The Science of Beauty Collective. First ClubHouse 👋conversation hosted by Fab community

It was a pleasure to host the first conversation as the Fashion and BeautyTech community. Join now the Club Science of Beauty Collective, next meeting April 22 8am pst (you can find it at the bottom of our bios Clubhouse) 🌱💙🔬♻️💪

A few take-aways following the first conversation with Women in science and beauty/wellness founders. As a reminder the Science of Beauty Collective is a collective with already 15 founders in the US, Latam, Europe, and Asia.With the beauty and wellness industry saturated with seemingly interchangeable terms like “clean”, “natural”, “green”, and “non-toxic” it can be difficult for consumers to understand what these slogans actually mean.

The group of founders offers support for female founders with mentorship hours, networking with other science-focused women leading beauty companies, building awareness among the media and investors of the value that science & technology bring, a Slack community where we can lean on each other for questions, resources, and fact checking. Learn more at scienceofbeauty.org or email us at hello@scienceofbeauty.org to join the conversation and be invited to the Slack channel.”

The quotes of the day:

“Talking with Carol and Barbara (just before the pandemic), we had this idea to build awareness of how science is used in beauty, and to help other founders. The Science of Beauty Collective was born, in San Francisco! We took the time to gather multicultural leaders — all equally science-minded — and that has reinforced the need to help people to find the right information and scientific approaches to beauty. We are a movement. ” says Elsa Jungman, Ph.D.

Product development/ IP:

Elsa Jungman: “When developing a product really try to understand what is the impact you want on the skin or hair and find how to prove that. For us for example we wanted very gentle and non irritating products that do not impact the microbiome so we found the right third party labs to execute those tests”

Helene Azancot: «Take the time of writing your chart of formulation with what you want ( labels, certifications…,) and what you don’t want in terms of ingredients, sourcing. Define your target ( skin type , efficacy, sensitivity)> And don’t hesitate to spend time with your lab to be sure you will be aligned in the process of formulation and you understand well timelines, finances and processes.”

- choosing suppliers:

Elsa Jungman: “You need to know to ask the right questions to your suppliers, and know the difference between regulations: FDA and European ones don’t have the same list of forbidden ingredients, European countries apply stricter standards. Same for your partnerships with retailers, you need to understand their standards.”

-safety, ingredients:

Rahama Wright: “We need a holistic approach as we build more science based beauty products. How an ingredient is sourced is as important as the efficacy claims and benefits to the customer”.

Carol Christopher:”Preservative efficacy testing is important for both water-based products as well as anhydrous products. Preservatives don’t mean a brand is not clean; they mean the product is protected against microbial growth that could harm you.”

-Tests: Barbara Paldus: ‘We are a community of female founders in beauty and wellness who value science, data and transparency and want to work with other like-minded women. There is a lot at stake with tests. As founders, we care about our customers’s safety.”

Building your company, growing your community/ partnerships:

Alessandra Zonari: “Leverage the potential partnerships with local Universities where your company is based”.

Kailey Bradt: “Develop a strong community of founders.”

Yes, we are stronger together!

Lorrie King and Celeste Lee. “Surround yourself with great advisors if not a scientific background. Not all great founders are PhD. But you need the expertise.”

Elsa Jungman:” It’s important to not look at others in our space as competitors but really allies. For us it has been incredible to lift one another up and learn from their experiences.” (mentioning other brands having research on the microbiome)

Angela Chau: “We are about a more holistic approach of beauty. Inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine and integrated with green science. We have TCM Wellness Ambassadors.“

Britta Cox: “Our launch of K18 Biomimetic Hairscience is focused on the stylist community for whom the products have the greatest value and are the catalyst to scale adoption with end users.”

Experts can be fabulous ambassadors, and your best advocates.

- team, ressources, board:

Rahama Wright: “Build a community that includes a diverse set of advisors and thought leaders especially in the early days when resources are limited. The right advisors can be a game changer in helping navigate business challenges”.

-fundings

Britta Cox: “In our experience, creating a ground-breaking product was not reason alone for investors to engage. We had to provide data to support product market-fit, quantify the size of the opportunity and actualize go-to-market scaling potential before we could raise any significant capital.”

Their BIOS in one sentence.

Elsa Jungman, Ph.D. Dr Elsa Jungman, San Francisco, a skin scientist and entrepreneur. She has a doctorate in skin delivery and began her career working in R&D for L’Oreal in Paris.

Barbara A Paldus, Ph.D., Codex Beauty, Atherton (Bay Area) a scientist, entrepreneur and investor. Prior to Codex Beauty, she spent two decades leading innovation in spectroscopy, telecommunications, and biotechnology.

Carol A. Christopher, Ph.D., Ellis Day Skin Science, Bay Area, is a chemical engineer, and has spent more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry developing new therapeutics.

Angela Chau Gray, L.Ac, YINA.CO, San Francisco, is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist. She studied plant biology at UC Berkeley before obtaining her Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She co-founded Yina with Ervina Wu, PhD, TCM Dermatology.

Lorrie King and Celeste Lee. CaireBeauty, NYC, are tackling the underserved needs in the period of menopause (with hormonal decline).

Rahama Wright. Yeelen Beauty, Washington DC, is a social entrepreneur who works at the intersection of policy and economic development. After serving in the Peace Corps, she launched Shea Yeleen.

Kailey R. Bradt. Susteauofficial, New-York, is a chemical engineer by trade and entrepreneur at heart. She developed the first water-activated powder-format shampoo at the age of 23.

Alessandra Zonari, PhD. OneSkin, San Francisco, is a Ph.D.and postdoctoral Researcher in stem cell biology, and is an alumnus of IndieBio, the world’s leading biotechnology accelerator. She relocated to Silicon Valley from Latin America (Brazil) in 2016 to co-found her company with Carolina Reis de Oliveira.

Britta Cox, Aquis Hair Care and K18, San Francisco, a Patented biomimetic hair care endorsed by hairstylists.

Hélène Azancot, Yodi Beauty, Paris, a French beauty brand that works to reconcile naturalness, efficiency and safety.

And also

Corie Miller Young King Hair Care. Atlanta

Victoria Fu Chemist Confessions, Los Angeles

Marie Drago, Doctor Pharmacy, Gallinee, London

Join next meetings! Fab April 2nd 8am pst on ClubHouse, Science of Beauty Collective April 22 8am on Clubhouse, May 5 Zoom webinar on Eventbrite 8am pst hosted by Fab.