Inside CEW Innovators Awards 2025

you guys welcome to a very special episode of skin andarchy in this episode we're

going to be spotlighting the CDW 2025 innovator awards. These awards are

incredibly meaningful because they are really celebrating the women that are

behind the scenes and making you to happen on every level. These are the

scientists, the architects on what we consider to be true beauty innovation and

so I cannot wait to dive in and to begin the episode please welcome back the

president of C.E.W. Ilana Drill Cipher and with her today is Andrea

nasal with a seasoned beauty industry content executive and currently serving

as chief content officer at C.E.W. Welcome Ilana and Andrea I'm so excited to

dive into these awards and understand them because it is such an important

celebration and I can't wait to learn more about it. Andrea I would love to

start and ask you a question because I really want our listeners to grasp

the true meaning and the relevance of the innovator award. So let's start

at the beginning. What was the gap in the industry that led to the creation of

these awards? So it's so nice to see you and to speak to you so thank you for

having me. I think even before talking about the awards we should take a step

back and really talk about C.E.W's relationship with NYSEC who was so

instrumental in the awards really coming together so for more than a decade C.E.W.

has partnered with NYSEC really around the beauty awards and a specific

award called the ingredients and formulation award. So it's an honor that

really recognizes true innovation in formulation science. So year after year this

category stands among the most highly submitted in the entire beauty awards

program alongside facial moisturizer and indie brand. So it was a real

testament to the passion and ingenuity of the scientific community. So we kind

of knew that something was bubbling up right there were getting too many

submissions for the specific award and then in early 2025 C.E.W. and NYSEC we saw

an opportunity to really take that commitment even further and they told us

they're like they're we are very familiar with your awards platforms where

you're honoring women in C-suite for Achiever Awards and you're honoring

female founders with your visionary awards. There's really an opportunity for

women in the science of beauty to be recognized and we said oh that is

amazing. So ultimately we created this award innovators awards and we partnered

with NYSEC to really identify what does that mean. So yes there was a huge gap

in the industry we are the first to do it and they held our hands the entire

way really from submissions from helping to identify what the different

categories were and that's how we were able to really select and fine tune who

would ultimately be an innovator. So ultimately we honored 31 women in five

different categories. So across R&D and product development, formulation,

sustainability, emerging innovators and packaging and we really honored them

by putting them in a report talking about their career journeys and then we

celebrated them at a cocktail party complete with keynote speakers of the

lipstick list and to our innovators themselves. That's wonderful. No it's it's so

interesting because then a lot I want to kind of get your take on this because

innovation is now such an important topic and it's such I think it always has been

