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

Virtually 10 years in the past, Cicely Shillingford skipped her morning lab to attend a neighborhood commerce present, and her life modified ceaselessly. 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 acquire from her Ph.D. program. Relatively than retreating, she embraced this newfound curiosity, igniting her ardour for the advanced world of magnificence. “I had no concept how even to ask the proper questions or begin the dialog, however I simply dove in,” she recalled. “That was a turning level for me.”

Immediately, Shillingford is the director of product improvement on the award-winning haircare model Amika, the place she leads the creation of formulations that maintain tempo with client tendencies 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 improvement, helps the rising development of “skinification” in haircare, and advocates for inclusivity and mentorship within the magnificence trade.

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

“That day was momentous for me. As a tutorial, I might been so centered on deep dives into particular topics that I typically 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 the right way 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 be taught 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 type of moments. I want I might recognized earlier that I may receives a commission to make lipstick.”

In your function at Amika, you create merchandise that influence 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 might placed on make-up for dance after which go play soccer on the weekends. A second that made me assume critically about magnificence was at a cheerleading camp in South Texas. It was the most well liked weekend ever, and certainly one of my teammates was doing a full face of make-up earlier than the ultimate day of performances. I requested, ‘Why hassle?’ She stated, ‘Once I look good, I really feel good, and after I really feel good, I carry out higher.’ That caught with me. If you look good, you’re feeling good; if 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 standard, lovely child, however as I grew older and realized extra about magnificence, it helped me re-establish my sense of self, confidence, and function. That is when it clicked that magnificence, confidence, and sense of self are interconnected.” 

The intersection of science and sweetness is an enchanting area. How do you stability the technical points of product improvement with the sweetness trade’s artistic and consumer-driven wants?

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

“As a scientist, I think about what applied sciences, components, or molecules help that aim. For instance, if the difficulty is flat hair and the patron needs quantity, I first think about the physiological trigger—is it thinning, ageing, stress, genetics, or extra oil on the scalp? As soon as I perceive the trigger, I search for options by 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 is not simply mixing components however reworking them into one thing new, the place science, client wants, and sweetness mix collectively. Due to that, there’s a variety of artwork and creativity in chemistry.”

What are some rising tendencies in haircare that you just’re enthusiastic about?

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

“There are additionally thrilling developments in sustainability. Particularly, at Amika, we’ve an thrilling partnership with a regenerative agriculture firm referred to as Forested, primarily based in Ethiopia. Pushed by Jamie Richards, our director of ESG (Surroundings Social Governance), this partnership goals to combine their components into our provide chain, primarily shea butter for now. By being regenerative, they make sure the land stays wholesome for future crop improvement and employees 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 neighborhood. How do these values align together with your private {and professional} mission in product improvement?

“I like that Amika means good friend [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 good friend to all, and that message of inclusivity and neighborhood is embedded in our total tradition. We’ve 11 or 12 collections now for each hair sort and aim. It is vital that once we say a product is for a selected hair sort, we validate that in a scientific setting. We take a look at merchandise totally to make sure our advertising aligns with our testing in order that we serve our prospects successfully. I just lately began a Curly Coily committee at Amika, main a roundtable of ladies with sort 3A to 4C hair, predominantly sort 4. We focus on product improvement, take a look at merchandise, and combine insights all through our product improvement life cycle and go-to-market campaigns to make sure inclusivity in each a part of our new improvement. I am excited to see how this group evolves and the way we are able to deliver all voices to the desk deliberately.”

Throughout your time at NYU, you performed a pivotal function in growing 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 can be till I graduated—I knew that wasn’t okay. I labored exhausting to recruit 4 new Black college students into this system, which concerned touring, mentoring college students one-on-one, reviewing functions, and serving to with scholarship functions. I drafted petitions in June 2020 to eradicate the GRE, which we efficiently did. It is a take a look at that traditionally reveals underrepresented minorities do worse on it. Inclusivity is one thing I’ve at all times felt referred to 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’ve an lively 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 look after the hair of Black and brown kids. Moreover, our ‘Rooted in Development’ mentorship program supplies scholarships predominantly to Black feminine founders of hair firms to enhance fairness within the hair trade.”

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

“In case you’re inquisitive about magnificence and academia, a Ph.D. is a superb path. There are packages for beauty science in the US and globally, with extra popping up. One of the best-known ones are on the College of Toledo and the College of Cincinnati. Many do not understand that you would be able to 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 increased schooling alternatives won’t 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 realized the right way to join with professionals and be chief. I even launched a convention collection by 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 lots of packages and occasions for publicity, too. There are lots of packages on Eventbrite—you simply must be resourceful sufficient to search out them. The New York Society of Beauty Chemists and the Nationwide Society for Beauty Chemists are organizations each pupil inquisitive about beauty chemistry ought to be part of. You may make nice connections, they usually have nice conferences with pupil reductions.”

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