uncertaintee - 4-1-2015 at 15:52
Hello! First of all I hope this is the right place to post this.
A cosmetic raw materials company hired me a few months ago to be their applications/formulations chemist, I am the only person in this lab and
basically in charge of it. The lab is well-stocked with all kinds of cosmetic ingredients (thickeners, emollients, emulsifiers, fragrances, etc) and I
can order nearly anything that I need.
My job involves creating new product formulas that incorporate the raw materials that the company sells (these are primarily waxes and plant-based
butters/oils). However, I think I have a chance to do some interesting research while employed here, at least for my own intellectual pursuits. I
don't plan on publishing anything, this would be just for the hell of it, and as long as my deadlines are met, nobody bothers me or cares what I'm
doing day-to-day.
I do not want to do anything illegal, dangerous, or anything that would require me to order very expensive equipment. The company's QC lab has a
decent amount of equipment and I have a microscope in my lab.
I should also mention that I am new to this industry and only have a bachelor's of science in chemistry. I graduated from college in 2013. I would
like to use this opportunity to further my knowledge of material science* concepts- I just don't know where to begin and was hoping you guys could
help me.
If there are books or papers on the subject that you would recommend, that would be great too. Thank you all.
(* -- not necessarily material science, but since I am working with emulsions, gels, solutions, etc on a daily basis, this is probably the discipline
that I could really study in detail.)
Bert - 4-1-2015 at 16:02
What interests you? What attracted you to chemistry/science in the first place? What products does your employer find most important by
weight/volume/cost...
Etaoin Shrdlu - 4-1-2015 at 16:24
Learn by doing. There are a lot of cosmetics formulas floating around on the web. Look them up, make them up. This is the best way IMO to get
into formulation science. You'll start to understand things you didn't realize were things before and more importantly get a feel for what deeper
questions you want to ask.
uncertaintee - 4-1-2015 at 16:30
Hi Bert. I wanted to be a chef for a very long time, and I still love to cook, but I kind of fell into cosmetic formulation after college and after
reading some of Luca Turin's work on perfumery.
First job out of college was a custom r&d lab that primarily manufactured shampoos for small boutiques and salons, and then this current company
made me an offer so I took it.
As far as the raw materials, I don't have much of a limit on how much I can spend in the lab cause I usually request sample-sized containers of the
chemical and it's either completely free or I only pay for the shipping. Obviously, waxes and plant butters are free for me to use, so I have a ton of
those laying around. The person who had this job before me loved to mess with pigments and dyes, so there are a LOT of those as well.