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If you could work in one aspect of cosmetic production, which would it be?
Product development, no question!
— Christine
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I would like to create products (shadows, liners, mascaras, blushes, lipsticks) that never fade or wear off until you take them off.
Oh, this is a tough one! On one hand, I love science, but I’m no chemist, so I don’t know how my first choice could ever work! But yes, I would love to create new products, with new shades and formulas! And I’m not even sure what the job title would be…cosmetics chemist??? I haven’t got a clue, but it sure would be fun!
Packaging. That would be my dream job.
The creative part! I’d love to be able to imagine new products for a living.
Production design. Essentially, the team who’s responsible for crafting the look/design of the makeup product and its packaging.
Product development too !!
Public relations or customer service. 🙂
I would want to name the shades and products. I am damn good at it anyway!
Naming shades would basically be my dream job.
Same! But I do think PR and advertising are fun too.
Kiss & Make-up, love love love the colour of your lippy in this profile pic ??
Thank you! It’s the MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Feels So Grand!
Product development skincare!
I’m with you, Christine, in product development 🙂 I’m so curious about how things are formulated, it makes me interested in studying chemistry (and the first time around, it was a requirement, but I wasn’t so interested, lol!)
Do I have to pick just one….. Product development, brand, packaging, marketing I want my hands on all of it.
One of the testers or models! Either that or the one coordinating and scheduling launches, buys, buyer schedules – something back office-y and where I’d be in charge of organizing and scheduling things.
Judging from the comments it seems to me we have at least one person for everything so we’d make an awesome team 😛
Let’s do this, ladies!! 😀
Absolutely product development. Or as a curator and archivist for brand. Or naming could be fun! If I wasn’t an actor, I’d likely choose to go into cosmetic chemistry.
Definitely packaging!
Probably PR or advertising. I could actually put my Journalism degree to use. lol If I’m writing press releases and copy, I’m pretty happy.
Coming up with new cosmetics in the lab would be interesting and fun, but I don’t have the chemistry background for it.
Marketing & distribution. It makes absolutely no sense to me as a consumer why brands don’t rotate extremely popular LE products into their permanent range, or why certain brands have a ubiquitous presence in every major department store, while others are relegated to the stores online-only status. While I’m sure it has to do with agreements with a brand, at least in some cases, I’d like to work with the brand to come up with a reasonable solution in the best interests of the brand, retailer, and consumer.
Shade selection. Everything color related. I would love mix and match colors to get new shades.
Probably marketing!
User Experience. The wrong tools or the wrong techniques can make the difference between a customer being satisfied or disappointed in how a product performs. Sometimes customers simply don’t understand how to use a new or innovative product to maximize a positive result. I’d love to work with focus groups to see what did and did not work for them when trying a new product and then figure out how to improve it.
Eileen, bingo. That would be so fun, and rewarding. And the next step would be to provide feedback to the SAs, which would boost sales and curb returns.
Product tester and reviewer
Product photography for marketing/advertising, concentrating on how the product appears on a brand’s website and having accurate swatches on various skin tones.
I’m not sure. I’m sure being a colorist would be easy for me. I am excellent at creating color stories! The science-y part of me would prefer to work in formulations or product development. Within PD there are lot of cogs though.
QC..Because I can’t believe some of the junk that get out these days!
I’ve always wanted to have a go at colour matching. That was the part of the job my mum always liked. Someone would come in with a rival product and you’d have to match it, as well as making sure the colour was consistent through out the batches. She used to have so much fun doing it that its always made me wanna have ago. Recently I’ve been seeing videos of ppl going to bite beauty’s shop to make their own colour. It’s basically that making appealing colours.
Man that’s tricky! In a while I’ll be applying to uni and stuff and I’m looking at some degrees that could be useful in the cosmetic industry. Right now I think formulating and package design is most interesting! Or maybe like the graphic design in some way?
Packaging or limited edition collection product development. I would like more freedom to create unique products!
Production design. I’d like to be part of the team who’s responsible for creating the look and design of the product and its packaging. I’d give the products cute funky silly insane names. I know I’d be so good at it.
Product marketing but, I feel that all of us on Youtube already do that lol! ♥ Elle
I want to name the colors. Blush, lipstick, nail polish, eye shadow, whatever…I want to name them.
Marketing – naming colors targeted for customer base. I love eyeshadow names!! Kat Von D and Urban Decay would be the most fun!!
Eyeliner! I would love to or be involved in making an eyeliner for the waterline that REALLY did stay ALL day. Yes there are many out there but NONE of them REALLY stay on the waterline.
Color and packaging design! I love nice palettes and their layouts.
Either where you develop the concept, the colour story, the imagery etc… Or part of the advertising campaign getting to come up with the promotional pictures… Or even the model in those photos.
Most likely product development and/or creation, especially in skincare. I think it’s really interesting how some products work on me like a dream and others, well, maybe not a nightmare but close. So it must be the chemistry in the product and I think it would be fascinating.
I already do! Sales! I´m a Mary Kay consultant. I love to recomend the best for my clients and give some tips too.
I would agree with you Christine – product development to ensure that quality comes first.
Concealers and foundation products. I’ve suffered from acne as a kid into an adult and became agoraphobic because of it. These products can change lives and too many women are taken advantage of.
Foundation development, I should clarify. Create formulas that are simple, healing, healthy and stay put. Affordable so an actual teen can buy them. Still high end quality.
Product development would me my first choice as well, as I tend to know exactly what I want in a collection and it would be good to get a little creative. Though as a science geek I wouldn’t mind working in the lab or the factory on perfecting formulas, pigments and finishes, and making sure products live up to my quality standards.
Anything and everything color related would be my makeup industry dream job.
Package design, definitely
I work in product development (footwear) and it is SO TECHNICAL.
Spreadsheets, all day, man.
If you want to play with colors and be creative, you want to be a line manager or designer.
Actual PD people just spend time in excel and sending tons of email 🙁
I actually love spreadsheets, LOL!
Well then it sounds like the perfect fit, then! 🙂
Even though I would LOVE to work in product development, or any creative branch, I’m going to go with quality control. It doesn’t matter how beautiful a color is, how it feels, or how gorgeous one makes the packaging surrounding it, if it doesn’t perform well, none of that really matters.
So happy to see this question posted yesterday, I’m a cosmetic chemist and I’d like to encourage any of you interested in formulation, to study Chemistry and pursue your dream. Please know that making makeup is a real job and that if this is a dream of yours, you CAN make it happen. Working in a lab and formulating cosmetic products isn’t always glamorous, it is very physical work, but yes there is something incredibly awesome about testing the product you’ve made! I wish you all the best and hope this inspires someone to make their dream a reality!
I would LOVE to be a chemist at a somewhat independent makeup/skincare lab, and where I could make sure certain ingredients like Lavender Extract or Kathon CG never made it into the formula. I would also like to be able to influence the binders and how the products are pressed so that the color and pigmentation of certain shades(purples for example) could stay true and vibrant