right but now to see it come front and center is very inspiring especially I

think for a lot of women in medicine women in science especially I mean what

is your take on that in terms of innovation being the focus rather than just

the broader beauty category. Yeah I mean I can tell you because it was I

attended the awards and it was before I officially joined CW and I think what

struck me was that this is an industry that's based a lot on newness and on how

it's marketed and what the package looks like etc but we never pulled back

the curtain on how the product actually gets made and yet interestingly

consumers love that right like they love to see like on the line like people

love when brands kind of post like here's the lipstick getting filled or this is

what it looks like on the line or whatever and I think really what Andrea and CW

did was it re-focused people's attention on the fact that there are

individuals at every step of the process and that not only are women the

end consumer but there's this group of women obviously men also but we put

the spotlight on women of who are behind the scenes right either doing the

research creating the ingredients formulating the product working on the

product package fit etc and what I saw was in that room where a lot of women

who felt like they were the intel inside but they were the best kept secret

out there right and so they were just so thrilled to kind of have this spotlight

on them to say a thank you for doing this but be yes like I raised my hand I

worked on the bench in this big company for 30 years and what now I started my

own ingredient manufacturer my own lab or my own whatever and there was just an

enormous amount of pride and I would also say camaraderie among those people

because they kind of looked at each other and they understood each other right

like they were like we are part of this community I feel like what happened

was they they came together like a cohort and they they sort of wanted to

create this sub community of innovators and creators yeah that's really

fascinating because I like what you said I think these awards really for me

stand out so much because the recognition that's needed I mean you can spend

your whole life right like trying to create something magical and do it

behind the bench but then to not have anyone even know that you were behind

that that's that's hard for any scientist for any innovator and so this is

huge that you guys have introduced these awards and I want to go back to you

and ask you about the actual evaluation process for the awards I'm sure

that's pretty difficult right to kind of understand like what are the two

factors that are stand out in any kind of innovation rather than something

that's trend driven novelty so can you give us a little bit of insight into

that evaluation process for the awards so we received more than 150

submissions and they were entered by category not only by the innovators

themselves but also by their peers so their peers called out hey you should

know about this fantastic product development person or this amazing R&D

person or an up-and-comer and so a lot of them who were ultimately chosen

didn't know that they were even in the running so then we took all of these

submissions who were then by category and we all met in a room and we had our

NYSEC partners help us and we really just took a long time to look at the

companies they were from researching what are some of the ingredients that are

trending and that are really making headway in the market right now what are

the products that these ingredients are being seen in right now and it was

easier than you kind of alluded to in that these women and the ingredients that

they are behind in the brands that they're behind are kind of the rosters of

what's going on in beauty right now and I feel like we really hit the nail on

the head at the right time as you've seen in the market on TikTok on social

media scientists and people who are on the bench are getting the spotlight so we

were kind of in tune in writing that wave of all right let's identify these

women based on these very defined categories of emerging innovator and

formulation and cosmetic chemistry on and on and they really just kind of rose

to the top there was a natural process and after I want to say we had an

experience where one of the innovators I think just to take us to back I think

this group of people is so used to not being credited right and not having

attention put on them that somebody one of their innovators won the award came

alone accepted it and her company didn't know until afterwards and like

the company was sort of like had we known we would have been there to support

you whatever but there these innovators are so used to kind of being anonymous

that they didn't even sort of like put it out there that that this was this

was happening and I like what you said about being a scientist and kind of

being used to being behind the scenes like if you think about it we put a

brand name on the front of a product and put all the ingredients on the back

right yeah we never say formulated by right yes and often it's a group of

people right I'm not saying it's one like we all know having worked in this

industry really a long time like even on a small bed there probably a hundred

people between the packaging people the project managers the contract

manufacturers the ingredient they're probably a hundred people involved in the

launch of a product but the I think for me what struck me about the whole thing

was the anonymity of the innovator themselves was completely blown up with the

awards in a great way right like it was really a reveal yeah just to pick you

back on that when we were creating the report and as we were reaching out to

the innovators my inbox was filled with messages saying I cannot believe that

I'm being recognized they were so humbled and proud and probably even a little

overwhelmed with this recognition and I think it just kind of reinforced how we

were really tapping into a white space yeah absolutely I mean this is like so

huge and I think that this is where I for me I think C.E.W. really stands out

because of reasons like this because you guys are able to identify areas that I

think the industry often overlooks I've seen this time and time again and I

think that it's very much represented in these awards and the heart of it when

I'm looking at it right and I would love for you guys to speak on this this

idea of like finding the areas in beauty that are just maybe like becoming the

exception of like what should be recognized what should we shine a spotlight on

what are some of those things like outside of even just the innovative

radar awards or that really fueled these awards when you were thinking about

creating them well I'll let Andrea talk about like things she thought about

in creating the awards I can take what I think are the areas for the future yeah

if you look at the statistics around women's leadership in beauty and in

fashion right the numbers for women at the top in the CEO roles are actually not

getting better they're getting worse and when you peel back the rationale about

why what are the reasons that women are being told that they're not getting

those top jobs they're two they're three specific areas people talk about one

is financial acumen one is operational expertise and the third is

international experience and so I think for the future if you think about how as

an organization a part of our focus is on the advancement and development of

women's careers at every stage I think the women in this industry who are

financially oriented the women who work in operations and the women who have

international experience are an area of are three different areas that of

opportunity that we can look at for sure but now I'll let Andrea kind of answer

her question your question about like how did we know this was a place to look

well I think we look to our mission statement and see W's overall vision which

is to really elevate women in the beauty industry and this was just an

untapped area in the beauty industry as I said we recognize manufacturers and

retailers and C-suite as well as Indian founder companies and we are we do have

very good relationships with suppliers and contract manufacturers so this

was just the next obvious stop makes sense yeah no I'm really glad you created

these this it's very exciting and we're in I think we're in a moment right now

where innovation is really becoming the baseline expectation right for a lot of

different categories I mean obviously I talk a lot about skincare I love

skincare a lot and I see it all the time and that but what are your thoughts I mean

Andrea I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in terms of where innovation is

really taking that center role and apart from just recognizing like just people

recognizing the role of innovation and how that shaping careers in this space well

