COSMOFACTORY

Deanna: [00:00:00] This episode is about academic education. It's about the study of chemistry, biology, and material science about textured hair and melanated skin. And it's about next gen cosmetic science and the value that lived experience brings to product formulation and ingredient innovation. For today's episode of the Cosmo Factory Podcast, I am speaking with Dr.
Lato Winfield, professor of chemistry and director of the Cosmetic Science [00:01:00] Program at Spelman College. Dr. Winfield, welcome to Cosmo Factory.
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Thank you for having me.
Deanna: Yeah, you're welcome. I'm, I'm very glad for the chance to speak with you. Now, there are around the world, I believe, close to 30 institutions that are well known for training cosmetic scientists.
Many of these specialize in beauty fields and cosmetics, personal care and or fragrance. And, and several started in pharmaceutical programs that expanded then into cosmetics. Of course, many cosmetic scientists. Train in related fields and bring their knowledge to the beauty industry. But in the past three to five years, quite a number of colleges and universities have created dedicated cosmetic certificate or degree programs, and Spelman College is one of them.
For listeners who may not be familiar with the school, Spelman was established in 1881 and is located in Atlanta, Georgia in the us. To get us started, I would love for you to introduce us to the program that you lead at Spelman.
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Certainly. [00:02:00] And just to piggyback off of some of the things you've said our program is situated. Time where we've seen increased need for scientific expertise in cosmetics and the personal care industry. And we also understand that need to be attributed to the increased demand for transparency and ingredients to be authentic and verifiable.
Um, and to terms of how we are defining claims, how we are assessing claims. And of course, we can't ignore. The rise of Mora and AI as uh, drivers to this increased need. So with that in mind, I created the program because I recognized the importance of empowering our students to be creators of knowledge and the leaders of this innovation.
Research in this cosmetic and personal care industry, and you've already talked about us being located in Atlanta, but Spelman is a [00:03:00] historically black college dedicated to the education of women of African descent. And that is an ideal space for us to consider work related to textured hair and melanated skincare.
And so with that in mind, we created a program that integrates arts. Medicine, science and with the notion of beauty and aesthetics, um, in a way that impacts the black community to inform the work that's being done in the industry.
Deanna: Thank you. That's, that's very helpful. I appreciate it. I'm particularly wondering how cosmetic science is different from similar classical chemistry or biology courses beyond, beyond what you've just shared.
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Absolutely. When we sat down to create this program, we understood and we operate also in environment, I should say, at Spelman, where interdisciplinarity is very important. And so our curriculum teaches students how to convert their scientific knowledge [00:04:00] into practical understanding of the field. So yes, chemistry is the foundation of all of the cosmetics we make.
We also know that there's some physics in involved as we understand fluid dynamics. We understand that individuals have to have a sense of. What the market needs and how to translate that into science. So we created this interdisciplinary curriculum that features most of that. So students understand how to apply their knowledge.
If we look at the um, chemistry curriculum, it gives them a grounding and. Critical lab-based skills. And so we started there and making sure that the foundation is lab-based, so they have the technical expertise, but we also have freed up space in that curriculum where they can understand ingredients. So taking a deeper dive, a more intentional dive into the structure of ingredients.[00:05:00]
How they work, how they work together, how they help us formulate the products we need. And that also moves us into product design and understanding the anatomy of melanated skin and textured hair perhaps in a way that we don't see in the curriculum that are currently available. So that's the, the core of where we are.
But we, we also understand that there's social impacts. So we have courses like psychology of beauty and beauty matters that will be offered, that is being proposed by the English department to really talk about how beauty. Translates into our lived and experiences, um, how it showcases how black people live their lives.
So I think that's gonna be a very interesting, interesting course. We also partner with the entrepreneurship Center because we understand that a lot of students [00:06:00] in this space eventually want to become entrepreneurs and make their own products, and so. It is a, a cut across all components and entry points into the cosmetic industry.
Deanna: No, that's fantastic. You know, it's not uncommon. From time to time in the news to see, pieces about salon stylists learning about working with textured hair or the need for that sort of education. It's interesting to think about how much further back right in the value chain you are creating this sort of change.
I, I really appreciate hearing about that. And you, you mentioned entrepreneurship there. I, I'm hoping you can give us a fuller sense of the type of jobs that your program graduates. Might take on, as you've said already, certainly some are entrepreneurs. I'm wondering, are you also seeing students interested in working with consumer brands, manufacturers, ingredient suppliers?
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Absolutely. So. So when I thought about [00:07:00] the entry points, there were in the, the larger buckets of whether or not students wanted to be lab-based or whether they wanted to be more business focused, but in the sense of lab-based. Jobs. We do see students wanting to be in spaces where they can create the products, and so that could be, um, in terms of formulations, in terms of product development, they're very interested in that.
But we're also seeing students who are interested. And how we analyze the products and how do we prove their safety and prove their efficacy. There are also students interested in the technology aspects of beauty and how to create tools and, you know, moving beyond the lab. We do have students interested in content creation.
