Qualified as an Aromatherapist this Summer from Athena school in Willenhall. A great school. I plan to use it only as a Volunteer, initaially working with Age Concern as a befriender.

Qualified with a doctorate in Chemistry a long time ago.

Worked for many years for multinationals as a product Development Scientist. In my last job, I was responsible for Baby Wipes R&D and ensuring compliance to the Cosmetic Directive.

Gave it all up in 2005 to start my own Business and do holistic things like Aromatherapy. I have no plans at the moment to practise Aromatherapy commercially but I plan to use it in a volunteering capacity.

But I am strongly considering making and selling my own products, even if it's on a small scale to start with.

Am I the only male on this forum?

Peter
North Wales

Hello Peter,

 Croeso,

I've not seen another man around - might be one or two lurking though.

What aspect [don't think that's the right word] of chemistry were you working in?

Aromatherapy with elderly people is a Good Thing - have you considered volunteering with a Learning Disabilities body also?

Hi Peter!

Welcome to the forums.  You are the only man on the forum although there are a few that are registered on the main site who have not yet joined the forum    Fresholi is still very much in its infancy but thanks to the contributions of the members both to the forum and the main site (thanks everyone!)

Like you, I am too an aromatherapist!    I don't make soaps but lotiony potiony things but I have to say, the more everyone talks about soapmaking and looking at the galleries of finished products, the more tempted I am to have a go.

You gave up such a lot Peter but I suppose some things are more important than others aren't they.  Hey, I wouldn't shout too loudly about being a scientist in the chemistry department, you'll be bombarded with a multitude of questions (now where did I put that list? lol) 

Again welcome to the forums and I hope you find them useful.  Also do keep checking the site, its updated daily with new content added by either fellow members or myself (so any sciency bits and bobs, we'd all welcome  ).  I'll shortly update your status to Author so that you can submit content, recipes and a weblink if you have one.  Any suggestions to improve your time spent here, just yell!

Look forward to chatting with you around the boards! 

Thanks for the warm welcome Helen. I really appreciate it!

Elaine asked:-

What aspect [don't think that's the right word] of chemistry were you working in?

Aromatherapy with elderly people is a Good Thing - have you considered volunteering with a Learning Disabilities body also?

I worked with Industrial Hand Cleansers and Wet Wipes for hand cleansing and then moved to Moist Toilet Tissue and then Baby Wipes. All were classed as cosmetics. I was a "project manager" rather than a chemist as such. I made sure that the formulations and packaging that the Scientists created met consumers' needs and met the Cosmetic Directive. Although I wasn't a "bench chemist", I had to be technically qualified to project manage everything.

When I left, in 2005, I set up my own business in the area of speech recognition on the computer. This is software where "you talk and it types". I wrote all my ITEC Aromatherapy case studies up with the software for example which really saved me a lot of time.

I plan to do the Aromatherapy volunteer work in my spare time (whatever that is!) but I might make creams, lotions and gels using essential oils for sale. I went on a course on making your own creams lotions and gels and that was very helpful as a "refresher" as I hadn't done real chemistry for a long time. Right now, I'm working through a distance learning course on the cosmetic regulations. Although I had responsibility for this in my last comany 2.5 years ago, I decided to take the course as I felt I needed a "refresher"

I did consider volunteer work with individuals with Disabilities but I think I'm going to take ot a step at a time and start initially with Senior Citizens via my local Age Concern group. They've asked me to give a talk to them early next month on how I feel aromatherapy can help the elderly. I gave a talk to my local Disabilities Forum recently so I have the fundamentals of the talk prepared already.

Looking forward to future networking on this great forum on this wonderful subject!

Best wishes to all.


Peter

Hey, it's you!  (I just noticed your avatar)

It sounds like you've had a journey on an interesting path Peter.  Although you've certainly laid the foundations for your new ventures and it seems you are equipped with the right knowledge tools to turn what might be a hobby into a business.  I can see me picking your brains from time to time, lol 

Hi Peter,

The server has had some down time (sorry - it has frustrated me beyond words), anyway, I have changed you to Author.  You'll be able to access the information on certificiation and some of the legal aspects of selling cosmetics.  Any pointers, we are most certainly all ears!  lol

Especially if you decide that you can carry out safety assessments/certification for people other than yourself (got any handcuff Helen?)

Kestrel's wearing them at the moment, he's chained to the computer sorting some stuff out for me, lol (oh, that probably sounds soooo bad)  (again that is an embarrassed emoticon not a miserable one)

Seems to be having problems again now

I've been with clients all morning.  Is it still happening?  They must be doing something some work or something although there's been no announcements.  Isn't it so frustrating when things are out of your control?  All I can say is I'm very sorry, although it seems to be fine now (fingers crossed) 

Sorry Peter, we've hijacked your thread 

Hi Peter, Welcome to the board.
Did you write the speech to type software yourself? Writing programs is some departure from chemistry!
Do you carry out your own safety assessments?
Okay enough questions for now.
Looking forward to chatting more with you on the board.
PS:Helen,I didn't realise you were an aromatherapist...hope I can pick your brains sometime soon?!

Yes.  I'm a beauty and compliemtary therapist.  Since leaving school I've had a life dedicated to this field so my treatment range is very broad.  Up until recently, I spent 8-9 years teaching others, from school age through to HND.  So, pick away (although gradually I'm putting stuff up on the main site  )

Thanks for the welcome.

No, it's a standard "off the shelf" software called Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I used it to write up my 40 case studies. One of the features it has is a written form/spoken form, so when for example,  I'd say "latin name for Lavender" it would actually type out "Lavandula Angustifolia". Saved me hours and hours of typing.

I started using it when I was a Scientist in a well known consumer products company. My background is chemistry to Ph.D level. We had to write lots of technical reports but with diminishing secretarial resource so that's how I started using the software.

I used to be responsible 2,5 years ago for ensuring all the cosmetic products we sold met the Euro Cosmetic Directive. As it was 2.5 years ago that I last did it, I'm taking a refresher course at the moment then I'll be able to certify any creams, lotions, gels I make.

Best wishes

Peter

Would you consider certifying for others at some future date?

There are points about the process of assessment and certification which seem somewhat non-specific; the implication is that if the products have been tested and there are no adverse effects then the product is safe. I haven't seen anything which states explicitly the qualifications of the assessor.

For the certification of my soaps and infusions I sent the list of bases and ingredients to a cosmetic chemist/toxicologist and he reported back with certain limitations re essential oils, it was my responsibility to acquire information on the ingredients - but obviously he was aware of their properties.

Consequently the assessments are broadbased, allowing a number of variations; but I am aware that some assessors require individual recipes and charge for each additional ingredient.

All these assessors are working to the same legislation, which  seems to me to have been drawn up to cover the commercial producer without taking into account the work of the small time independent and is open to interpretation.

Yeah ...Would you? Would you? You'd have a ready market from here I bet!


ElaineJ, my assessor did require the individual recipes, and charged for the additional ingredients.
I hope to work on creams and lotions next ...and I am not sure why that leaves me feeling very anxious.
Re: the qualifications of the assessor God forbid there should ever be a dispute but my understanding is that even a GP if he can proove a knowledge of cosmetic ingredients and laws....this is right??Even at that I couldn't find anyone here in Ireland to do my certification.