I think just the role of innovation is probably being fueled also by the consumer

who is commanding and demanding ingredients that are working and that are worthy

of their time we deal with lots of data partners who track consumer search and

who are seeing and reporting that consumers are searching about ingredients and

looking for the most effective solutions more now more than ever and that's

now even being seen on platforms like Chachibit and Genesis and so on where

consumers are searching for solutions and in in a multitude of ways so

who knows which came first the chicken or the egg but innovation has to be there in order

for product to move in order for there to be a reason to to launch something

so that's really what is happening right now and I think we're just seeing more and more women

as there are more women in the back areas of science and in the science of beauty

they are also coming to the forefront I mean if you just look at some of the innovators and

the brands that we recognized all of them are way in and one of them was six science

going to buy you two Turkish doctors and just really amazing technology and innovation and they're

also being supported by people who have been in the industry for years and years at other brands

and I think we're just seeing a lot of support and partnership by everyone to put women forward

who are who are innovating and who have the science background and as I think if I

take us to back on what I'm about to say is pure conjecture but it's it's my own personal

supposition we in our last conversation we talked a little bit about sort of the history of beauty

and like the categories what people worked on etc I think one of the things I'm sure you'll agree

over the past let's call it 10 years what I call the taboo topics hair loss zits menopause facial

hair excessive sweating body dryness keratosis pylaris like all of these things that people

never talked about yeah have become a areas that people talk about and be areas that brands have

innovated and created solutions right and so I have to believe that women's involvement in science

and in the conversation is part of that right I myself worked on projects around in skincare

more than 20 years ago that were sort of related to solutions for menopause but they were

developed by men and people are ready to have that conversation I feel like that's a conversation

today that people can't get enough of right and there's from a product perspective from a

conversation on reddit perspective from an influencer perspective like across the board and I

think that's where innovation is coming from now and sort of all of these taboo and unmet topics

they're kind of coming to the fore but also with solutions right right now that's a really good

point I I think that I've had this conversation on the podcast where like exactly what you said

Alana where it's like the the topics and the the industries that are so closely tied to like

the medical side right and innovations that are really kind of bridging that gap between like

okay this was just in medicine before this was just in big pharma before we never saw it come over

into the space where there's so much accessibility and that's where I feel like awards like these

matter so much because they spotlight how we can bridge that gap and we can really bring over

things that are going to genuinely help people at the end of the day and you're not going to be

limited by any kind of blockade so that's I mean it's huge and I completely agree with everything

that you said on that note I want to ask though in terms of the future Andrea maybe you could

tell us the future of the leader of awards like what impact do you hope that this program has

in the long run for the industry because right now just to give you like my just opinion I think

we're in a time right now in beauty where we're seeing a lot of buzzwords come up although the

science is there the data is there the consumers are still looking at them as like buzzy terms like

biotech all of the words in biotech where do you think that we are awards are going to fit into that

into that narrative of like educating consumers and really getting them on board with the science of

everything I think well we're actually working on innovators for 2026 and what that that will look

like I think what we'll do is we will absolutely be looking into the categories that define what an

innovator is seeing how we might be able to expand on that and to include more people in science more

women behind the bench and I think for the future I mean for now we're owning it and we're loving

that really how we can just get more people involved make sure that everyone and within the

scientific community knows about this opportunity for women in science and hopefully to really spur

more submissions and to not be shy about that and I think we should really make a goal to

have it so that these women are becoming a little bit more comfortable in the spotlight

last year it was very interesting it was kind of a phenomenon to have and to see such humility

in accepting these awards I will even say that the reporters who wrote about these women

they found it so refreshing to talk about to talk with someone about the science behind the

product and not the marketing because typically we're always reporting about marketing innovations and

how they're cutting through the noise so to talk to someone about how something was just a

figment of someone's thought and to really talk about formulating that they found that super

refreshing so I guess we should really be making sure that all of our innovators are really

comfortable with the spotlight and are maybe talking about a little bit louder next time

yeah that makes sense I know a lot of people in science can be very shy about accepting

recognition so that makes a lot of sense yeah Lana I'd love to get your your perspective as well

on that and the future of the innovator awards yeah I mean listen I think we have a little ways to

go until innovators is the size and scale of achievers right but that doesn't mean it shouldn't

and I also think that innovators for us in a way can be an incubator program for a cheaper

there have been a few times along the way where we have recognized somebody in R&D as an

achiever and but I do think that having innovator be a place where if one of these individuals

organizations has not put enough spotlight on them if we can do that and that it then

