"Naturals in Cosmetic Science" is April 30-May 1

The Naturals in Cosmetic Science symposium, atwo-day conference organized by the Society of Cosmetic Scientists, will be held April 30 and May 1 at the Royal College of Physicians in London.

The aim of this two-day conference is to become the ‘must attend’ event on naturals for the cosmetics industry, both from the UK and globally. It is hoped that this will held on a bi-annual basis to keep delegates updated on this increasingly popular and dynamic field of cosmetic science and its innovation.

The program was developed to answer many of the questions that our members said they would like to debate and learn more about. Organizers have brought together an unprecedented collection of world renowned speakers and educators to share their knowledge, experience and best practice. Natural, sustainable raw materials are here to stay and science is only just scratching the surface of their amazing properties and benefits for consumer products.

The opening session, ‘Landscaping – The Natural Environment’, sets the scene by highlighting a multitude of challenges faced by natural/organic brands and the wider cosmetic industry that uses natural ingredients for their activity and marketing appeal.

The co-founder of the pioneering organic chocolate company Green and Black, Jo Fairley, will be talking about today’s natural beauty shoppers.From ‘moisturizer miles’ to Fairtrade certification, product performance to packaging concerns, Fairley taps into her experience as co-author of The Green Beauty Bible and former chair of The Soil Association’s Beauty and Health Products Standards committee to give a picture of what concerns (and excites) the increasing numbers of women and men seeking out more natural and organic cosmetics.

The morning session will be followed by a guided tour of the highly acclaimed medicinal Physic garden.

The afternoon session of day one will focus on ‘Fifty Shades of Green?” and will explore some of the new technologies and green chemistry initiatives available now and in the future to the cosmetic formulator. It will take a look at the botanical research work taking place at Kew Gardens and how it is being utilized in commercial cosmetic products. Active plant ingredients from the biodiversity of Southern Africa will also be presented.

To round off the afternoon, an interactive educational seminar (‘The Potting Shed and Greenhouse’) will be led by Dr. Pauline Hili from The Natural Products Factory. Insights into successfully developing natural and organic products will be provided and a panel of natural formulation experts will be on hand to answer practical questions.

Day two begins with a session called ‘Naturals – The Thorny Issues.’The opening talk will set the scene on the difficult challenges of supply chain management. This session will tackle the issues of sourcing and production of natural and renewable ingredients in the widest sense and cover some of the hot topics of the day, such as the move towards sustainable palm oil. There will also be a look at the safety of cosmetics and the challenges faced specifically by natural ingredients.

The second day afternoon session is “The Potting Shed and Greenhouse,” a seminar on natural and organic standards for cosmetics. The final interactive session will give the delegates a chance to put some of this learning into practice and seek guidance from the assembled experts.

More information and abstracts can be found on the SCS website www.scs.org.uk