Career Panel and Networking Event with Scientists from the Cosmetics Industry

Pathways for Science Careers in the Cosmetics Industry

Join us for a career panel and networking event featuring a diverse panel of scientific experts from cosmetic and personal care companies featuring remarks from David Smith, Executive Director of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. Learn how scientific expertise is used in the cosmetic and personal care industry and explore career opportunities and factors that lead to success in these industries.

Dulce Almario, M.S. (Associate Vice President, Product & Fragrance Innovation, Victoria Secret Beauty, L Brands), Amber Evans, Ph.D. (Product Development Scientist at BASF), Marianne Mota Paulino, M.S. (Senior Process Engineer at L’Oreal) and Alisa Vasilenko, Ph.D. (Manager of Luxury Development at L’Oreal) will present in a panel discussion.

The Panel will be moderated by Amanda Weyerbacher, Ph.D., who has worked as a Senior Scientist in the Product Safety and Toxicology Department at L’Oreal USA Research and Innovation.

Panelists will be asked to discuss:

What are some of the important actions you took to get your current job?

What are the primary benefits and challenges of choosing this career?

How did you find out about opportunities in this field?

What qualities are needed to be successful in this job?

What growth opportunities are there for you, your field, or your organization?

What are the salaries for folks starting out in your field?

At the end of the panel discussion, we'll take questions and have time for networking with your fellow scientists and the panel guests. Refreshments will be served.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please note: this is not a job fair featuring employers.

About the speakers:

Dulce Almario has over 15 years of experience in the Cosmetic Personal Care Industry. She started her
career at L'Oreal, Redken as an R&D chemist. After L'Oreal, she joined Firmenich Inc, a global top fragrance and flavor company, as an Application Lab chemist and then transitioned to the role of an Innovation Manager in their Creative Marketing Studio. While at Firmenich, she worked in their Geneva & Paris location for a short period of time as part of the company’s exchange program. She is currently the Associate Vice President of Product & Fragrance Innovation at Victoria's Secret Beauty, where she is responsible for overseeing the day to day business for all their beauty categories. She earned her undergraduate Degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University & a Master’s in Professional Studies, Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Amber Evans started her career in the personal care industry with BASF – The Chemical Company in late 2012. She is currently a product development scientist in BASF’s Care Chemicals division where she is responsible for the development of new technologies for hair care. Such technologies include materials that offer key consumer benefits and test methods for the evaluation of product performance. Prior to joining BASF, Dr. Evans earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with an emphasis on Cosmetic Science from University of Cincinnati in 2011. Her dissertation work focused on investigating the factors that influence the uptake of water hardness metals by human hair, the impact of that uptake on hair properties and technologies related to controlling this interaction. Dr. Evans has also completed multiple internships in the Beauty Technology Division of The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) where she worked on projects ranging from upstream research for hair colorant technologies to clinical testing for shaving irritation. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in 2005.

Marianne Mota Paulino started her career with L’Oreal USA in 2009 as a formulation chemist of hair styling products. In 2012, she transferred to her current role in the pilot team where she is in charge of developing efficient processes for the hair category. As a Sr. Process Engineer, she also ensures technology scale-up and the successful manufacturing of new product launches. Prior to this position, she earned her M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied the release of PEGylated proteins from PLG microspheres. She also worked as an intern in 3M and Procter and Gamble (P&G), where she had the opportunity to work on the development of new industrial adhesives and consumer studies for sanitary napkins, respectively. She obtained her dual B.S. in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from University of Florida in 2006.

The panel moderator, Amanda Weyerbacher, previously worked as in Senior Scientist in the Product safety department at L’Oreal. In this role, she managed the clinical safety testing program of multiple consumer products across a wide array of global brands for market launch, ensuring compliance with international regulatory requirements and claim substantiation. Prior to
this position, Dr. Weyerbacher earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Cornell University’s - Weill Cornell Graduate School of Biological Sciences in New York City in May 2009. In her dissertation research, she identified critical pain signaling proteins, cytokines and immune/
central nervous system interactions as relevant drug targets for clinical pain control in an animal model of persistent pain. From 2001-2003, Dr. Weyerbacher was a Clinical Research Associate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In this role, she managed up to ten active Phase I and II clinical trials, defining and monitoring project scope, timelines and deliverables from project initiation to close-out. She earned her B.A. in Biology-Chemistry from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY in May 2001.