propels them and makes them be seen in their companies in a new way and puts them not only

in a scientific role but also in a leadership role to become ahead of R&D to be to be ahead of

research in an independent lab to be somebody who's quoted as a scientific expert across the

industry and is working with PCPC or whoever I think that one of the missions of CW is recognition

and I think the recognition this for me is the start for a group of people have been unrecognized

but once the genius out of the bottle you can't put them back in right for me it's the beginning

of the recognition for what the contributions have been and I see it only getting bigger whether

that's we recognize them again because they've achieved more things or just they use this as an

opportunity in a platform to elevate themselves in their own visibility in their companies in the

industry etc so that people begin to know what they're capable of and it opens doors for them so that

they can continue to advance. I love that well I'm a huge fan and for all of our listeners I hope

there's someone in the audience that can apply for next year's awards very very exciting but thank

you so much to both of you for telling us all about the awards and everything. Thank you.

Thank you. Please welcome Dr. Jamie Emmett Spurger who is a recipient of the Innovator Awards 2025

by CEW. Dr. Emmett Spurger serves as the Director of Advanced Technologies at the Estilator

Companies where she is a fellow on the Research and Innovation team. She's also the lead scientist at

Lamar's Max Huber Research Labs. She's a molecular neuroscientist by training Dr. Emmett Spurger's

research primarily centers on neurocutaneous biology such as skin sensation,

neurocutaneous signaling, cutaneous neuromodulation and the impact of cellular

senescence on skin aging. Welcome Dr. Emmett Spurger. Oh thank you so much for having me today.

Yeah congratulations again on your CEW Innovator Award I think it's so wonderful that you've

been recognized and I want to take this opportunity to actually ask you about innovation because

it's such a important word especially right now in the beauty industry I think more than ever

could you kind of talk to us about what your view is in terms of the real meaning of innovation

and why it's so important to recognize in our industry. Yeah so I think obviously innovation comes

down to a deep biological understanding at least in my role so if I can just give you just a

little bit of background I'm a trained molecular biologist and neuroscientist so to me

having innovation is understanding the biology so when it comes to skin how do we approach

affecting the skin in a beneficial way but we won't have this type of understanding right without

understanding the intricacies of these biological pathways so how I position this is when we think

of innovation we can also incorporate and explore other possibilities so like for example

innovation can incorporate AI for example and this can explore additional possibilities like

what ingredients mixtures make sense in different skin types this will allow us for like faster

and and opportunities with fewer experimentations but to keep in mind this will never replace

scientific judgment or craftsmanship it just enhances efficiency insight and precision so

when we think of innovation it really is integrating like rigorous science with also craftsmanship

when it comes to cosmetics and it's not only to to we don't want to chase trends but instead gain

a deeper understanding of how biology and nature already works like what I was mentioning before

so you can translate this exceptional experience with real performance so to me discovery matters

when it becomes an experience right an exceptional performance reflects a brand's value

yeah no that's that's really powerful and I completely agree with you I think that also one of

the follow questions I have is like what in your view really separates something brand new

from innovation because I think right now we're in time where things are really coming out very

rapidly and there's a lot of new stuff coming out especially in the beauty space so where is that

line between okay this is just a new thing right versus like truly it is going to make an

impact in the scientific space yeah and I think there there is a balance there like you do have

things that come out brand new and something that might be an exciting topic but I think really what

drives the innovation as mentioned before is understanding the complexity of what what that brand

new thing is doing right so for example I presented at MCAS this year 2026 and we presented on

exosome technology and I think once again it is it is an emerging trend in aesthetic field but

what's important is understanding that these are biological messengers and

diving deeper into what's brand new allows us to have a more targeted approach so what I mean by

this is let's give exosomes as an example right but these are delivery messengers but really what

matters is the cargo inside exosomes or even other alternatives like these exosome like vesicles

coming from plants so if we don't understand the cargo we don't we're not going to understand

the benefit that cargo can basically deliver on so I think there there is this fine line between

our what's new what's trending and what's out there but then understanding the biology behind

of what we're truly studying will allow us to position it in the right way for the consumer and

to elicit the proper benefit for that consumer yeah that makes a lot of sense and I think that's also

something that we see a lot I mean I hear about this a lot from our listeners too words like there's

this misunderstanding I think also around truly advanced like biologics and like these kind of

technologies because there's no I mean I think there needs to be this like education like what

you're explaining like there needs to be that level of like very transparent education and yeah

that that's very interesting the way you explain it we often talk about things like collagen and

