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The scientists behind your beauty products

People are at the heart of everything we do. Our scientists’ passion for research and scientific discovery is the driving force behind the products you know and love. We are a diverse pool of scientists with a considerable collective experience and expertise in a multitude of scientific disciplines, including Biotechnology, Chemistry, Skin Biology, Toxicology and Nutraceuticals, just to name a few.

 

 

Ailish Bourke
Senior Director, Technical Operations

I’m responsible for the success of our new product development programme within Personal Care, Hair Care and Fragrance, ensuring the smooth and efficient delivery of hundreds of products each year. I’m also responsible for Business Systems and Quality Assurance within Research and Development, making sure we are as effective and efficient as possible in how we operate.

What are you proud of?
Developing the skin range “Problem Solvers”. Being described as a role model for Oriflame. Project managing the launch of our first naturally certified skin care range.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
Working with a diverse group of people, in Research and Development and globally. No two days are the same. People bring challenges to me and together we find solutions.

What’s most important to you in life?
Trying to make the world a better place for our children and their children. Also bringing awareness to global warming and the unfair global distribution of wealth. I believe that “You can make a difference”.

What inspires you?
Nature – the beauty of a sunrise, birds’ dawn chorus, rainbows, snow-capped mountains, the intense colour of flowers. The list is endless.

 

 

Dr Alain Mavon (PhD)
Senior Director of Science and Innovation

Together with the Research and Development experts and scientists, I bring ideas and innovations to life in our products. l meet with consultants, in person and on social media, to explain the benefits of such great innovation to their skin.

Can you describe the journey that led you to Oriflame?
I decided to build my international career. I moved to Sweden from France and joined an exciting , people-driven company.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
The Oriflame values are important to me – the business is people-oriented. It's rewarding to be part of helping people to change their life and their skin, becoming happier and more confident.

What do you see in the future for Oriflame?
I see us building stronger product ranges through natural, innovative sustainable & performing technologies. Our products will be infused with a deeper connection with Sweden.
What inspires you?
The beauty and innovation of nature, scientific discovery and creative, passionate consultants, leaders and colleagues.

 

 

Capucine Martin-Phipps
Senior Scientist, Claims & Scientific Communication

My team is at the heart of product communication. We tell the scientific story of Oriflame and our products in the most understandable way. We work with different departments in Research and Development to make sure our products do what they say.

What are you proud of?
I’m proud of the “expert” position I gained at Oriflame, through hard work and continuous curiosity in my almost decade-long career in the industry.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
Being in daily connection with so many teams within Oriflame is invaluable to a naturally curious person like me! What drives me is the feeling that we’re all part of one big Oriflame team striving to deliver the best products possible.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
Working within Oriflame, I’m committed to using my passion for cosmetics to bring value and truthfulness to our consultants and consumers, continuously striving for higher standards in what I do and how I do it.

What’s most important to you in life?
Balance is key for me – I need to feel emotionally connected to and aligned with what I do and the people I do it with – this brings meaning to my life.

 

 

Dr Cormac Byrne (PhD)
Director, Wellness Technologies

I lead the research and the development of Wellness by Oriflame products. My main focus is discovering, developing and delivering exciting new Wellness by Oriflame formulations, which will help our consumers lead healthier and happier lives.

What was your favourite thing to work on?
Building a dedicated Wellness by Oriflame laboratory in Research and Development in 2017/2018 was something I very much enjoyed being part of.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
The variety of my job makes it exciting! No two days, products or challenges ever seem to be the same. Everything changes in Oriflame every day.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
I find the people who work in Oriflame remarkable! No matter what part of the Oriflame world I visit – Europe, India, China or elsewhere, – I always meet friendly, welcoming, enthusiastic and professionally brilliant people. Our unique organisational culture is defined by these great people.

Who inspires you?
As a passionate sailor and hill walker, I am inspired by volunteers in the Coast Guard, RNLI and Mountain Rescue: ordinary people who voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way to help complete strangers.

 

 

Cyril Messaraa
Principal Scientist, Ori-Derm Clinical Testing & Evaluation

I’m responsible for measuring the efficacy of our skin care formulations. I’m also in charge of studying different skin ethnicities to better understand the skin needs of our customers across the world.

What are you proud of?
To be able to turn some of my work into peer-reviewed articles shared within the scientific community. It is extremely rewarding!

What was your favourite thing to work on?
Setting up and coordinating a large clinical study in China. An insane amount of work went into it but it was so enjoyable and rewarding. It was challenging and fascinating to make sense of the all of the data generated.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
Employee well-being is at the heart of Oriflame’s values. Moreover, working for a cosmetic company, whose products are part of our daily lives, gives me a sense of purpose.

What inspires you?
Travelling and immersing myself in other cultures. Since I was a kid, I knew this would be the case for me and Oriflame creates opportunities to do so.

 

 

Emily Whelan
Director, Colour Technologies and Front End Technology

I’m responsible for the translation of the latest scientific insights and global trends into our innovative colour cosmetic formulations. It’s exciting working at the heart of science, innovation and strategy to create the colour cosmetic products of the future.

