I vividly recall sitting in a Swiss hotel room when I opened the email. It was the end of 2022, with snow littering the pavement outside, when my brain finally comprehended the phrase 'Diploma in Cosmetic Science with Distinction', the result of over three years of work retraining for my dream job.
I'd begun my career as a journalist at Harper’s Bazaar straight out of university and climbed the ranks to become beauty editor. In so many ways it was the dream role – I got to see my by-line in print and digital – something that has never lost its 'pinch me' appeal – and at events, I'd corner experts to get the latest scoop on the most exciting product innovations.
Yet, when you are privy to new launches every day, you notice even more acutely how difficult it can be for everyday beauty customers to cut through the noise. Every time my hand shot into the air to ask a question, and with my painstakingly organised Excel document of ingredients growing busier every day, I realised that I didn't just want to interview experts – I wanted to be one.
The defining moment that pushed me to action was a chance encounter at an event with some leading lights in beauty science at the time, including the former president of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. I remember the trepidation with which I floated my idea, but with their support, I took the jump and started my cosmetic science journey.
Considering I was still working full time, balancing work and study was challenging, but I signed up to my courses, started hitting the books, and found that I was truly happy when cocooning myself in beauty science research.
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When the coronavirus lockdowns allowed it, I got to go into real working labs, learn from the best and created my own products. The highlight was setting up my #BeautyfulChemistry series, where my mission to combat common misinformation in the industry really started. Interviewing formulators, marketing experts and brand founders gave me a buzz that I still get to this day, as we openly discussed ways to tackle the confusion that reigned within the beauty industry.
In hindsight, I had merely dipped my toe into stepping out of my comfort zone.
In 2021, the universe gave me my first real sink-or-swim scenario. During a magazine restructuring, I didn't get the job I wanted and I had a choice to make. Stay within a team I loved but in a role that would limit my creative opportunities, go freelance, or take a risk with another position I’d be approached about that blurred the line between journalist and cosmetic chemist.
To the slight concern of those around me, I did the latter, moving to the publishing company's science-based Institute to do actual scientific testing of products in the lab.
It would be a year of immense growth for me - with incredible learning opportunities in both beauty science and content creation, but, throughout it all, I still wrestled with decisions about the right direction to take my career.
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Ultimately, it would be a period of personal upheaval that gave me the push to finally take the step I needed. The break-up of a seven-year relationship and the news that a family friend had passed away way too young came in quick succession. It made the niggling idea of leaving a company I had been with for over six years, seem a little less daunting.
So, I took the biggest leap out of my comfort zone yet – going freelance to truly pursue my dream of combating misinformation as a cosmetic science journalist. It took a few months of pros and cons lists, I won’t lie, but all along I couldn’t shake one thought. How amazing would it be to help change the way we talk about the science behind beauty products.
I truly believe that very few in the beauty industry want to deliberately misinform. Yes, beauty businesses need to make money, but the best way to retain customers is to live up to your claims.
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What happens though is like a game of whispers, where information is passed on through so many channels – from scientific researchers, brand founders, marketing, the media, and now social media too. What that means is the complexity of the science – which can be confusing enough already – becomes easily skewed by the time it reaches the customer.
I realised that to truly unpick beauty misinformation, I had to disrupt that traditional chain of sharing information. So, I jumped arguably into the beauty industry’s own 'discomfort zone' – to take the phrase from Farrah Storr’s thought-provoking book of the same name, which I was reading at the time. In an industry so full of dichotomies – 'clean versus synthetic; old versus young; cheap versus expensive,' I now find joy in the grey area in the middle. With every article I write and conversation I can start about beauty science, I'm aiming to bring people together through facts, not fear. And every time I do it is a little personal triumph.
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It would be disingenuous to suggest that stepping out of my comfort zone was a linear process towards happiness. But with every new opportunity to work with brands, magazine titles, and other beauty experts to tackle misinformation, I know the risk was worth taking. I'm busier but also happier than ever and taking the leap into beauty science is to credit for that.
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