Inspire, inform & connect

COSSMA: As President of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists 2021 – 2022, you can already look back on a few months in office. How was it for you in these turbulent times?

Laura Kirkbride: It is an immense honour and privilege to have been given the opportunity to serve as President of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. Being invested at an AGM conducted over zoom was indeed a strange experience. One of the great things about the Presidency is connecting with our membership.

It is quite an adjustment to try and do this in a video conference format. There has been a great deal of uncertainty over the last few months as we have continued with degrees of lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. I look forward to a transition out of lockdown and getting back to being able to meet safely in person once more.

The Society’s strategy for the next five years includes “inspire, inform, and connect”. What does this mean for you and why is this mission so important?

This mission has huge importance for the society. The pillars of inspire, inform, and connect can be applied to our membership now and in the future, to our colleagues in other organisations and to the wider community. The mission sets out the framework from which we can evolve and progress for the benefit of all.

There is a lot of passion and a great deal of commitment from our membership. We strive to build a community with a sense of understanding,

support and belonging. The impact of this, I believe, will be long lasting, keeping us responsible, relevant, and impactful as we step forward into the next years of the Society.

The Society has set great goals in its roadmap. How important is this further development to you?

Where the mission sets out our broad strategic vision, the roadmap sets of the specifics of how we achieve this. We are committed to promoting education, research, and collaboration to advance the science of cosmetics. Being progressive, collaborative, and responsible is central to all that we do, and

everything is done with passion and an indomitable sense of fun. The roadmap will enable continuity of these values and vision over the next five years and beyond.

The work on the membership base also seems to play a major role. Why is this so important to the society?

As a society first and foremost we exist for our membership. The Society operates with a dedicated Secretariat and relies on volunteers coming from the membership to undertake the work of its various committees. Work on the membership base is central to the future of the society. Through our members we will continue to remain relevant and beneficial to the Society and wider industry. We seek to recruit and engage people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, reflecting the diversity that exists in our industry and membership. Diversity enriches the Society and our industry benefits from new perspectives and ideas within our sector.

What do you want to achieve in the field of education?

Reaching, supporting, and developing´the next generation of cosmetic scientists is of personal importance to me and as a society we provide a

series of training and career development opportunities.

I was fortunate to benefit from undertaking the SCS Diploma in Cosmetic Science early on in my career. The course is delivered in a distance learning format taking the students through a series of 31 modules, projects and exams and leads to an SCS  Diploma in Cosmetic Science. For me the course unlocked an understanding of the wider industry and propelled me to success and fulfilment in my career ongoing. In my role as Technical Director of

Orean Personal Care I place huge importance on developing the next

generation of cosmetic scientists. Every member of the Orean technical team gets the opportunity for continuous  professional development including the SCS Diploma.

What influence has the corona pandemic had on the alignment of the goals?

A number of the Society’s goals have been impacted by the corona pandemic. In particular we were in the process of redesigning our interactive course for those developing their careers called “Principles and Practice of Cosmetic Science” (PPCS). This event was traditionally a week-long residential course which could not be delivered in this format during the pandemic. In addition, we have a program called “Scrub Up On Science” (SUOS) primarily created for school pupils aged 11 – 16. It is exciting, practical chemistry for secondary students which links the UK curricula to the techniques and processes of the cosmetics industry. An annual competition complements the online website resource but regrettably had to be postponed in 2020 as schools went into lockdown. We look forward to relaunching the competition for the 2021-22 school year.

The corona pandemic has shaken up markets around the world. How has this affected your association work and the markets in UK and Ireland?

It was disappointing to have to postpone a number of our educational events that we hold around the country in 2020 such as our annual conference and annual exhibition, SCS Formulate. The exhibition provides an unmissable opportunity for formulators to learn how to use new ingredients and technologies and to network. We are now focussed on planning the event for 2021 and look forward to welcoming our exhibitors and delegates back safely in November.

Changes always mean opportunities. What potential has the corona pandemic awakened or promoted in cosmetic science?

Whilst some of the Society’s activities had to be postponed the pandemic gave us the opportunity to take most of our scientific program on line. In a normal year we have a series of evening lectures held in London complemented by regional activities in the North, Wales and West of the UK. By adapting the

events and taking them online we were able to reach a wider and more international audience than would have previously attended. One particular highlight was our Cosmetic Careers event in which we targeted students and those early in their careers by showcasing the great opportunities our industry offers in TED style presentations. We moved the event to January to fit with University calendars, the format was inspirational and attracted an SCS record attendance of over 600 delegates.

Where do you see the SCS in fiveand ten-years’ time? What has changed in your society up to then, but also in the cosmetics market?

I think the topic of sustainability is the biggest shift we are seeing in the industry and global community. It is of huge importance to consumers within the market now.

This year our annual conference in July focuses showcases a comprehensive three-day online programme and will feature key experts on sustainable sourcing of our industry’s key feedstocks plus certification bodies and standards that consider different aspects of naturalness and environmental

impact. I think innovation in this important area will underpin much of the

cosmetic industry going forward. Our role at the SCS to inspire to inform

and to connect will facilitate innovation.

As President, where would you like to move the most in your one-year term? What are your personal goals?

As a Society we have some incredibly challenging stretch targets to deliver, but I have no doubt that we will. We have many exciting and fulfilling projects on the go giving rise to opportunities for all members to be a part of the journey.

• Work will be ongoing to execute the strategic vision and roadmap.
• The UK has the honour of hosting the IFSCC 2022 Congress in London and we have a steering committee putting together the finishing touches to the plans.
• We plan to launch some new educational content in the form of the “Introduction to Cosmetic Science” (ICS) course to support newer members to industry.
• We have a website redevelopment project underway for the main SCS site www.scs.org.uk and www.cosmeticlearning.com  to support the communication to our membership and wider community.

I look forward to an exciting year ahead and hope that we can safely transition out of lockdown and get back to meeting each other in person once again.