What are you proud of?
I was the first chemist in Oriflame to fuse patented skincare technology with make-up to create an entirely new product hybrid – a skin caring foundation. Oriflame were one of the first companies to do this, which led to multiple awards for our Everlasting Foundation.

What are you currently working on?
It’s our mission to be at the forefront of research and development in every aspect of cosmetics. We are currently investigating Neurocosmetics – the connection between the skin and brain, creating innovative technologies that will deliver multi sensorial experiences, from touch, to smell, to sight to taste.

What was your favourite thing to work on?
Within colour cosmetics we have an annual innovation workshop – this is always the highlight of the year for me because it is where everyone’s creativity, passion and imagination reach another level.

What’s most important to you in life?
I believe we are put on this earth not for ourselves, but for the difference we can make to the world, the environment and to other people’s lives.

 

 

Gabriela Zuanazzi
Senior Formulation Chemist

I’m a skin care chemist, responsible for the development of new formulations. It’s rewarding to work on combining the best ingredients to create performing formulations with amazing sensorial qualities.

What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on formulations with a high natural profile, including a new range for baby care.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
For me it is to understand the consumer need and translate it into a combination of the best ingredients to deliver the right formulations. To touch people’s lives every single day with our products.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
I love the multi-cultural environment and the opportunity to exchange experiences with people of different profiles and backgrounds.

What’s most important to you in life?
Balance in everything we do is the key for me to live a healthy and happy life.

 

 

Dr Garrett Moran (PhD)
Senior Director, Global Regulatory Affairs

I’m responsible for the safety and compliance of all Oriflame products around the world. My goal is to ensure that our products comply with regulations in all countries in which we sell and that they all meet the same high safety standard.

What are you proud of?
I am proud to be able to lead a fantastic team of experts in safety and regulatory. Their passion for their roles is infectious.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
I consider myself very lucky to be able, on a daily basis, to work with people from all around the world. I enjoy the challenge of ensuring our products comply with regulations in all our markets.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
Oriflame puts people first and that is something that is very important to me, and why I have spent 15 years here.

What inspires you?
Constantly challenging myself to be better and continue learning, and to feel I am doing something worthwhile.

 

 

Justine Drevet
Principal Toxicologist, Product Safety

I assess the safety of all the ingredients entering our formulations, especially for our skin care products. By delivering such robust safety assessments, we are ensuring that all of our products all over the world are safe to use.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
Every day work is different. We are involved in product development from start to finish, and even after when products are on the market, to ensure consumers are satisfied from a safety perspective.

Why do you work for Oriflame?
Oriflame is a very open company and I enjoy meeting and working with people from very different cultures. Travelling to meet our colleagues on the other side of the world is very exciting and rewarding. I had the pleasure of going to China in January 2019 and it was a very interesting experience.

What’s most important to you in life?
I value trust, hard work and friendship. I love trying new sports as it helps you to push your own limits.

Who inspires you?
I would say Simone Veil who is a famous French woman who has worked, among many other things, to defend women’s rights.

 

 

Dr Ia Khmaladze (PhD)
Principal Scientist, Skin Health

I’m working at the Skin Research Institute in the group aiming to discover new active ingredients. A deep knowledge of ageing skin biology enables us to find the most relevant natural active ingredient to stimulate skin’s natural defences and slow down the signs of ageing.

What are you proud of?
I am proud of leading the microbiome project, where our final goal is to develop more custom made and exclusive skin care products for the maintenance of healthy microbiome, naturally beautiful and youthful looking skin at every age!

Why do you work for Oriflame?
I strongly believe that my passion and research focus in skin aging biology will contribute in developing more custom-made and exclusive skin care products.

What’s most important to you in life?
It’s important to me to make beautiful changes in people’s lives. Oriflame’s anti-ageing skin care products are part of the important changes we create at Oriflame.

What inspires you?
The greatest inspiration for me is nature.

 

 

Dr Natasha Williams O’Hanlon (PhD)
Director, Raw Material Integrity

I’m responsible for driving the implementation of the Oriflame brand value and product standards into our formulations. This has led to creating more responsible formulations, banning the use of plastic beads, and driving the change to make our Love Nature formulations biodegradable.

What are you proud of?
Achieving my PhD in 4 years, and the development and launch of our first natural, ethical, environmentally responsible range, and a world first.

Can you describe the journey that led you to Oriflame?
While writing up my PhD thesis, I was working in the university, but felt that I wanted some exposure to outside of academia. I saw the role advertised for a Swedish cosmetics company, whose ethics reflected mine, that would allow me to merge my love for nature, science and communication.

What was your favourite thing to work on?
The world’s first global cosmetics range certified by FairtradeTM. We additionally set up the world’s first “Fairtrade Cosmetics Development Fund”, which enabled us to be involved in social and environmental projects in the communities from which we sourced the Fairtrade raw materials.

What’s most important to you in life?
Being a part of ensuring Oriflame is a responsible and ethical company. Raising two kind, respectful, honest and courageous young girls.

 

We’re immensely proud of our scientific achievements




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