skincare
H T E SCIC N E E OF
LUXURY
Rabije Cekovic is a Senior
Chemist for L’Oréal USA who formulates primarily for SkinCeuticals. Rabije chats with Shania O’Brien about luxury products, formulating serums, and the future of SkinCeuticals. RABIJE CEKOVIC is a Senior Chemist for L’Oréal USA’s Research and Innovation segment working under the Actives Cosmetic Division. Cekovic has been a formulation chemist for almost three years and presently formulates primarily for SkinCeuticals and is working on upcoming launches for the brand. Prior to joining L’Oréal, Cekovic attended graduate school to attain her Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering. Cekovic also possesses a Bachelor’s in Chemistry. Cekovic shared behind-the-scenes aspects of formulating SkinCeuticals products, all the way from the early stages to what’s in store for the future. Can you tell us how you went about formulating the popular SkinCeuticals Vitamin C serums? “Vitamin C is a difficult ingredient to formulate with, so the process is quite lengthy. It’s about determining the optimal concentration of Vitamin C, the optimal delivery system, and confirming the physical and chemical stability over the course of its shelf-life. Once a final composition is achieved, the formula undergoes an extensive clinical testing plan.” What goals did you have in mind before beginning? “Before beginning, the goal is innovation and optimal efficacy. At SkinCeuticals, when we innovate, we often look to three key areas for inspiration: the future of health as we try to anticipate the needs of our patients; the needs of our physicians and their procedures; and new ingredients. SkinCeuticals is always seeking out highly efficacious ingredients with interesting mechanisms of action.”
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How is formulating anti-aging products different from other targeted skincare? “The formulation of no two products is the same. Each product works to address a specific skincare challenge. From the proactive research involved in the selection of appropriate active ingredients and technologies to the clinical testing design, each product has a unique process.” Can you shed some light on the chemical engineering behind the top SkinCeuticals products, and why you think they’re cult favourites? “Expertise from varying fields is at work behind the scenes of each SkinCeuticals product: biology, chemistry, chemical engineering, package engineering, amongst many other fields. It involves the search for highly efficacious ingredients, formulation stability, microbiological protection, scaleup feasibility, safety clearance, clinical proof. Why are they cult favourites? I think that answer is simple. Because they work.” What is the SkinCeuticals message on sustainability and green beauty? “I’m very excited about SkinCeuticals’ sustainability initiative. At SkinCeuticals, we’re taking the same philosophy we follow to create our products and applying it to our sustainability goals: Prevent, Correct, Protect. We’re looking to prevent waste and improve the sustainability profile of all our products. We do this by maximising our formulas and processes and minimising packaging. To maximise our formulas, we’re using only what we need and we’re switching to biobased alternatives wherever possible. Every iteration we develop is checked for
impact on biodegradability, renewability, green chemistry, and water footprint. Our process engineers are also constantly tweaking the manufacturing process to make it more efficient.” What about the packing stage of the process - how does this work? “We’re stripping away anything we don’t need. This includes cellophane wrapping around our cartons, any extra paper, and any unnecessary pieces, like plastic spatulas for example. And to ‘correct,’ we’re looking at reducing our carbon footprint by optimising the supply chain and localising production where we can to minimise energy and emissions involved with the transport of goods. Finally, to ‘protect,’ we’re advancing our medical communities by transforming our physician’s clinics into more sustainable ones and developing leadership for historically underrepresented groups.” What is your favourite part of working on a project? “The early stages, just when formulation work begins, is the most exciting (and most challenging) part of a project. This is when we start to turn a concept into reality, and we push the boundaries of what is feasible. It’s the selection of innovative active ingredients and countless trials to determine solubility and stability that brings us closer to that final product.” Do you consider SkinCeuticals a luxury brand? “If you define a ‘luxury’ brand as one that creates products with higher concentrations of innovative active ingredients and scientific proof of efficacy, then yes. SkinCeuticals launches products that protect against oxidative stress, stimulation of collagen synthesis, and restoration of lipids among other things.” n
