Time for us to put on our lab coats as we move onto Cosmetic Chemistry. This module has had us delve into some basic chemistry. We have learnt about atoms and atom bonding and an analogy or two was used to help us better understand this topic such as:
Charge attraction: Just like opposites can attract each other in the dating world, opposite charges attract each other in the chemistry world. In terms of subatomic particles, this means that electrons and protons attract each other.
In the dating world there are people you may be attracted to, there also people that you may think to yourself “no way” when considering the possibility of a romantic relationship with them. The same holds true in the chemistry world. Positive charges repel other positive charges AND Negative charges repel other negative charges.
At times it can be a little dry so some of the teaching has been enhanced with the use of lollies and chocolate…YUM!
We also learnt about the stabilizers, emulsions, preservatives that are found in the cosmetics we use on a daily basis and how some brands use less of this stuff and more of the good stuff that benefits our skin. The purpose of this module is to assist us to understand exactly what is in the products that we will be using in our industry.
The assignment for this module is a little different – we are required to make our own beauty product, i.e. lip balm, face mask, exfoliate etc. With the information that we have gained from this module we need to consider the elements that enable different ingredients to bond, stabilize, preserve etc. We are all very excited about our products in development, and keen to see what our classmates are going to come up with.
