New and groundbreaking science has changed the very essence and meaning of beauty. It defies wrinkles and fine lines, reverses signs of ageing and optimises the behaviour of the skin, hair and body. Science, in conjunction with the world of beauty, breaks rules by coming up with unique and exclusive products. But how exactly does this happen?
Determining consumer needs
We asked Dr Steve Shiel, scientific director, Procter & Gamble Beauty and Grooming, to share the inside story.
How do you read a consumer's mind?
At P&G, we spend a lot of time understanding what consumers want from products and their overall desires. Nowhere is this more important than in the world of beauty and grooming, where the end result can have a dramatic emotional impact on men and women. However, people often find it difficult to describe why they feel a certain way about their hair or a new skin cream so our experts use different techniques to determine consumers' needs and preferences. We use traditional research methods such as focus groups as well as more sophisticated techniques like storytelling, diary analysis and eye tracking. The last technique helps us understand how consumers look at images of people to ascertain qualities such as age and attractiveness without them even having to say a word.
When you design or create a hair or skin product, what are the changes you keep in mind as far as skin types, tones and climatic differences are concerned?
Indeed, there are significant differences in hair and skin types as you move across the globe, not to mention the differences in consumer desires (for example, the desire for darker tanned skin in the US and Europe and the desire for lighter skin in much of Asia). For that reason when developing technologies we look at the fundamental scientific parameters of skin and hair as a guide. So, for example, when it comes to hair care we know that typically Asians have significantly thicker hair than Europeans (particularly those from Northern Europe). This means that the type and concentration of ingredients used will vary in products designed for these regions. Asian hair can withstand much higher levels of conditioning ingredients before it loses its volume compared to European hair - and formulations are designed bearing this in mind.
The lesser the number of chemicals in a face, body or skin care product, the easier the skin breathes. True or false?
This is a fallacy. First of all the meaning of the word chemical in this context is loaded. Water is a chemical, as is oxygen and none of us could survive without either of those. From a chemical point of view, the ‘chemical' Dihydrogen Monoxide sounds more imposing than ‘Water', yet they are the same thing. Also the nature of the ingredient will determine how the skin or hair feels after application, not necessarily the number of chemicals.
What are the most common mistakes that consumers make when buying cosmetics?
- When choosing a shampoo and conditioner ensure you are using the right product for your hair type. For example, someone with fine hair shouldn't use a heavy conditioner, which will leave their hair feeling limp and without volume.
- People are so conscious about covering up the grey hair, they often choose a shade that is slightly darker than their natural colour. This results in their hair looking too dark, with a loss of the natural strand-to-strand variation which is a huge advantage in naturally coloured hair. It's better to choose a shade as close to your natural colour or even a slightly lighter one.
How does a beauty product come into being?
Dr René Rust, senior scientist, P&G Beauty and Grooming, shares his insight on the science behind cosmetics.
How does beauty fiction become a scientific reality?
Beauty has always been highly inspirational, be it for artists or scientists. Several scientific and technological developments over the past decades have enabled us to understand the body better than ever before. A molecular understanding of the factors that make us healthy, beautiful, look old or young, really empowers us to either prevent issues or enhance people's appearance. Therefore, science and innovation are closely linked to beauty. Genomics research either has already led to the development of new products or will contribute to this in the near future.
The second example is the development of a new generation of hair conditioning ingredients called Terminal Amino Silicones (TAS). The TAS technology is the first of its kind and can actively deposit on damaged parts of the hair fibre. This allows to target the hair with treatments where it needs it most and therefore achieves much better hair protection and enhancement.
Isn't there a clash of ideas when 2,000 in-house scientists work together?
When so many creative people work together, there's bound to be clashes of ideas. We see this as a huge advantage as the differences of our scientists and their ideas are a fruitful ground for innovation. Where ideas differ, there is possibility for discussion and running experiments that will support either of the directions.
How much time does it take to plan a product?
There is a huge variety in the time needed to develop a new product, therefore there is no one answer to this question. The best way to look at it is that both science and innovation are constant streams. New insights enable even more new insights in the future. Sometimes, we have a lot of knowledge in one area already and it is faster to develop a new product based on this. In other cases, we need to create the fundamental scientific understanding of a topic before we can develop a new technology, which then takes more time.
How do you define beauty?
As beauty is a subjective sensory experience, it really does lie in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is often referred to as the combination of mainly visual impressions with key characteristics playing a role such as symmetry of the face, skin quality, hair quality, shape of the body, and so on. In the cultural definition of beauty, many factors can play a role, such as trends and societal changes. For example, different body shapes (in the Stone Age, a round body shape was ideal, but today, slender figures are defined as beautiful) or skin colour (pale skin in Asia, and Europe during the Victorian times, versus sun-tanned, dark skin in the western hemisphere today).
There is scientific evidence that beauty is a very fundamental concept in nature and in human behaviour. For example, children are able to differentiate between beautiful and the not-so-beautiful faces from a very early age.
Did not beauty and science work together in the past?
Science and beauty have always been linked, but are probably closely linked today than ever before. Think back to the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Greeks and Romans, they all employed a "scientist" to help them look and feel better. This is still the case in our modern society today, even though the level of knowledge and skill has increased dramatically, as has the ability of products to help all people look and feel their best.
Why is it so important to look good?
As science and innovation move on, we are able to influence more and more aspects of our life. Life without computers or internet seems hard to comprehend for us today, yet, just a couple of generations ago, it was perfectly normal. As we develop new scientific insights and new technologies, we strive to use these insights to our advantage. The amazing progress here is that what is first accessible by only very few people becomes more and more normal for the majority, we call this benefit democratisation and it describes the fact that if - we can enable people to look and feel their best - we should make sure that everybody has that ability.
knowing the expert
Who is Dr Rene Rust?
He began his career at P&G six years ago, developing a broad range of new skincare and colour cosmetics products for global markets before moving to hair care. Dr Rust has expertise in many areas of R&D, including holistic product design, global upstream technology development, translation of consumer needs into technology parameters, technical product qualification, product efficacy testing and consumer-based performance assessment.
Who is Dr Steve Shiel?
Dr Shiel has worked at P&G for almost 15 years and has spent his entire career trying to understand the science behind beauty and grooming. He has been responsible for a wide range of projects, encompassing all major areas of hair care and grooming: shampoos, conditioners, styling, hair colourants and more recently blades and razors and male grooming.
Dr Shiel has been working to demystify the ‘science within the bottle', bringing to life the often complex world of beauty science to different audiences. He has also worked closely with some of the world's leading dermatologists, academics, clinicians and P&G scientists to study and report on aspects of fundamental hair science and beauty technology.
5 must-have beauty products
Dr Steve Shiel lists top beauty products that make a real difference:
- A good quality hair conditioner. Everyone with hair over 10cm long should use a conditioner to make sure that their hair remains in its best condition possible.
- A daily moisturiser with SPF 15. Most people use a sunscreen only when they are on a holiday or on the beach but UV radiation hits us even when sitting in the car.
- An effective anti-dandruff shampoo - dandruff is not a dangerous condition, nor is it contagious, but it can have a severe impact on people's quality of life and self-esteem.
- An antibacterial cleansing product: a simple routine of washing hands with an antibacterial product can help prevent diseases.
- An effective antiperspirant. Though it sounds like a dampener, even a perfect outfit, make-up and hairstyle can be ruined by over-active sweat glands.
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