A team of beauty industry executives are in Portobelo, Panama this week to teach local women the skills they need to formulate cosmetics and improve their quality of life. Now in its second year, The Panama Beauty Project is under the direction of beauty industry veteran Chris Humberstone of Humberstone International and the team includes employees of Acme-Hardesty and Chemsol. In addition, the Panama Beauty Project has received funding from Croda and Chemyunion.
 
Lead chemists for this year’s project are Rishabh Shah of Acme-Hardesty and Jorge Galvez, Chemsol South America. The team also includes Jessica Carter, a makeup artist from Toronto, and Acme-Hardesty’s Caren Dres-Hajeski and her daughter Riley, who is videotaping the trip as a school project.
 
“We are focused on taking a deeper dive into formulation training and skill development this year with the attendees,” explained Dres-Hajeski, who noted the 2020 program has attracted more than two dozen women who are learning to formulate a variety of personal care products including: 

• Coconut Oil Bar Soap,
• Body Lotion with Coconut Oil,
• Massage Oil with Coconut Oil,
• Clarifying shampoo and
• Hair Mask Coconut Oil,

 
The Panama Beauty Project was created more than two year ago by Humberstone in conjunction with the Center for Panamanian Women (CEMP), which works with low-income women located in indigenous areas to improve their quality of life by strengthening their leadership skills, promoting the formation and strengthening of grassroots women's organizations for community management and political advocacy, and enhancing skill sets to help provide women with a trade. 
 
“The women were so engaged and enthusiastic,” observed Dres-Hajeski. “Rishabh and Jorge did an amazing job. Jorge brought some of the raw materials and did all of the translation for Rishabh. They worked amazingly well together to teach the women some basic formulation chemistry.” 
 
For more information about the Panama Beauty Project, contact Chris Humberstone, Humberstone International, www.humberstoneinc.com