pigmentation and also like continuous neuromodulation how much of visible skin aging is really a

story of signaling dysregulation rather than just structural decline that's a good question and I

think it also is going to depend on an individual's genetics right yeah it's quite complex and also

environmental exposure so I I know based on literature and current publications that we consider

majority of aging associated with environmental factors right but when you take into account what's

contributing to that breakdown it is associated with signaling molecules so even for example like

for UV exposure right you might have some breakdown structural breakdown from light but mostly

what's contributing to structural breakdown is those signaling molecules that are actually

attacking the collagen for example or if you talk you mentioned before like pigmentation right

there's always a signaling component that's going to enhance pigmentation so I really think that

there is this cross talk in communication it's not just like all right we're going to have degradation

because that just naturally occurs with age it really is associated with what signaling molecules

are present and how they're contributing to that degradation so they really worked hand in hand

with one another I don't think that there's one one defined answer for this like I said before

it does take into account the the individuals background right how much they are exposed to

environmental stressors and in addition to that right what what is the complexity of that signaling

environment and particularly for me within within skin right that's really interesting and I also

want to dive in because I know you you explore through your research cellular senescence and it's

impact on aging I think senescence is a very interesting topic because we've heard the word and

again like this is the industry is I think trying to catch up or catch consumers up with these very

heavy science concepts but again like to understand something like that I think it takes such a

deeper look and so I'd love for you to talk more about this topic and really about the role

of senescence in true anti-aging like what does that really mean and how should consumers be looking

at this topic to understand it and its role so well senescence is obviously a natural biological

process and every individual has a senescence cell in them at any given time so we have to understand

that senescence is built right in our bodies as a natural failsafe mechanism it actually is not

such a detrimental thing the trouble becomes is when you lose with age regulatory mechanisms or

components that will help modulate or reduce the amount of senescence cells that we have let's say

within our skin so what I what I mean by this is that at any given time right a senescence cell

can be beneficial because like I said before it is a failsafe mechanism you don't want you don't

want let's say for example a cell that is damaged to keep on dividing right you want to make

sure all the healthy cells in that environment are functioning properly so in this case the body

will say all right this this senescent this cell in particular is damaged so I'm going to become

senescent I don't want to divide anymore all right I don't want to make any more of myself because

I'm damaged and that's great because then what will happen is that our body will over time

remove that senescent cell but with age like I mentioned before those regulatory mechanisms

of removal decline so what happens is that the senescent cells end up accumulating within any given

system let's say for skin and what they do is they release all of these irritation or inflammatory

factors right that can communicate with neighboring cells and really that that's the component that

can be damaging it's more about this bystander damage than it is about the senescent cell just being

there right so what they're doing is they're communicating with their neighbors and that can cause

the neighboring cells to become damaged and the neighboring cells to become senescent so it's

really more about this this communication like you were mentioning before the signaling molecules

and those signaling molecules is what is detrimental and that is what's going to cause the the tissue

to eventually decline because they're no longer working optimally and to that point as well

there's a lot of contributing factors that will lead to senescence like I like I said prior

and enhance environmental exposure that's going to cause cells to become damaged which

can trigger senescence right and if you don't have this proper communication or this proper I

should say regulation within any given tissue then they'll end up accumulating and the more

exposure you have to these environmental stressors will enhance the amount of these senescent cells

so really even though senescence is considered cellular aging right it's when they accumulate where

when it becomes an issue that's yeah that's really fascinating and again like it's just this

understanding of like truly what senescence is and I think I had asked this question a long time

like in terms of like it can we even quantify senescence at this point in terms of like have we

figured out all the biomarkers have we figured out what that cellular profile really looks like to

where we can say yes this is a senescence so I think I mean we're this is a brand new concept in

itself right I mean we're finally coming into this now in the scientific realm and so I think it's

again and this consumer like like for consumers to wrap their head around it it becomes so important

for voices like yours to be present in this industry to like really really teach and just kind

of guide us into like a realistic understanding and not buzzwords and that's what I worry about a lot

for my end as well like both of the scientists and also consumer is like are we really understanding

or are we just kind of diving into these buzzy topics yeah yeah and I absolutely agree with you and I

think in terms of senescence two like you mentioned before what is the proper signaling pathway or

what's going to induce that so if you have let's say UV exposure versus pollution versus just

natural aging all of those are going to make a senescence cell a little bit different right

you're never going to have an identical cell that senescence profile I should say from a given