As well as marketing. And so that's just a small segment of the entry points that students have expressed interest in. But we also remind [00:08:00] students that there opportunities as it relates to regulation and legal aspects, there's opportunities at. Related to broadcasting and, and how these claims get translated to the screen.
It's, um, there are opportunities even to work with training the stylist that you mentioned who not only want to understand more about black hair, but may wanna be engaged in how we, um, leverage their expertise to understand how these products are functioning.
Deanna: Mm-hmm. That's, that's fantastic. I think it's, it can be kind of, um, you know, daunting when you're a student to realize that. Any job you want, you can find in any industry. And, and you've, you've given a nice, a nice picture there of, of everything or many things I should say that's possible within the cosmetics and personal care space.
That's excellent. You know, you've mentioned a couple times that Spelman College is an HBCU or a [00:09:00] historically black college or university, and this, this certainly, uh, gives your program an opportunity to stand out in its approach to research on textured hair and melanated. Skin. I'm hoping you can talk about some of the projects or publications that students in the program have worked on, um, to give us a, a sense of that research.
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Thank you for asking me that. 'cause I get to brag on some of my colleagues who are leading these efforts. And I'll start with Michelle Gaines. She is our hair guru at the college. Her research is related to material science and chemical engineering. But she saw the need to have better parameters around how we define textured hair.
So we're familiar with some of the systems that are out there currently, but she wanted to go in deeper. So when we look at Walker's system and we say, you have four a texture, um, and even some, the expanded um, classifications that L'Oreal came with, what does that [00:10:00] mean in terms of, um, you know. The diameter of the curls actually getting in the lab and measuring that, um, the amount of heat it produces, the porosity, getting really deeper into those types of, um, quanti quantifiable parameters related to hair.
Um, again, giving people information about the science that underpins things like the Walker system. The other colleague is Dr. Davida Kemp. She is a Bioorganic chemist and she works with bio gels. Right now she has interest around creating new bio gels for adhesives. Particularly adhesives for hair extensions, but also adhesives for eyelash extensions.
Um, and so also looking at other applications where such, um, properties might, adhesive properties might be beneficial. So, um, how do we, [00:11:00] um, use these to reformulate even some mascara and things of that nature?
Deanna: Mm-hmm. And. I know a little bit about academic research, um, but I'm, I'm hoping you can maybe just give us a sense of, of how this actually takes place and, and how students are involved. Um, is it a part of a course structure? Does it happen over the, you know, over maybe six or 12 months? Um, does it result in, uh, you know, a peer reviewed publication?
What, how does this sort of progress at the university space?
Dr. Leyte Winfield: I would say both. And so we have a number of ways students can enter research. They can do what we call academic year research where they are working independently with those faculty members on their projects. Um, that. Experience tends to span the lifetime, um, of their existence at Spelman. So once they get into a research group, they tend to stay there.
And so they will go and com continue that, um, project. [00:12:00] If they start in their junior year, then that's. Two years they've given to that project most times. Um, so that's the typical trajectory. We also have, um, um, programs that have course-based research, so students might engage in research through, um, a course and, uh, and earn credit for that research in that way.
They may also spend the summer where they can dedicate more time, um, without the overshadowing of classes to exploring research. Um, and so, you know, we have, um, this other project that I should mention with our partners, Maya. Where it is looking at, um, hair ai and how do we, um, you know, improve how we are doing personalized recommendations, but also how do we get consumers the tools to understand the science of what they're buying and how it interacts with their hair, [00:13:00] how it, um, translates.
And to the claims that they're hoping to see. Um, so we do have students working on that project as well. That is a, a short term project that goes for about nine months. Um, and it's done with, with one of our partners. So there are a number of different ways they can engage with academic research, um, on campus.
Deanna: Wonderful. Wonderful. That's excellent. I believe it was, um, maybe 25 years ago now, we started using the acronym stem, uh, and STEM stands for Science, technology, engineering and Math. There's a movement that continues today to help more women have visibility and opportunity in STEM fields. Just briefly, can you talk about the contribution that Spelman College and, and the Cosmetic Science Project Program rather, is making in terms of women's STEM advancement?
Dr. Leyte Winfield: So again, I'll say I am. Extremely fortunate to be at Spelman because some of that is innate to who [00:14:00] we are as an institution. If we look at stem, and I, I think that term came about when, um, we continue to ask questions also about how do we cha train people for this workforce? And wanting to give a specific framework around what this workforce was, but.
In the past 20 years when we've paid serious attention to quantifying who's present in this space, there's been a consistent underrepresentation of women. So if we look at the statistics, we know that um, less than 3% of practicing, um, sciences and engineers are. Black women, and that's in all of stem. If we look at the statistics specifically in the beauty industry, many will be surprised to learn that it's even smaller.
