Amika’s Dr. Cicely Shillingford on Her Beauty Chemistry Profession

Nearly 10 years in the past, Cicely Shillingford skipped her morning lab to attend an area commerce present, and her life modified endlessly. As a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry at New York College, she had been considering her future and contemplating beauty chemistry when a colleague invited her to the New York Society of Beauty Chemists Ingredient Commerce Present. For the primary time, Shillingford felt out of her depth, immersed within the nuances of the sweetness provide chain—data she could not achieve from her Ph.D. program. Fairly than retreating, she embraced this newfound curiosity, igniting her ardour for the complicated world of magnificence. “I had no thought how even to ask the best questions or begin the dialog, however I simply dove in,” she recalled. “That was a turning level for me.”

As we speak, Shillingford is the director of product growth on the award-winning haircare model Amika, the place she leads the creation of formulations that maintain tempo with shopper developments whereas making certain high quality, security, and efficacy. Past her work at Amika, she has devoted herself to mentoring college students and younger professionals from underrepresented backgrounds, particularly girls of shade.

Maintain studying to find how Shillingford navigates the intersection of science and creativity in product growth, helps the rising development of “skinification” in haircare, and advocates for inclusivity and mentorship within the magnificence trade.

You’ve got had a formidable journey from structural biochemistry to product growth and sweetness. How did attending the commerce present spark your curiosity in beauty chemistry?

“That day was momentous for me. As an educational, I would been so targeted on deep dives into particular topics that I usually forgot how the remainder of the world works. On the commerce present, I discovered myself asking naive inquiries to ingredient suppliers about being in magnificence and find out how to get began. After that, I continued my self-education alongside my Ph.D. analysis. Educational analysis is one factor, however understanding the sweetness provide chain and making use of your data is not one thing you study in a Ph.D. program. That have was a turning level for me. My life has been a collection of alternatives given to me by mentors and recommendation I’ve taken. In order that was a kind of moments. I want I would recognized earlier that I might receives a commission to make lipstick.”

In your position at Amika, you create merchandise that impression folks’s on a regular basis magnificence routines. What does magnificence imply to you, each personally and professionally?

“I used to be fairly a tomboy rising up. As a baby, I would placed on make-up for dance after which go play soccer on the weekends. A second that made me suppose critically about magnificence was at a cheerleading camp in South Texas. It was the most popular weekend ever, and one among my teammates was doing a full face of make-up earlier than the ultimate day of performances. I requested, ‘Why trouble?’ She mentioned, ‘Once I look good, I really feel good, and once I really feel good, I carry out higher.’ That caught with me. If you look good, you are feeling good; once you really feel good, you do good. As a cheerleader, placing on make-up helped me step right into a persona and carry out higher. I by no means felt like the normal, lovely child, however as I grew older and discovered extra about magnificence, it helped me re-establish my sense of self, confidence, and goal. That is when it clicked that magnificence, confidence, and sense of self are interconnected.” 

The intersection of science and sweetness is a captivating house. How do you stability the technical points of product growth with the sweetness trade’s inventive and consumer-driven wants?

“At Amika, we work carefully with our product advertising and marketing staff to construct ideas that fill portfolio gaps, align with developments, and meet numerous standards. The product staff’s job—advertising and marketing and growth—is to co-create the claims and advantages and outline the patron wants. In terms of beauty merchandise, altering the feel and appear of pores and skin or hair addresses an underlying physiological purpose tied to a shopper ache level.”

“As a scientist, I contemplate what applied sciences, elements, or molecules help that purpose. For instance, if the difficulty is flat hair and the patron desires quantity, I first contemplate the physiological trigger—is it thinning, growing older, stress, genetics, or extra oil on the scalp? As soon as I perceive the trigger, I search for options by means of chemistry, whether or not it is molecules that create texture or static on the root to make the hair strands repel one another and create quantity.”

“Formulation is like baking a cake. It isn’t simply mixing elements however remodeling them into one thing new, the place science, shopper wants, and sweetness mix collectively. Due to that, there’s loads of artwork and creativity in chemistry.”

What are some rising developments in haircare that you simply’re enthusiastic about?

“I am positive some beauty chemists will roll their eyes once I say this, however I am genuinely excited concerning the ‘skinification’ of hair. Hair has many fascinating properties, and there are numerous targets to attain. The range is immense, particularly for Black and Indigenous girls of shade, the place the kinds are limitless. Watching skinification transfer into styling is thrilling, focusing not simply on self-expression but additionally on hair well being and growing older. We have accepted preventative skincare to keep away from wrinkles, however customers have not related that growing older additionally occurs on the scalp and within the hair. This shift in mindset might open a major marketplace for well-aging hair merchandise.”