cell and and it also depends on the cell type right whether it is a upper layer skin cell like a

keratinocyte or a lower layer skin cell that produces collagen like fibroblasts that the

difference between those cells will actually gives different signaling molecules so it's much more

complex than we think it is because they all right well we have senescence let's just treat it

with something but the biology for each cell type and each condition that induces senescence will

be a little bit different and that's what makes it unique and that's why we have to understand the

deep science behind what let's say environmental stressors are truly doing to cells right and then

what those cells are doing in response to those environmental stressors and that's how we can end

up targeting them better I think I couldn't agree with you more and with that in mind especially the

signaling component I mean looking ahead or do you think we're entering into what you might call

a signaling era in skincare I mean do you think that that's coming next with I feel like we've

been through this whole biotech introduction right and different phases of what people consider

to be more scientifically forward skincare but now is it I mean do you think it is finally like a

signaling era that we're coming up on I do think so I mean I think that we have been we've been

doing it for a while we just haven't been very forward with it because everything in biology is

like mentioned before is based on a signaling component so whether it's peptides right or

or let's say exosomes for example which are these vesicles that carry signals within them I think

all of this is leading to us being more forward about talking about signaling but I think that

we've been doing it for decades I just think that we're still learning more deeply as new technologies

come out right and new instruments come out it allows us to explore the science more deeply

so as the industry progresses from a scientific standpoint meaning new methods right new

advancements in microscopy or new advancement in certain types of instrumentation our science

is also going to excel so now we're learning how complex this communicate the skin communication

is and that once again will help us have a better targeted approaches on how we're designing

our formulas that makes sense and I love that you said that we've always kind of been here

and and I love that you said that because I think that's where many times as consumers we can get

so lost in this idea of like oh this is brand new when in reality yeah cell signaling is is

queen when it comes to anything and if we don't understand cell cell signaling in molecular biology

it becomes very difficult to kind of wrap our heads around like the latest innovations and

the latest true advancements when it comes to skin health sciences so I really really appreciate

your your viewpoint on all this but thank you so much again this is wonderful and congratulations

on your innovator award thank you very much so now we're welcoming Dr. Lovina Pupescu who is in

charge of all the R&D at olplex she's the chief scientist there and chief researcher and

and I'm so excited to welcome her and congratulate her on the greater awards that CW granted

welcome Lovina I'm so excited to talk to you same thank you so much for this invitation

I'm excited to dive in because I think innovation is really leading the way right now in beauty

especially in hair care and I'd love for you to kind of tell us a little bit about

where what you see is truly in of like true innovation in the haircare space I mean what are

some of the things that you've seen in the last few years that I've been like wow this is a huge

chef for the hair care industry well definitely the reason especially the last couple of years

we noticed that treatment in hair care category plays a much more role and bigger role than

did in the past treatment usually is coming from skincare but honestly with the amount of the

peptide and proprietary technologies that we notice in the industry I feel hair care is the next

big trend in the treatment category not only again not only for hair follicle for hair growth but

I'm talking more about the hair fibers like classical shampoo conditioner or treatments for the

hair fiber this in my opinion I see a big shift and like I said big innovations I mean that's

huge and I think olplex is so unique because when the bond building technology was introduced I

think it really changed the way that we think about hair right and we the way we approach it and

I think that's I mean olplex has been such a hallmark brand in so many ways in terms of even

shifting the culture around how consumers interact with the science of hair and so look for your

thoughts on that in terms of being an innovator how do you manage that kind of bringing the science

the consumer without overwhelming them but showing them that this is really going to improve your

day-to-day yeah well to be honest I was not part of olplex 12 years ago yeah this technology came

out and I I have to be very honest that time I was a part of as the Lord and I remember I was looking

in their technology in olplex technology because in reality to be able to repair the

cortex of the hair that was a holy grave for us and like I said 12 years ago the owner the ex

owner of olplex didn't crystal joined the force with very amazing scientists from california

and they actually they realize the existing proprietary molecule which is the bissamino this is

how we call not very scientific is the one that actually can reform the disulfide bonds

because we know that the disulfide bonds are the most important bonds that we need to reform

when the hair is damaged different type of damage damages especially chemical damages because

this is the hardest damage that we need to take care of now like I said other technologies this

happened 12 years ago right but other technologies evolved in meantime and like I said before the

peptide category is the one that in my opinion it's it's huge and can really change this industry

but in reality our technology in this moment still it's number one technology in reforming

