Generally speaking, personal care products are effective.  Soaps and shampoos wash skin and hair, sunscreens block UV rays, self-tan lotions provide delicate golden-brown colorations, moisturizers and exfoliators do indeed moisturize and exfoliate the epidermis and so forth. 

When I left academia to join a major cosmetic group, one of the windfalls of that move was that, instead of flowers, I could offer prestige beauty products to my female friends. Imagine my disappointment when one of these friends asked me not to offer her a particular formula anymore—she was allergic to it! 

In the same way, new products can disappoint the producer, mainly because of problems related to stability or safety…and, on occasion, because the new product rests on a technology that is so advanced that it sometimes encounters the difficulties akin to the sailing in uncharted waters.

Personal Recollections

When it comes to fragrances, I have always been very demanding in the choice of my aftershave. I want it to please my olfactory receptors and be discreet. I don’t want its scent to reach the nostrils of my neighbors who may not share my fragrance preferences. 

Years ago, a perfume brand belonging to my employer launched a fantastic aftershave; it had a lovely scent and was extremely discreet. I started using it. A few days later, in a meeting with top executives of the R&D department, I realized that they were staring at me with puzzled expressions: I was scratching my cheeks in an unusual way. What had happened? For several days, I applied the lotion post-shave; i.e., after having prepared the skin for the penetration of xenobiotics. In fact, I had performed a typical Contact Hypersensitivity Test…and the result was positive! I was allergic to that lovely lotion, and I had to look for another aftershave! And since I did not occupy a position of power, the laboratory chemist who had formulated that aftershave was not fired. Others were not so lucky.

A Hair Color Conundrum

In the area of hair care, one of the major scientific achievements in the cosmetic industry was the establishment of a pathway to achieve the industrial production of 5-6 Di-Hydroxy-Indole (5-6 DHI). This molecule, in the presence of oxygen, undergoes a spontaneous oxidation and polymerization resulting in the formation of 100% black, pure eumelanin. The strategic goal that had prompted my employer to undertake that formidable task was to own a molecule able to penetrate white or gray hair, undergo the process of spontaneous oxidation/polymerization within the hair shafts and restore the youthful black color of the hair. 

It was such a fantastic achievement that R&D violated its own guidelines of prudence and offered a prototype to the company’s 12 top executives to test on their own hair. A few days later, the 12 met for one of the usual meetings… and they were furious! Instead of a beautiful shiny black color, their hair had an opaque greenish/brownish color. Understandably, they did not keep their disappointment within the limits of politeness. 

What had happened? I discovered, later in my laboratory, that when 5-6 DHI reacts in the presence of amino acids (and hair contains free amino acids), instead of black eumelanin it produces greenish/brownish phaeomelanin whose color is, by far, less elegant than shiny black. I pointed out (and earned a patent) that the way to avoid the unwanted colors is to have 5-6 DHI react outside the hair and to have eumelanin precipitated with divalent cations on the hair surface. But a word of caution to those in the lab—far from helping my career, my observation made me an enemy of the extremely powerful vice president in charge of hair care!

Skincare issues

When I was on the West Coast, I was preparing four skin care lines. I was confident that a new technology for the sustained release of niacinamide (vitamin PP), would have been instrumental for success. In the conversations with the head of the formulation laboratory, I explained that I had never been fond of silicones in skin care products, because too often they leave a greasy feeling that I don’t find agreeable. She insisted that the company wanted the silicones. I think that for a product to be safe, one must start with safe ingredients. This is not a sufficient condition to be sure that the final product will be safe, of course, but it is a good beginning. Since silicones are inert I gave in, accepted the company’s policy and put silicones in “my” creams. 

Believe it or not, the first batch was not even in early stability test when the CEO called and asked me to provide him with a sample. Can one decline such an invitation? I obeyed… and the next day I receive a photograph of the face one of the major marketing executives, red as a cardinal, as if victim of a violent allergic reaction! I leave to your imagination the telephone conversation I had with the CEO. What had happened is that, while vitamin PP and the silicones we used are totally safe when tested individually, when they are combined, they produce an intense, unwanted and disturbing vasodilation that is confused with an allergic reaction.

Worth the Wait

When preparing skin care products, one should always wait for the results of the stability and safety tests before bragging about how genial the new product is, and one should always keep their vanity in the pocket before giving in to flattery. Let’s not forget that CEOs and other top marketing executives are ready to crucify the laboratory chemist who “makes a mistake,” without acknowledging how hard it is to be innovative and how long it takes to introduce a new technology.

Paolo Giacomoni, PhD

Insight Analysis Consulting

[email protected]
516-769-6904

Paolo Giacomoni acts as an independent consultant to the skin care industry. He served as Executive Director of Research at Estée Lauder and was Head of the Department of Biology with L’Oréal. He has built a record of achievements through research on DNA damage and metabolic impairment induced by UV radiation as well as on the positive effects of vitamins and antioxidants. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 20 patents. He is presently Head of R&D with L.RAPHAEL—The science of beauty—Geneva, Switzerland.