“There are additionally thrilling developments in sustainability. Particularly, at Amika, we have now an thrilling partnership with a regenerative agriculture firm known as Forested, based mostly in Ethiopia. Pushed by Jamie Richards, our director of ESG (Surroundings Social Governance), this partnership goals to combine their elements into our provide chain, primarily shea butter for now. By being regenerative, they make sure the land stays wholesome for future crop growth and staff in these communities are correctly compensated. It is uncommon for companies of our dimension to have such funding, and I am proud to be a part of this initiative.”

Amika’s model is all about inclusivity and group. How do these values align together with your private {and professional} mission in product growth?

“I like that Amika means pal [in the Esperanto language]. An enormous a part of Amika’s success, particularly being primary at Sephora for nearly a 12 months now, is the ‘All Right here’ marketing campaign. Amika has at all times lived these values of being a pal to all, and that message of inclusivity and group is embedded in our total tradition. We’ve got 11 or 12 collections now for each hair kind and purpose. It is vital that once we say a product is for a particular hair kind, we validate that in a scientific setting. We take a look at merchandise completely to make sure our advertising and marketing aligns with our testing in order that we serve our prospects successfully. I lately began a Curly Coily committee at Amika, main a roundtable of ladies with kind 3A to 4C hair, predominantly kind 4. We focus on product growth, take a look at merchandise, and combine insights all through our product growth life cycle and go-to-market campaigns to make sure inclusivity in each a part of our new growth. I am excited to see how this group evolves and the way we will convey all voices to the desk deliberately.”

Throughout your time at NYU, you performed a pivotal position in rising the illustration of Black Ph.D. students in chemistry. How have mentorship and advocacy formed your profession, and the way do you see this affect enjoying out within the magnificence trade?

“Advocating for Black girls in STEM has at all times been a major a part of my educational life. Once I began grad college and realized I used to be the one Black individual within the chemistry division—and could be till I graduated—I knew that wasn’t okay. I labored laborious to recruit 4 new Black college students into this system, which concerned touring, mentoring college students one-on-one, reviewing purposes, and serving to with scholarship purposes. I drafted petitions in June 2020 to remove the GRE, which we efficiently did. It is a take a look at that traditionally exhibits underrepresented minorities do worse on it. Inclusivity is one thing I’ve at all times felt known as to advocate for. I see myself as a product of serendipitous alternative, luck, nice mentorship, supportive mother and father, and a ardour for science.”

“I am lucky to proceed this work at Amika, the place we have now an energetic DEI committee. This 12 months, I have been fortunate to sit down on the donations committee to assist the model donate 1% of our income to varied organizations throughout key cultural moments. Some organizations we have supported embrace Black Ladies for Wellness, which advocates for well being fairness for Black girls, and Types for Youngsters, which helps trans adoptive mother and father learn to take care of the hair of Black and brown youngsters. Moreover, our ‘Rooted in Development’ mentorship program offers scholarships predominantly to Black feminine founders of hair corporations to enhance fairness within the hair trade.”

What recommendation would you give to younger girls, particularly girls of shade, who’re involved in pursuing a profession in STEM throughout the magnificence trade?

“If you happen to’re involved in magnificence and academia, a Ph.D. is a good path. There are packages for beauty science in the US and globally, with extra popping up. The most effective-known ones are on the College of Toledo and the College of Cincinnati. Many do not notice you can receives a commission to pursue a Ph.D. within the U.S. with a stipend, making it extra accessible for first-generation or immigrant college students for whom greater training alternatives may not be as accessible.”

“One thing influential for me in grad college was becoming a member of the Chemist Membership, a 160-year-old group in New York that connects college students with chemical trade careers. Whereas it is much less beauty-focused, I discovered find out how to join with professionals and be an excellent chief. I even launched a convention collection by means of that group and packed a room with 200 professionals three years in a row, together with the CEO of Dow Chemical and senior expertise folks from L’Oréal. There are a lot of packages and occasions for publicity, too. There are a lot of packages on Eventbrite—you simply need to be resourceful sufficient to seek out them. The New York Society of Beauty Chemists and the Nationwide Society for Beauty Chemists are organizations each scholar involved in beauty chemistry ought to be a part of. You will make nice connections, they usually have nice conferences with scholar reductions.”

“Be gritty and attain out to folks prepared to speak. I get many LinkedIn messages and attempt to reply to people who resonate with me. I am at all times joyful for folks to contact me for steerage as a result of transitioning into this trade as a scientist might be powerful. Be curious, ask questions, and study as a lot as you’ll be able to. Do not hesitate to achieve out—you by no means know whose door would possibly open for those who knock.”