This August we participated in the Harrogate edition of the UK Careers Fairs series of events around the country, following on from being at the London Careers Fair last November. The Harrogate event was a much smaller affair, but exhibitors included the NHS, Army, BOXT and various care services providers. CCUK member, Annabelle Pounder of Annabelle Charles Associates and CCUK Director, Jane Evison met with attendees who were looking for career choices, or change of career direction, or just wanting help finding jobs. We were able to showcase vacancies from CCUK member companies Holiferm, Croda, Tiro and Surfachem on the day as well as highlighting the many different types of roles in the cosmetics industry. The BEAUTY lit up letters on the table top were a great talking point and helped start conversations around visitors’ perceptions of what careers and jobs in the beauty industry are available. Many thanks to Annabelle for her time on the day. We will consider exhibiting at the Leeds event next year, so if any northern-based members or other beauty industry players want to join in, please let Jane know on info@cosmeticsclusteruk.com.
Continuing on the topic of careers, CCUK Director, Rachael Davison-White and her colleague at Barentz UK, Sharlotte Chamisa, have both been able to share information about their careers in cosmetic science. Thanks to them both for taking the time to shine a spotlight on their jobs in the industry. Rachael was featured in www.hoddereducation.co.uk/chemistryreview. This publication is aimed at A-level chemistry students. Here is the text of the interview:
A Day in the life of: A Cosmetic Scientist
Tell us what subjects you took at A-level/ University and why?
I took Biology, Chemistry, Maths, and I also took History which seems a bit of a contrast. However, knowing the other subjects I was taking were likely going to be quite challenging, I made a point of choosing one subject that I had always enjoyed.
When choosing a University I initially didn’t want to move away from home so applied for a handful of courses at the local university and then one ‘wildcard’ at Manchester. As time went on this changed and was my main motivation to reach the higher grade and make the cut for Manchester University. This paid off and I started my degree on a 4 year Masters course in ‘Chemistry with Forensics’ but shortly after starting, I wasn’t enjoying the forensic element and was getting fed up with classroom learning so I requested a transfer to ‘Chemistry with Industrial Experience’. This was by far the best decision I made for my education. I looked into jobs at chemical plants in a very naïve way not really knowing what was out there and was lucky to land a paid placement (old school style by writing a letter in the post!) at Solvay Novecare. The company produce vast quantities of surfactants for the global home and personal care market and this was unknowingly the start of my current career. Upon completing my placement year I returned to University for one final year and after a lot of hard work and sleepless nights, graduated with a 1st class degree.
What is your current job role and what is it you do day to day?
I have recently taken a new position as a Lab Manager which has been a big step up the career ladder for me. I had previously been working as a Process Chemist for a cosmetics manufacturer where we dealt with a wide variety of bespoke skin and hair care. My job role predominantly involved managing scale up, i.e the first time we make a full size batch of product after it has been developed in the lab by one of our development chemists. Other aspects of my job included providing technical expertise towards dealing with customer complaints, looking at new suppliers for materials and troubleshooting difficult batches. As mentioned earlier things don’t always go quite to plan especially the first time and batches can need additional emulsifiers for example so I will do lab work to determine the best chemical and quantity for the job. I really learnt a lot from this role.
In January I took the next step in my career as I wanted to become better at formulating. All my previous experience had been in ‘tweaking’ an existing formula but I wanted to be able to create things from scratch. Now, my job now is working for a chemical distributor and so this is a totally different side to the industry I am now experiencing. I create ideas and prototype formulas which are then taken by the sales team to help sell the ingredients. I often describe it as baking a cake to showcase the flour – selling flour, a white odourless powder, would be quite difficult but a cake grabs people’s attention a lot more. While these formulas may never make it to shop shelves, this allows me to be as creative as I can, push the boundaries of what people think is possible in cosmetics and explore new concepts. So far this is proving to be a brilliant learning curve.
What sort of people do you work with on a daily basis?
