June 9, 2022
Seneca News
Indigenous cosmetic company partners with Seneca for skin care product
Project showcases ‘commitment to real change and innovation’
A face mist developed by a team of Seneca applied researchers could bring Canadian-sourced cosmetic ingredients to a global market ... and make your skin smoother.
“I put it on my face every day whether I’m wearing makeup or not,” said Sharon Robertson, who teaches in the School of Biological Sciences & Applied Chemistry. “In my opinion, it’s better than anything out there.”
In collaboration with Cheekbone Beauty, Ms. Robertson led a project to create a face mist containing Canadian-sourced raw materials used in traditional Indigenous medicine.
The request came from Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of the Indigenous-owned cosmetic company based in St. Catharines, Ont.
“By design, I wanted Cheekbone Beauty to be a more circular business — to be restorative and regenerative, benefiting both people and planet,” said Mrs. Harper, who pitched her business on Dragons’ Den three years ago.
“By using these ingredients, we are actively drawing upon our Indigenous roots. I always say that Indigenous Peoples are the OGs — originators — of sustainability, and circularity has been a way of life for Indigenous Peoples worldwide for millennia.”
Mrs. Harper came to Seneca with the goal of launching Cheekbone Beauty’s first skin care product and improving its in-house product development and manufacturing capabilities for a wider range of products.
“Seneca has an incredible cosmetic science program, and with their commitment to innovation and new technologies, we knew they would be the right partner for us,” she said. “As a small business with a strong focus on sustainability, we always want to be at the cutting edge of new technology, and Seneca is a great partner for any business with that goal.”
Funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the project saw research assistants from Seneca’s Cosmetic Science graduate certificate program work with Ms. Robertson to develop a water-based mist that would dry in one to two minutes.
For background research, the team combed through an Indigenous treatise containing 547 plant-based ingredients. Through investigating the plants and their benefits, and talking to Canadian raw material suppliers, they were able to determine which ingredients were available and most beneficial for the formula.
In the end, five Canadian-sourced, raw materials were used: Black Spruce bark extract from naturally growing trees, White Pine bark extract from Canada’s boreal forest, Willowherb from the northern Canadian Prairies, beet liquid extract and a new anti-aging agent called GlycolastinTM developed by Ottawa-based Sussex Research Laboratories Inc.
“Some of these ingredients have been used for centuries,” Ms. Robertson said. “At the same time, we are the first to use GlycolastinTM, which is a novel ingredient in the cosmetic industry. And it’s Canadian.”
Cheekbone Beauty is currently making some tweaks to the formula as they prepare to bring the mist to market. They are confident the product will have appeal for its quality and its sustainable composition and production.
“The truth is that people want to see companies with an understanding of social and environmental impact,” Mrs. Harper said. “Projects like this are how we as a company show our commitment to real change and innovation.”