In the past, psychology has generally been dismissed as too soft a science to be seriously integrated with cosmetic chemistry—much like traditional medicine and folklore remedies. These doctrines were not lost in the marketing of products, since consumer behavior clearly is driven by emotion, but the application of psychology and emotion has been slow to reach the bench; until more recently.

A resurgence in these fields is taking place, partly thanks to advances in measurement techniques that draw us closer to hard science. We’re uncovering phytochemical truths behind folklore and quantifying the depths of human emotions.

John Jimenez (JJ), senior exploration scientist for Belcorp, Colombia, is especially interested in the latter. He’s been conducting work in this area for years and offers the following insights insofar as how emotions are connected with beauty, and they could be used to supercharge cosmetics.

Read more…

Published by Cosmetics & Toiletries, May 1 2020