The cosmetics industry has such a broad range of people working in it from sales, warehousing, technical and engineers. My desk is based in the lab so here I spend a lot of time with other chemistry / biochemistry graduates where it’s great to have their support and knowledge when trying to solve a problem. We get results a lot quicker by talking things through rather than taking a trial and error approach. With previous job roles I have spent a lot of time working with manufacturers. This is a predominantly male environment and is very different both physically being very loud and hands on, and in terms of communication where things are a lot more colloquial. While typically manufacturing doesn’t require a formal educational route, I learnt as much if not more from working with them as they have years of experience and have seen all the things that can go wrong and often have great suggestions as to how to overcome them. I have taken all this into my recent role and it has really helped me see the bigger picture.
What aspects of your job do you find frustrating?
I used to find the pressures in the cosmetic industry quite frustrating. The cosmetics market is extremely fast paced and competitive which means often you are expected to be able to solve a problem, create something at the drop of a hat which isn’t always possible. It can be difficult to communicate to a sales team or even a customer that this is the case however now I have started to see the thrill in the challenge. The other thing which has taken some getting used to, is learning to explain some very technical things in layman terms. Formulation chemistry can require some rather particular methods which may seem fairly minor but can actually be critical to getting a good product. It is key to be able to explain this to anyone who needs to know regardless of their previous level of technical knowledge. A great way I have found to do this is through analogies. Pouring products off at the incorrect temperature can give unwanted crystals when they set which look very unsightly. To explain this to people I have used the analogy that it is very similar to the reason we temper chocolate!
What aspects of your job do you find rewarding?
I find it incredibly rewarding when I can walk round high street shops or even high end shops and see the products that I have worked on, sitting on the shelf. I point them out to family and friends and there’s definitely a sense of pride knowing how much work has gone into particular products. I also instantly recall any problems we had and think that if we hadn’t solved them, the product wouldn’t have made it to shelf.
What development have you done since beginning your career?
I have been lucky enough to have a lot of professional development and have had the opportunity to visit some very interesting places, here’s just a few:
Bee Farm - To learn of the origins and cosmetic benefits of Propolis.
Switzerland – Three day training with one of our suppliers on formulation chemistry
France – Meeting suppliers and receiving specific training on their ingredients
School talk/ Careers fayres – Giving insight into the cosmetic industry and demonstrating what we do.
SCS Formulate – Annual conference bringing together many suppliers, seminars and lectures.
In-Cosmetics – A global exhibition where industry experts gather to showcase new ingredients, technologies and trends.
Principles and Practice of Cosmetic Science – a one week residential course in Bournemouth run by the Society of Cosmetic Scientists (SCS)
Since being in the profession, I have become a registered scientist (RSci), have completed a leadership and management course with the ILM, and came runner up in ‘Graduate of the Year’ through a networking organisation which supports the manufacturing industries.
What Skills do you use most in your job?
Aside from having the technical knowledge to be able to understand the science behind the formulations, the most important skill is definitely communication. Emails are the primary form of communication and there is a real knack to getting the right tone as we all know that it can be difficult to express yourself firmly in written language without sounding rude! Confidence in spoken communication is essential and can not only help people to see your point of view but avoids unnecessary confrontation. This is something that employment really teaches you even if it’s just a part time job.
Do you have any advice for someone taking Chemistry at A-level?
If I had to give someone doing A-levels advice, it would be to try to find real life examples of the topics you study. It makes the work a lot more interesting and helps it stick in your mind for years rather than having to memorise things in the short term. One of my favourites is knowing that red33 is not stable at low pH and this sticks in my mind as the reason that fake tans can go green before washing off the guide colour. Since the guide colour, brown, is a combination of red, blue and yellow. The tanning agent on the skin has a low pH which breaks down the colour red leaving blue and yellow turning the skin green! Not to worry though as it washes off. My other piece of advice would be to get a part time job, even if only a couple of hours a week. While A-levels are very time demanding, this really does make you a lot more employable and give you the life skills you will need for moving away to university or getting a job.
And last but not least …….!
Sharlotte Chamisa - Cosmetics Technical Services Chemist job profile (RSC Education video):
Please feel free to share this blog with anyone in your network who may be interested in technical careers in the cosmetic industry.
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