DALLAS, TX (December 20, 2019) – In 2019, Mary Kay Inc. continued its decades-long commitment to skin science research by revealing the results of multiple groundbreaking studies and fostering academic discussion with industry peers at scientific symposiums around the globe. Most recently, Mary Kay was in New York City for the 73rd Society of Cosmetic Chemists Meeting, where the brand sponsored, collaborated, and explored applications of skin microbiome with leading experts in the field.
“New research suggests that microbes play an important role in overall skin health, and as leading skincare innovators, Mary Kay is heavily invested in further exploration of their impact,” said Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Scientific Officer at Mary Kay. “We have a commitment to take an active role in the beauty and scientific communities through participation in global dermatological conferences like the Society of Cosmetic Chemists Meeting, where we can share and learn from other scientific experts to help us develop more effective products.”
Society of Cosmetic Chemists Meeting convenes over 1,300 attendees from some of the top cosmetic and personal care brands and manufacturers. Participants are encouraged to engage with speakers presenting the latest research and innovations of interest to cosmetic scientists, exchange ideas with peers, and reconnect with colleagues from around the globe.
Mary Kay sponsored the educational session at the meeting, including topics Quorum Quenching: the New Way to Keep Microbiome Under Control, Exploring New Applications in Personal Care: Balancing our Skin Microbiota, Global Microbiome Effects, and Temporal Variation of the Facial Skin Microbiome.
Additional 2019 Scientific Research and Credentialing
The 73rd Society of Chemists Meeting is the latest event in a series of Mary Kay presentations with the scientific and academic communities that reinforce the brand’s longstanding commitment to advancing skin health research and development. Every year, Mary Kay conducts hundreds of thousands of scientific tests on products and ingredients to ensure the highest standards of safety, quality and performance. Mary Kay holds more than 1,500 patents for products, technologies and packaging designs in its global portfolio. Recently, the company announced the opening of a more than $100 million state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility in Lewisville, Texas.
In 2019, Mary Kay focused on three pillars in its commitment to skin health, including pollution; skin barrier health and sensitive skin; and the understanding of skin aging and strategies to intervene:
Pollution and Skin Health
- May: Mary Kay sponsored an exclusive symposium on the impact of pollution on skin health in the Latin America region at the prestigious Reunión Anual de Dermatólogos Latinoamericanos (RADLA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Gildea moderated this symposium with 3 expert Brazilian dermatologists sharing research on the impact of air pollution on skin. It was concluded that antioxidants would be a viable way to counteract the negative effects of pollution on skin. Fortunately, Mary Kay also presented findings on an antioxidant complex that can help delay the premature signs of aging related to the damaging effects of air pollution.
- June: Mary Kay the 24th World Congress of Dermatology in Milan, Italy. Mary Kay sponsored a Questions and Answers session with 2 dermatology experts on the impact of environmental stressors in Europe on skin. Dr. Michelle Hines, Global Upstream Research & Technology at Mary Kay hosted this event featuring two renowned Europe skin experts:
- Jean Krutmann, M.D., Professor & Director at Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine – Dusseldorf, Germany.
- Stefanie Williams, M.D., Dermatologist & Medical Director at EUDELO – London, United Kingdom.
- June: At the 5th Future of Formulations in Cosmetics Summit in Dusseldorf, Germany, Dr. Hines revealed Mary Kay’s ongoing research on an antioxidant complex that helps delay the onset of premature signs of aging related to the damaging effects of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) on skin cells. The breakthrough technology, found in the Mary Kay® TimeWise® Miracle Set 3D™ skin care line, provides a powerful free-radical fighting regimen with an exclusive, patent-pending, three-dimensional approach to skin aging.
Skin Barrier Health and Sensitive Skin
- March: At the 20th World Dermatology Congress in Singapore, David Gan, Senior Principal Scientist at Mary Kay Inc., presented some new insights in evaluating and understanding facial redness. Based on this work, Mary Kay scientists identified skincare technology that helps reduce the production of pro-inflammatory proteins and enzymes in the skin and developed a cosmetic formulation containing these ingredients to effectively address facial redness using unique clinical measures.
- August: Mary Kay China’s Sr. Manager for Medical Affairs, Dr. Jenny Jiang, shared some strategies from Mary Kay research to improve the skin barrier function and facial redness at the Annual Meeting of the Dermatology Committee organized by the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China. These findings may provide important insights to understanding sensitive skin.
- November: Mary Kay was a symposium sponsor at the 44th annual meeting of The Japanese Society of Investigative Dermatology (JSID) in Aomori, Japan. Dr. Gildea moderated an educational symposium exploring environmental protection strategies against skin aging in Asians, protein response to skin inflammation and skin barrier defects. The panel featured three renowned dermatologists:
- Dr. Akimichi Morita, MD Ph.D., Department of Geriatric and Environmental Dermatology at Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences
- Dr. Sang Eun Lee, MD Ph.D., Department of Dermatology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea
- Dr. Gyohei Egawa, MD Ph.D., Department of Dermatology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine
Understanding of Skin Aging and Skin Health and Strategies to Intervene
- March: At the Skin of Color Society Symposium in Washington. D.C., Dr. Shoná Burkes-Henderson, Associate Principal Scientist, Clinical Research, revealed new research on navy bean extract and its ability to regulate melanogenesis, leading to an improvement in uneven skin tone and facial hyperpigmentation. Dr. Burkes-Henderson also presented a new approach to help improve facial erythema, or redness, at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.
- May: Mary Kay Associate Principal Scientist Dr. Tiffany Carle attended 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology in Chicago, where she presented new data from analyzing the effects of a serum containing five botanical fruit extracts known to be rich in vitamin C on skin appearance. As part of this study, Mary Kay researchers treated artificial skin tissue with this serum and utilized a genomic approach to understand how the serum affected the skin.
- June: Mary Kay sponsored the University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society of America (UPMASA) 34th Annual Grand Convention (AGC) in Dallas. The conference convened more than 500 doctors from the U.S. and the Philippines to discuss topics ranging from dermatology to orthopedics and neurology.
- September: Mary Kay shared its latest research targeting the causes and underlying mechanisms of slackened skin at the 49th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) held in Bordeaux, France. Dr. Michelle Hines shared data on technology that targeted slackened skin leading to improvement in skin clinical measures.
- September: Mary Kay presented findings on research experiments that demonstrated how sunscreen viscosity, a property that effects application to skin, can be adjusted using processing parameters at the 2019 Sunscreen Symposium presented by the Florida chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.