The representation is even less or a fraction of what we see there, and so if we think about the underrepresentation in [00:15:00] stem, it is going to then impact. The expertise we can access for this. The beauty industry as Spelman continues to be the leader in training black women to be, um, experts in stem, we have now the opportunity to also shift the demographics of those represented.
Within the beauty industry, ensuring that black women have a space there and can be seen again as those experts, as those leaders, as those who are creating the innovations in that space. And that's what we hope to, um, galvanize through this program.
Deanna: Yeah. No, that's, that's very helpful and I appreciate your sharing those statistics. I know, listeners who, who go to various events in the industry, especially in the United States, might. Seem to, , see or, or be a part of what feels like a very strong presence among black women in cosmetic science.
, That just suggests that those women we see showing up are, are working that much [00:16:00] harder than, than what we might've recognized. You mentioned already. You know, collaboration and, and partnerships there when you were talking about the research product, projects that your team or your students, um, are involved with.
And I, I really think collaboration is critical to the ongoing success of our industry. Um, are there other examples of institutions or companies you've partnered with, um, that you might wanna tell us about?
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Sure I can speak to our. Partnerships with Estee Lauder and L'Oreal. They were early investors in what we were trying to establish at the institution, and we are really grateful for their contributions. Estee Lauder in particular helped us launch what we call the um, black beauty feminist lab intensive.
So that gives us an opportunity to move beyond just Spelman students and bring cosmetic science to students at other HBCUs. We bring those individuals. To the campus in the summer for one [00:17:00] week where we introduce them to formulation across hair, skin color, fragrance. They even do, um, product development.
Um, and again, it's all in one week. That's why we say it's an intensive, but we will be moving into our third year of that partnership in 2026. Uh, L'Oreal also has helped us in terms of establishing, um, some of our, our lab infrastructure related to cosmetic science, but they also helped us to extend the Black beauty stimulus project into a summit where we can start to establish a network of individuals who have STEM backgrounds.
In the beauty industry. So we bring together, um, individuals from the laboratory, formulators, um, practitioners, doctors, um, entrepreneurs, you name it. Um, just so that we have this. Collective [00:18:00] network of individuals who are contributing to, um, beauty industry, who look like us, who are black women. Um, so we get to celebrate their contributions, but we also then get to pay it forward because the, then those individuals get to end her act with those aspiring individuals who may be in the audience.
To help Gap guide their career trajectory and show them the various ways they can engage in the beauty industry. And I would say closer to home, we've had, um, we had partnerships with Design Essentials and we've had partnerships with Pattern Beauty as well. So it was very important to be connected to those, um, one legacy brand and then of course one that will become a legacy brand, um, to have our students see that those individuals will.
Also believe in what we're doing here at Spelman, um, was very important and we also appreciate their contributions.
Deanna: Mm-hmm. Very good. You know, and at, at the beginning of, of this episode, I, I [00:19:00] did point out that there are more cosmetic science programs now than ever in higher education, but also independent and commercial programs.
Um, you've suggested how important partnerships are, and I, I certainly think. Um, even beyond what you've shared, there's a lot of value in the networking and relationship building that must be going on in some of those initiatives, but can you give us a sense of how companies along the supply chain, maybe ingredient makers, product manufacturers, packaging companies, how, how the industry can support cosmetic science education?
I'm in my imagination, maybe you want ingredient samples or internship opportunities, but it, it could be something else entirely.
Dr. Leyte Winfield: of the above. Thank you. Yes, thank you so much for that. I am extremely grateful to those raw material providers who have helped us to build out our inventory of raw materials, um, that helped us get started in terms of our teaching laboratories. And so we have essential ingredients [00:20:00] right here in town with us who, you know, from the Unstart helped us create our, um.
For our certificate program, which I haven't spoken about, but we do have a certificate program for adult learners. But there is an at-home component, a at-home laboratory connected to that certificate. And this, um, essential ingredients were, um, instrumental in allowing us. To craft those experiments because they were able to provide us some sample formulations along with the ingredients for those formulations that students could work on at home in completion of this certificate.
So definitely raw materials are important, but not only, um, supplying the raw materials, working with us to create modules or case studies that our students can, um, use to build their. Techniques and their skills in this area is also important. So we are definitely looking for partners to come [00:21:00] alongside and, and do that type of curriculum development.
Um, and so I think that is, um, some of the more critical areas where we're looking for partnerships. We're always looking for individuals who are willing to take our students on for internships or even longer engagements through co-ops if they can, can work. Through that, um, speakers are always welcome and I think there's also interest in just talking about what a BES stoke type of support can look like.
Deanna: Mm. Mm-hmm. No, I, it's, it's nice to hear all of that, and I'm, I'm sure other, uh, programs around the world and around the country would have have similar needs and expectations. Dr. Winfield, I thank you, uh, for teaching us about the world of cosmetic science education today. It has has been wonderful having you as my guest on the Cosmo Factory Podcast.
Dr. Leyte Winfield: Oh, thank you so much. I really have enjoyed this.
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