Maybe there really is something special about all of these hair and skin care products! The Society of Cosmetic Chemists held its 70th annual scientific meeting, but the group certainly isn’t showing its age. Hallway conversations were lively, presentations were provocative and the general mood was upbeat as 2015 drew to a close. Once again, this year, attendees could view dozens of posters in the technology showcase, too. On top of all that, the SCC is healthy.


“The Society is growing; we added 267 members,” proclaimed chairman Tony O’Lenick, who noted that the 70th edition of the annual meeting featured seven sessions and 20 presentations. O’Lenick reminded the audience that the International Federation of  Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) has moved to New York in the same office as the US Society. The eight-nation Federation debuted in Brussels, on September 8, 1959. Now, the IFSCC includes 47 societies representing 57 countries and individual membership exceeds 15,000.


Top-Notch Talent

The annual meeting’s scientific sessions were developed by the SCC’s Committee on Scientific Affairs, which was chaired by Roger McMullen of Ashland Specialty Ingredients. Mindy Goldstein moderated the opening session on sun protection, in which Manasi Chavan of BASF described the need for a new active ingredient that reduces the impact of solar elastosis. The material, which will debut at In-Cosmetics Europe in April, induces LOX-L expression to boost functional elastin fibers, reduces UV-induced elafin synthesis and inhibits MMP formation, according to Chavan.


“The ingredient is effective in bringing back balance between elastin and LOX-L,” she concluded.


A new in-vitro SPF test, based on UV dosage cumulate response using Gafchromic EBT3 film, was proposed by Xin Qu of Ashland. He called the method more accurate than UV spectrophotometer method using 3M tape and PMMA plate. Furthermore, the film method has almost half of coefficient of variation as in-vivo SPF tests, which indicates this new method has very good reproducibility, according to Qu.


Goldstein performed double-duty during the opening session by presenting data on a new cream that not only protects against UVA and UVB radiation, but also helps protect against the damaging effects of infrared radiation. According to Goldstein, there is evidence that IR plays a role in dermal inflammation, photoaging and cancer formation—but that doesn’t mean companies can start touting IR protection benefits.


“It will take time for FDA to come on board with IR,” Goldstein acknowledged.


Still, IR must be considered when creating UV protection products and, in Goldstein’s research, the formula that best reduced the effects of IR was oil-in-water based, with broad spectrum SPF sunscreen, jojoba seed extract, sodium potassium aluminum silicate, titanium dioxide, silica and mica. She arrived at that conclusion using a new in vivo assay that utilized a specialized solar simulator modified to emit continuous emission spectrum in the IR range of 700-2500nm. Each test site received 300 seconds of continuous IR radiation.


Bring Your A Team

Helen Fisher, the chief scientific advisor to Match.com and chemistry.com, collects data using her Fisher Temperament Inventory questionnaire to uncover how biological personality styles can be used to build teams and succeed at work. Her test has been taken by 14 million people and validated by fMRI brain-scanning neuroscience. According to Fisher’s findings, there are four personality types with natural styles of innovation:

• Explorers. These individuals are expressive of the traits linked with dopamine. They seek novelty and tolerate risk, and are curious, energetic, spontaneous, optimistic and mentally flexible. On the downside, they are reckless and most prone to addiction. The biological data suggests that they are predisposed to idea generation and tactical intelligence.
• Builders. Individuals expressive of the serotonin system, they tend to think concretely. Builders like plans, routines and schedules and they tend to be meticulous, rule-observing and self-controlled. They are predisposed to figural and numeric creativity and regularly display logical intelligence. “If they take enough Paxil, builders can have friends,” joked Fisher.
• Directors. Particularly expressive of the testosterone system, these individuals tend to be experimental, direct, tough-minded, skeptical and exacting.  They excel at systems thinking and are predisposed to strategic intelligence. Famous director types include Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton and Steve Jobs.
• Negotiators. Individuals who are particularly expressive of the estrogen system, they tend to naturally excel at verbal and people skills. Imaginative and empathetic, negotiators express diplomatic intelligence.

“A successful team includes individuals with creative intelligence, logistical intelligence, technical intelligence and diplomatic intelligence,” Fisher reminded the audience.

Hair Today

McMullen moderated a session on hair care that included another presentation by BASF’s Chavan. She noted that more than 70% of people have at least 25% gray hair between the ages of 45 and 65. Her presentation looked at the crucial role that the kinase Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) plays in hair melanocyte survival after oxidative stress.


Some consumers will do anything to hide their grays, but after a presentation by Catherine Cartwright-Jones, they may be wary due to an epidemic of para-phenylenediamine sensitization and resultant potential for extreme sensitization to oxidative hair dye that is all caused by black henna tattoos, which are often applied illegally at resort locations.


