Human activities do indeed accelerate the warming of the earth. That understanding generated a polytropic ecological planetary awareness among the professionals dealing with the transformation of raw materials; that is, those who deal with the manufacture of products as well as with their disposal.

To be produced in an environmentally acceptable way, all the steps involved in the production process must be acceptable. That process includes the extraction of raw materials (inclusive of the growth and harvesting of the plants or other organisms that contain the required raw material) to the shipping of the finite product to the retailer. 

To be disposed of without polluting, a product must be biodegradable; that is, it must be susceptible to be used as substrate for microorganisms able to digest it down to free, non-toxic molecules. And trillions of microorganisms are harbored within our body and on its surface. 

In a nutshell, we are aware that we need to act without damaging the biosphere and without leaving traces of our action. Two words emerge in this context: sustainability and microbiome.

The Tower of Babel

The most efficient way to defeat an enemy is to disturb its communication process. In the Tower of Babel parable in the Bible’s Book of Genesis, the Almighty is said to have distorted the common language of people. Men and women did not understand each other and could not finish the tower meant to reach the heavens. 

When environmental awareness became fashionable, words were created more quickly than knowledge. Words were used without commonly agreed definitions and the quantities conceptually associated with those words were measured in arbitrary ways. It was a Babylonic situation, the ideal one to confuse the consumer and delay the intervention of the legislator. 

In our industry, words such as botanical, natural, green, organic, sulfate- free, clean, chemical-free, sustainable and others were sometimes used interchangeably and were occasionally falsely understood to be either synonyms or causally connected. All were abusively used in sentences such as: “green is organic,” “if it is organic then it is clean,” “a sustainable ingredient is botanical,” etc.

In Need of Clarity

This state of affairs, at least in the cosmetic industry, is finally over. But it did not happen without efforts. In the symposia it organizes every year, the Society of Cosmetic Chemists devoted several podium presentations to the preservation of the environment and to the quantitative definition of words meant to characterize environmentally friendly properties. 

It is therefore not surprising that, to mark the 75th anniversary of its fundation, the SCC Journal of Cosmetic Science is publishing two special issues, one on Sustainability and one on Microbiome. The two special issues are offered to the readers with open access, so that everybody can download the papers published in these two issues without having to pay a fee. 

Sustainability 

The Sustainability issue was prepared under the leadership of Dr. Robert Y. Lochhead PhD. It tackles sustainability from the “classical” point of view as well as from a very creative approach. Readers interested in the “classical” point of view will find papers on criteria for sustainable ingredient selection as well as on sustainability from an ingredient manufacturer’s perspective. Other topics include sophorolipids and rhamnolipids; oleo-furan sulfonates; the cyclomethicone ban in the EU and the formulator’s need to find alternatives to silicones; and, of course, the current state of sustainable practices in cosmetics and personal care products.

For readers interested in the creative approach to the husbanding of sustainability, the special issue contains papers that address sustainability from the point of view of the function of the product, which is quite a new approach. 

In that frame, the issue contains articles such as the use of sensitive skin panels to substantiate cosmetic claims; the vicious cycle of biopsychosocial desperation for sensitive skin sufferers; interaction of cosmetic ingredients with human stratum corneum; delivering sustainable solutions to improve wellbeing; sustainable hair; the role of personal scent; as well as other articles on related subjects by John Warner and Laura Muollo, Anna Howe, Tony O’Lenick, Jonathan Warr, Randy Wickett and Martha Tate, Leslie Baumann, and Joanne Nikitakis. 

Two articles make the junction with the special issue on Microbiome: The evolution of cosmetic preservation and the microbiological challenges posed by sustainability, and Microbiome friendly cosmetic ingredients from industrial waste.  

This issue that comes in two parts. Part 1 is published as Volume 75, No 5 and is accessible online.

Microbiome

The special issue on Microbiome was prepared under the supervision of Dr. Paul Lawrence PhD. In a nutshell, it is about everything you always wanted to know about microbiome but were afraid to ask. 

Yes, there is a link between skin microbiome and skin aging. Yes, the Gut-Skin axis has potential implications for skin health. Yes, it is possible to control the growth of C. acnes. Yes, it is possible to identify ingredients that are microbiome friendly. Yes, it is possible to remove makeup without harming the skin microbiome. Yes, there are in vitro models of skin microbiome. Yes, it is possible to analyze the microbiome of sensitive skins. 

The special issue on microbiome will be Volume 75 No 6 of the Journal of Cosmetic Science and will be open access and downloadable without a fee.

Conclusion

Two associate editors of the Journal of Cosmetic Science undertook a monumental effort to offer the readers an update on two crucial concepts in modern skincare. Both avoid buzzwords and stick to rigorous standards for the presentation of scientific data. If you are curious about sustainability and microbiome—and how could you not be curious?—I recommend downloading the two special issues and keep them within reach. They will be instrumental in assisting you while you prepare products for the future.

Paolo Giacomoni, PhD

Insight Analysis Consulting
paologiac@gmail.com
516-769-6904

Paolo Giacomoni acts as an independent consultant to the skin care industry. He served as Executive Director of Research at Estée Lauder and was Head of the Department of Biology with L’Oréal. He has built a record of achievements through research on DNA damage and metabolic impairment induced by UV radiation as well as on the positive effects of vitamins and antioxidants. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 20 patents. He is presently Head of R&D with L.RAPHAEL—The science of beauty—Geneva, Switzerland.