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It’s nearly the end of the year, and it feels like we’ve been busy! Over the past 12 months, the TRI team have hosted several hair and skincare events, attended numerous others, often presenting work, as well as find time to write blog articles and develop the educational content on our website. There are too many things to mention in one short article, but here are our top 10 highlights of the year:
1. JANUARY – COMPILATION OF LIPSTICK RESEARCH PUBLISHED IN THE TRI LIBRARY.
Dr Xuzi Kang started work to further develop TRI’s capabilities, with a focus on lipsticks and lip care products. This culminated in three blog articles, which were converted into a presentation at the SCC Annual Conference in December 2023 and a TRI Notes on Research article in January 2024.
2. JANUARY – DRY SKIN TESTING 101 BLOG PUBLISHED
Our blog series got off to a great start with an article looking at the different ways of measuring skin hydration through the use of spectroscopy, which provides a valuable alternative to the more widely used conductance and capacitance measurements. For further information on spectroscopy and it’s use within cosmetic science, also see this article.
Other articles published this year include bond builders, sulfate-free shampoos, hair washing frequency, claims support for textured hair, hair moisturization claims and measuring dry skin hydration using spectroscopy. Keep your eyes out for more informative blogs in the new year!
3. JUNE – 11 th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HAIR SCIENCE
The 11th International Conference on Applied Hair Science in June was a great success, with attendees attending both in person and virtually. The focus this year was on hair biology, hair structure, hair insults and protection and new methods and technologies. Feedback was universally positive, with people describing the event as ‘outstanding’ and ‘inspiring’. Over 20 talks were included, from academics and industrialists alike, with Emily Dougherty’s keynote talk providing a particularly interesting insight into the evolution of hair care journalism and the importance of scientific accuracy in the modern world. Talks and posters can be accessed through the TRI library.
4. JULY – NEW NAIL RESEARCH PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE
Ernesta and the Hair Research team partnered with OPI to investigate whether differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) could be used as a tool to assess crosslink density within nail keratin, as well as predict nail brittleness and flexibility. Using DSC to investigate the effects of cosmetic treatments on nails hasn’t been done before, so it truly is research at the forefront of science. An early presentation of this work was made in November 2023 in our TRI Talks.
5. JULY – LAUNCH OF EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT BLOG SERIES
We started our new ‘Everyone’s talking about’ series. The aim of this series is to identify new, or key trends within hair or skincare, and then look at them from a scientific perspective. Thus far we have covered snail mucin and ectoin in skincare products, and the inclusion of peptides into lip care and skincare products such as masks, balms, creams and lipsticks. We’ll continue to develop this theme over the coming year, so if you have any trends you want us to showcase then please let us know!
6. AUGUST – SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
TRI hosted several paid interns over the summer. For example, Filipa de Castro, based in Portugal, who worked with the online team, and Holly Honoré, who worked with Dr Xuzi Kang at TRI’s laboratories in New Jersey. Both thoroughly enjoyed their time and the experience, with Holly working on further development of dynamic wet lubrication studies and Filipa the Bite-Sized Learning blog series and the upcoming TRI Academy. Other interns this year have been: Norah Bumrah, Ishan Gadekar, Minsu Kang, Snehal Patil, and Daniel Strzeszewski.
7. AUGUST – PARTICIPATION IN BEAUTY MTYHS CAMP
In August, Dr Paul Cornwell (Business Development Director, TRI) took part in an on-line Beauty Myths Camp that focussed on debunking myths that persist in many areas of cosmetic science, including sustainability, active ingredients, safety, formulation, regulations, hair care, sunscreens and skin care. Paul’s area of focus was on the topics of bond builders, ideal wash frequencies for hair, sulfate-free claims and multi-ethnic hair care, all of which are available as blog articles on our website.
8. SEPTEMBER – TRI SKIN COURSE
The Principles of Skin Measurement & Claims course was hosted at TRI in September in a hybrid format, with live demonstrations and various test methods showcased, and a special social event for live delegates on the evening of Day 1 featuring a local jazz band. Expert-led sessions featured insightful presentations from industry leaders including Marcella Gabarra, Paul Cornwell, Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud (TRI Princeton), and Gary Groves (CyberDERM Inc., USA), Matthieu Jomier (QIMA Monasterium GmbH, France), Elodie Gras Lavigne (Neuron Experts, France), and Lori Cioerta (Biox Systems Ltd, UK). Watch out for the course next fall/autumn.
9. OCTOBER – TRI TALKS 2024 SEASON
The annual TRI talks series started in October, with a presentation from Dr Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud, Director of Skin Bio- Substrates. This was followed by talks from Dr Trefor Evans and Dr Jessica Cardenas Turner. Topics covered thus far include the (i) evaluation of sunscreen using vibrational spectroscopy, (ii) measuring hair motion and (iii) using skin microscopy to support product innovation, claims testing and research. All TRI talks will be available in the TRI library, once the final talk, ‘Trading Textures with Flat Ironing: A Case of the Eroding Cortex with the Permanent Change in Curl Type’ has been delivered by Ayin Abegunde on January 15 th , 2025. Register to watch it using this link.
10. NOVEMBER – LAUNCH OF BITE-SIZED LEARNING BLOGS FOR STUDENTS AND YOUNG SCIENTISTS
One of TRI’s core pillars is our dedication to educating both today’s and the next generation of scientists. We recently launched our ‘Bite-Sized Learning’ blog series, where we will look at different aspects of claims within the beauty industry with the ultimate goal being to provide a resource for scientists in the cosmetics industry that supports product development and claims substantiation. The first article is an introduction to product evaluation for cosmetic and personal care products, written by our intern Filipa de Castro and Paul Cornwell. Keep an eye out for the next instalments and the launch of our new ‘TRI Academy’ in the new year.