disulfide bonds probably you are aware that olplex acquire a biotech company per vala

born with in MIT laboratories with MIT scientists and by acquiring this this this biotech company

we actually acquired a couple of proprietary technologies still in the peptide categories

that actually I can say it's it's it's more innovative in terms of benefits it's more advanced

instead of building one disulfide bonds now with one of the technology we can build

six disulfide bonds in the same time and it's in the peptide category and it's a 360 round which is

like I said this 3d which actually will help not only to repair the hair but also to

reshape the hair which is the next generation in our industry we have other technologies that we

are working proprietary technology that we are working in this moment but I feel this technology

especially this technology that I'm talking about we call bond shaper technology it's one that

really can put the hair care industry in the next level that's really fascinating to hear because

that's my main question right innovation is such a broad term but then when you think about it

I mean where like this science component you and I can sit here for hours and you can explain

all of this to me and I will love it because I enjoy science but I think for the everyday consumer

bringing this science forward what are some of the hurdles that you think that olplex faces

from the R&D side or any brand right I mean any any brand I guess you could say in terms of

showing consumers that we are entering a new era especially with biotech like this is a new space

that we're entering in the beauty industry and what are your thoughts on that? Well in reality the

consumer are looking looking to see the benefits yeah if you can deliver the right products with the

right benefits for the consumers of course they will trust the the brand and I feel this is

this is the first thing that any brand can do it can really deliver what they are saying to do it

the second one that it's in my opinion it's extremely important is the safety and I can

say that at olplex we have specific standards for safety I think and I don't want to be

exclusive but probably we want one of the highest in the safety testing and I think for the consumer

matter because they want to be sure when they use a product the product is safe even if they use

multiple times or one time the product is safe and also what is important is important in the

cleaning category right like we want to work in saving the planet we want to be in the area that

we don't use harsh chemicals and not they are safe only for the consumers but also for the

planet if we will be able to deliver everything that I'm saying and with the right benefits I think

the consumer will listen to the science and it's a very interesting shift even in the consumers

mentality and probably because more and more they are exposed to science we have a lot of questions

about the mechanism how exactly this product is working even when we do like one to one

classes with a health stylist or directly with the consumers we have meetings with them they

always are extremely curious and they love to understand science behind the product which is great

yeah no I mean there's like big shift right now I think the consumer like everybody's asking

questions everybody and that's why I feel like this award is so it's just so important when I spoke

to Ilana and Andrea about the the real significance of CEW's innovator awards I was blown away by

their responses well because right now I think it's so important to highlight the scientists

especially the women and stem that are behind these innovations because I think that really

speaks to how people can kind of feel like they can relate to that right like me as a consumer

myself like I mean I'm in science but if I wasn't in science if I knew there was a female scientist

you know such as you and you were behind the scenes and you were creating this I would feel better

as a consumer knowing that and and so I would love to get your your take on and your opinion on

this idea of like congratulating and awarding the scientists and bringing the scientists to the

forefront when it comes to the identity of brands and and letting consumers see them and say

okay this person is behind the brilliant idea that that changed the the game so what are your

thoughts on that I completely agree with you and I have to to give you my personal experience

yeah in this area before I I came to United States I'm from Romania I was assistant professor to

quantum chemistry department in Bucharest and I was one of the few women in that department

to be very honest it's not like I felt a little bit different but I felt that it's hard sometimes

to to fit in that scientific world probably because I was young I didn't know exactly what's

going on but I felt a little bit being we basically we were only two two women in that department

was a little bit hard yeah yeah when I came in United States and I joined cosmetics industry

I felt much better because in our idea at least that is the loader we had a lot of women's

that work in the scientific part and I felt so good and even now I remember when when I realized

that first of all I'm a woman that I fit in this area I have partnered that I discuss with and I

think even the communication the connection between us was so different especially in cosmetics

industry which like I said many many years ago was very much into the woman category we express

ourselves much better we communicate we we connect it very easy to say and I feel I agree with

you I mean even now when like I said I I'm going to be at events and I'm at the hairstyles the

ambassadors they are fascinated to understand who is behind who is the scientist or who who are

the scientists behind the products and we have a lot of people that are coming in the lab we have

special tours for especially for the hairstylist even for some influencers but they are fascinated

to to meet people behind the products yeah I mean I can I can imagine because I think for us like

those who are in science I think it's very early in your in your career it's ingrained in you

to be curious about who knows what you know I mean and seek knowledge and now now I feel like

that culture that true spirit of science is now seeping into the consumer mindset and I love

seeing that because now it's like I want to know I want to know the mind that came up with this

and and that is where I think these kind of awards are so critical at this stage in the beauty

industry and I mean because it's this is what's going to change how the consumers demand more

from brands it's like you don't just want products anymore it's a consumer you want an experience

you want to feel like you're part of something and I and I just love I love that this exists and I

love that women like you are are here and you're showing up in in a way where the consumers can see

this person did this you know she did this came from her mind so I mean they put the face behind

the product which yeah matters so much for them 100% yeah it's not created in a special laboratory

