Harry’s Cosmeticology Volume 1 PDF

Preface

Dear Reader:

This book is filled with highly technical and not-so-technical, but critical, information on the current state of the art in the cosmetic and personal care industry.

Before you jump into it, as I hope you will, for years to come, I take the liberty and license of providing some personal thoughts to let you know what motivated me in taking on this project, which has now been about two and a half years in the making.

If you had asked me if there ever would come a time that I would take on another major book project as large as the one I did about ten years ago ( Delivery System Handbook for Personal Care and Cosmetic Products: Technology, Applications, and Formulations) . . . well, I would have gracefully declined.

However, as with many things in life, “everything has a season”—and there came a day that a soft-spoken, supportive man by the name of Ben Carr, Publisher of Chemical Publishing Company, offered me the opportunity to be Editor-in- Chief of the widest-selling book in the cosmetic industry over the past sixty years! It was time to say yes, for in my heart, and for over thirty years, I had wanted to deepen my understanding, learn from, and then teach many of the brightest minds in the world about this intriguing area called Cosmetics. The reason it intrigued me is that the concept of creating beauty provides joy for us all in looking good and feeling good as a result.

Ralph Gordon Harry, FRIC, created the first edition of what later became Harry’s Cosmeticology. At the time (1954) it was called Cosmetics: Their Principles and Practices. We believe he also authored the 2nd through the 6th editions as well. The 7th edition was published in 1982 and co-edited by J.B. Wilkinson, MA, BSc, CChem, FRSC, and R.J. Moore, BSc, CChem, MRSC, MIInfSc; followed by the 8th edition in 2000 by Martin M. Rieger, PhD, and now, the 9th edition by myself, Meyer R. Rosen.

The Preface of the first edition describes the evolution of the modern cosmetics industry, which was grounded in the needs of the military in World War II. Some of the areas Harry mentions as stimulants for cosmetic scientific and technological creativity included, but were not limited to, development of safe and efficacious sun-screening agents for men marooned on liferafts or in the desert who might be subjected to very severe solar exposure without shelter; flashburn creams designed to protect exposed skin surfaces against burns (“commando makeup”); and antisunburn lipsticks. Soaps, shaving creams, toothpastes, and fragrances were also developed for the military.

On the home front, special toilet soaps and barrier creams were developed to reduce dermatitis and, at the same time, the value of cosmetics as a morale builder became recognized when it was claimed that they served to combat fatigue and that a dressing room in a factory might improve efficiency by as much as 10 to 15%. All these developments necessarily had repercussions in the cosmetic field and resulted in the synthesis and development of other cosmetic ingredients such as insect repellants, emulsifiers, detergents, antioxidants, preservatives, and more.

As we move forward sixty years to today’s cosmetic needs and wants, there have, of course, been major shifts in what sources the development of cosmetics and personal care products. It is this enormous shift that has motivated me to take on the job of Editor-in-Chief of the 9th edition of Harry’s Cosmeticology.