How to be a Cosmetic Formulator?

Do you love using cosmetic products? And do you have an inclination towards science? Then maybe being a Cosmetic Formulator is the right career for you!

You may ask, how do I become a Cosmetic Formulator? We’ll be answering that in this post. But before anything else, we need to understand what a Cosmetic Formulator is.

What is a Cosmetic Formulator?

A cosmetic formulator performs a lot of tasks inside and out of the lab. Primarily, a cosmetic formulator combines different raw materials in the lab to create different cosmetic products, such as face cream, lipstick, shampoo, body lotion soap, conditioner, etc. Other tasks performed by a cosmetic formulator are the following:

• Formulate innovative cosmetic products
• Research about new ingredients and technologies that can be applied in your cosmetic products
• Test prototypes prepared in the lab
• Troubleshoot problems in the production line
• Analyze competitor products in the market

If you are an avid user of cosmetic products, you have lots of opportunities to do that in the lab.

Where can I work as a Cosmetic Formulator

A cosmetic formulator has a lot of job opportunities. They can work with different cosmetic brands (local or multinational), toll manufacturing companies (these are manufacturing companies that accept production orders from cosmetic brands that do not have their own manufacturing facility), raw material suppliers, or they can start up their own formulating consultancy agency.

Being a cosmetic formulator is a rewarding career, since you have an opportunity to use your creativity. Aside from this, you get this joyful feeling of seeing on the store shelves and online stores the products that you have developed. Lastly, in the event that you have ran out of the cosmetic product that you regularly use, you can make one for yourself in the lab. You have saved your money, while honing your skill of formulating cosmetic products in the lab!

How to become a Cosmetic Formulator

Step1: Obtain a science degree

In the internet, we always get to hear someone who wants to learn how to make cosmetic products to sell, then set-up their own company, and then call themselves as cosmetic formulators. But that is not how one becomes a cosmetic formulator. In order to understand the science behind making cosmetics, formulators must have a good foundation in the sciences. To do this, formulators obtain a science degree from a college or university. Degree programs usually obtained by formulators are college degrees in Chemistry, Pharmacy, Chemical Engineering, and Biology.

Here in the Philippines, Centro Escolar University offers BS Cosmetic Science that “is designed to serve the demand of the cosmetic industry by enabling students to understand the concept and develop the technique in formulating cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances”.

Step 2: Get a cosmetic formulator job

Now that you have your science degree, it’s time to look for a job. And the first step to getting a job is by writing your own resume. You should write a resume that highlights your skills related to the job of a cosmetic formulator. For finding jobs, there are a lot of job-finder sites on the internet like:

Jobstreet

Careerjet

Upwork (for those who look for freelancer jobs)

Aside from writing your resume, you should create your profile on LinkedIn. This is like Facebook, but instead of finding friends, this site lets you expand your professional network. Expanding your network of people working in the cosmetics industry increases your chance of getting a job.

Be a Cosmetic Formulator now!

Being a cosmetic formulator is a great career. You’ll get to face challenges and will require you to become creative to make stand-out formulations. And as I have said here in this blog post, being a cosmetic formulator gives you a gratifying feeling when you see your concoctions being sold in store shelves and online stores.