AI or something with they they feel humans it's it's a human connection I think yeah well also

with with a brand like all of pleasure any hair brand right who are the main consumers and this

is across the board and beauty right it's it's women women are exactly exactly we don't represent women

then what are we doing that's the that's the fundamental that's why I love that CW made these awards

I really do because yeah I think it's a benchmark and I mean I would love to get your advice though

because there are a lot of I think young women right now that obviously you see them they're

going into STEM but it's a different it's a different place now I think STEM then it was maybe 20

years ago and you know what's your advice to the budding scientists to the to the young woman who

wants to go into to science about career about expectations anything any words of wisdom you can

offer this is actually a very good question and I have two girls two daughters yeah and it's funny

because especially my other son she's in the science already and I really encourage from the

beginning to be in science because she had a very scientific mind but now with the AI and

everything was going on a lot I have a lot of questions regarding the new generations

Gen Z Gen Alpha if science is still safe because first this is the first question that they always

ask me and I have to say science it's safe is not only safe but especially when you work in the

lab yeah I feel you cannot replace this so easy second talking about girls in science I feel

as a woman especially in cosmetics industry because we use the product we we know how to

we know what we are looking for we know what is missing I think they have such a big potential

and definitely they can create and they can come up with so many innovative ideas that I'm

100% for girls woman in science especially in cosmetics industry in R&D and surprisingly

or not surprisingly in in the R&D in dolloplex R&D we have very young woman that they are doing

amazing and yes of course we have men in in the lab but majority of the scientists are woman

they are young and they are extremely creative they are they love the job and like I said we love

cosmetics we this is part of our DNA right look at them especially Gen Alpha they start probably

the when they are five years old to understand exactly what the products are it means it's in our

DNA we want to look pretty beautiful young attractive and when you have this in your mind you understand

better yeah what products we should develop in order for us to look beautiful right or to look

the way you want to look and again I I feel we need to encourage the woman to be in science

science is amazing not only in cosmetics in general I feel I feel science is it's a fantastic

area but especially in cosmetics industry we need more girls more women's I agree I agree 100

percent with you and those those are wonderful words my I love that you have daughters and that you

are able to share with them because I sometimes I look out and I see so many like for me I remember

when I went into science I didn't have a mentor and I see that a lot these days there's very few

mentors that are you know it's hard it's hard mentoring people but I think girls don't get those

opportunities as readily until they seek them out so I think even from that that mindset it's so

important to have women and beauty especially like like pioneers and and visionaries such as

yourself to be forward in the in the media and to see you because they're they're going to be exposed

to that immediately you know like if you're if you're buying a product and a woman's scientist

was behind creating that you as a little girl I'm sure something happens in your brain when you

start thinking yeah they're not they're on college yet you know they mean so they haven't seen

the female professors so that's their first exposure to a female scientist that's right 100 percent

and like I said I know girls who actually very young yeah they do their own product a couple of

young influencers they they create their own master they act like a scientist imagine what they

will be in the lab how much innovation they can bring because they their mind they know how to

build this type of products like to work in this industry it's beautiful it's beautiful well

thank you so much for your time I have really really enjoyed this and I congratulations again

on the award so well thank you thank you and thank you again for for everything like really

appreciate having a little bit time to listen to my ideas and to promote the fact that

women are so important and I really wants them to be in more in science than anywhere else thank

you guys so much for tuning into this episode I have really loved learning about the C.E.W.

Innovator Awards I think these awards are incredibly just needed in the space because they are

talking about a topic that I think just has never been touched before you know for so long women

in science have been silently working away in the background bringing the most advanced technologies

to the forefront and very rarely do we see them celebrated in this capacity and so I really urge all

of you go check out C.E.W. if you have not already follow along with all of their content and leave

us your thoughts below I would love to learn from you what you think about you know celebrating

women in this way and what you think about the awards and you know just keep tuning in guys thanks so