“Laws against black henna are unenforceable,” Cartwright-Jones insisted. “Black henna artists work from a folding table.”


For instance, there are 300 illegal black henna shops in Myrtle Beach, SC and the material can be purchased online, too.


For those who have received black henna tattoos, there is a 50% chance that they will have a reaction if they apply an oxidative hair dye in the future.


Beauty Microbiome

Day two of the annual meeting opened with a session moderated by Greg Hillebrand of Amway on the beauty microbiome. It included the Henry Maso lecture, which was delivered by J&J Fellow Apostolos Pappas, who told the audience about the pivotal role that skin lipids, such as cholesterol, ceramides and free fatty acids, play in skin care and cosmetics. For example, in people afflicted with atopic dermatitis, skin ceramides are reduced by 30-40%. And if the lipid pathway is damaged, the first manifestation is hair loss, according to Pappas.


“Fats are our friend from the neck up!” he told the audience, and noted that fats aren’t so friendly when it comes to heart disease and other maladies.


Another J&J researcher, Kim Capone, reviewed how common hygiene practices impact the human skin microbiome. At birth, the skin microbiomes of infants delivered by Cesarean-section and those delivered vaginally were differently affected by their first baths, which underscores the challenges a C-section infant may face in acquiring his foundational microbiome.


“What you are exposed to early in life becomes part of who you are,” explained Capone. 


Induchem’s Fabrice Lefévre described the skin tone-regulating benefits of trihydroxybenzoic acid alpha-D-glucoside (THBG). In tubo, in vitro and ex vivo studies confirmed the anti-melanogenic action of THBG, which is activated by the skin microbiote.


According to Lefévre THBG is 60 times more efficient than kojic acid at whitening skin. It improves luminosity, spots and redness as well.


Valerie Andre-Frei of BASF told attendees that widespread use of antibiotics, dietary patterns, excessive hygiene and other factors have shaped modern microbiotas, making them very different from those harbored by ancient ancestors.


To study these differences, BASF has developed a 3D methodology that integrates Staphylococcus epidermis and Propionibacterium acnes in a 3D organotypic skin model to study their adhesion interaction, as well as screen molecular candidates for dermo-cosmetics.


Other Subjects

The annual scientific meeting closed with concurrent afternoon sessions on formulation, anti-aging and regulations. The formulation session was moderated by Chanel’s Anjali Patil and featured a presentation by long-time chemist Ricardo Diez, who is now a professor at Rutgers University. He insisted that overrated, over-used technical models taint product development in the cosmetic industry.


For example, he said that the HLB system is a good starting point, but that it should not the be-all-and-end-all when making an emulsifier selection. He suggested that a multiphase model may more efficiently predict the critically important properties of cosmetic emulsions.


“We can’t make any emulsion we want with HLB,” Diez charged.


Robert Lochhead moderated a global regulation session and concluded the annual meeting with an interesting look at the growing movement to ban polyethylene microbeads in cosmetics. He suggested that strategic booming of rivers could capture any microbeads that escape from inadequate water treatment facilities.


“But we should be asking ourselves, ‘if the facilities are letting polyethylene beads through the system, what else is getting through?’” said Lochhead.

Once beads manage to get into open water, in time, many of these materials degrade via ultraviolet radiation.


Lochhead’s biggest concern, however, isn’t a microbead ban; he’s concerned that legislators will turn their attention to all polymers, materials that represent about 75% of all materials that are used in society. Such a ban would not only harm the cosmetics business, it would have devastating effects on every industry. 

IFSCC Congress Is Coming: Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2016 The Society of Cosmetic Chemists will suspend its annual meeting this year to make way for the International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists’ 29th Congress, which will be held Oct. 30-Nov. 2 at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Guy Padulo is chairman of the organizing committee. Topics to be discussed in podium presentations will include: Sun Protection and Beyond; Creating Loyal Scents—The Science of Fragrances; Inspired by Nature—Biomimicry; Emerging Market Trends and Insights; Beauty with the Magic of Colors; Marketing to the Senses—Product Creation Based on Sensory Appeal; Breakthrough Concepts in Skin Biology and Microbiome; The Balancing Act—Regulatory Compliance vs. Innovation; Sustainability—Cosmetics for a Greener Future; Hair Care Technology; Delivery Systems and Cosmetic Vehicles; and Beauty has no Borders. Those who submitted abstracts will be emailed a confirmation if their abstract was accepted. The deadline to send the full papers is June 30, 2016. General sessions will take place Oct. 31-Nov. 2 and the exhibition and poster session will be held Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Registration will open this month, at ifscc2016.com; www.www.scconline.org