by Symrise: Chemist Confessions' Gloria Lu and Victoria Fu. The two are cosmetic chemists, co-founders of the skin care brand Chemist Confessions (including a podcast of the same name), and authors of Skincare Decoded: The Practical Guide to Beautiful Skin.
Debunking Cosmetic Myths and Building Consumer Trust
From L: Weiss, Lawrence, Fu and Lu
Fu and Lu's fledgling blog on social media started as a cosmetic sci-comm resource and exploded into their own cosmetic company and brand. Initially, the blog sought to bust cosmetic myths spread on social media while also informing consumers about cosmetic truth. But according to Fu and Lu, one of the challenges in keeping up is: "Science is slow. Beauty is fast." Content on social media is also much shorter, posing a new challenge. "How do you communicate a complex topic like sunscreen in 30 sec?" they asked.
By the time science has clinical data behind a product to share, the product or trend is "dead." What's more, consumers are beginning to question science itself, so to Fu and Lu, we need to build confidence in it. To them, sci-commers and marketing, working together, could better time the roll out of a product with the data in place. "We think the sci-comm and marketing approach together is a way forward to build trust," the added.
While it's a moving target, Fu and Lu continue their sci-comm role because there's so much mistrust from consumers that affects our industry. "The uninformed outside shape the industry," which to them is both good and bad.
During the Q&A session, the duo shared several additional insights:
- Delivery systems like exosomes are drawing interest because they're interesting and unknown; consumers also are focused on products that work well, and encapsulation is something they know makes products effective
- Devices are also of interest; anything "in office" that you can take back home is usually successful.
- When consumers ask ChatGPT/AI about cosmetic ingredients and products, Lu found that it's only correct ~60% of the time today, "but that will normalize," she added. We're in the midst of this AI evolution but actual sci-comm cannot be achieved using AI, they noted. "We're racing against the computer."
- There is merit in scientists defending ingredients they know to be safe. Lu felt that it was almost a "duty" to speak out; although that doesn't mean the brand has to use the given ingredient. Still, speaking out assures its safety.
- Sustainability is important and it means whatever the consumer interprets it as; but the capacity of consumers is limited and brands have to champion it, especially considering the great progress we've made and the multiple places within our product production where sustainable practices can be implemented.
- Celebrity brands developed to make a quick buck will continue, but the consumer is getting wise to the fact that you need more than a face. They want products that work, and many have brought scientists to the forefront of brands to reinforce this.
4 Winners Announced: Green Star, Young Scientist and More
The keynote wrapped up and O'Lenick returned to the stage for fourprestigious award presentations. These included the following.
- The GreenStar Award, sponsored by Colonial Chemical and highlighting sustainability, went to Tyler Jensen, of Aveda;
- The Joseph P. Ciaudelli Award, sponsored by Croda and presented to the best article appearing in the Journal of Cosmetic Science on the subject of hair care, was presented to Masato Yoshida, Ryo Maruyama and Asao Yamauchi, of Mibon and Osaka Research;
- The Young Scientist Award, presented to a scientist under the age of 40 years who presented the best paper at the preceding Annual Scientific Meeting, recognized Christopher Krueger, of Beiersdorf, who shared his passion for ensuring sustainability and safety in cosmetics while using cruelty-free practices; and
- The Hans Schaeffer Award, presented for the most innovative paper presented at the preceding Annual Meeting, honored Hang Ma, Ph.D., of the University of Rhode Island.
Panel Discussion: Brand Communication/Positioning and Democratizing Cosmetic Science
From L: Grabenhofer, Lu, Valledor and Thomas
The earlier keynote set the tone for a later panel discussion on sci-comm, moderated by Weiss and Lawrence. Panelists first gave short presentations of their perspectives, then joined together for a true panel interaction. Experts included: Charlene Valledor, of SOS Beauty; Gloria Lu, of Chemist Confessions; Mike Thomas, of Upstream 360; and our own Rachel Grabenhofer, of Cosmetics & Toiletries.
The audience was highly engaged and asked some tough questions. The final comment, from Greg Hillebrand, Ph.D., of the University of Cincinnati, stood out. "Beauty is so much more than aesthetics, and does so much more from a health perspective. Why don't we as an industry embrace this?" Something worth considering.
The day's events were punctuated by a welcome happy hour with the exhibitors, sponsored by Biocogent, LLC and SkinScience Analytics, followed by the president's dinner. Attendees reconnected with colleagues and friends with excitement for the next days of hard science to come. Stay tuned as we follow along.
Welcome cocktail reception in the exhibition
