Marina Fu, from China, is senior formulation manager at cosmetic actives maker Givaudan
Please briefly introduce yourself, your company and your role.
I graduated from Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China with a bachelor's degree in chemical and pharmaceutical engineering and a master's in polymer chemistry and physics, I started my career in the pharmaceutical industry. This experience proved invaluable when I made the transition to the cosmetics industry.
Over the last 16 years, I have acquired extensive experience in project formulation and management. I am currently Senior Formulation Manager at Givaudan Active Beauty, providing technical expertise for active ingredients in the APAC market.
What do you consider to be your most significant achievement to date – whether it’s a specific project, collaboration, or partnership – that has helped shape your professional journey?
As we all know, highly concentrated active ingredients are difficult to introduce into the formulation, in particular some contain a high concentration of ions or have a crucial structure that is incompatible with the aqueous or oily phase.
One of my main areas of work is to find solutions to these issues.
Based on formulation technology and molecular understanding of raw materials, I have selected highly effective solvent systems (Omegablue, Silybidiol, Escin, Centella CAST (Asiatica Selected Triterpenes/C), Vitachelox) and applied these technologies to toners, serums, creams and sunscreens, and filed patent applications for some of them. This work has made it possible to resolve the difficulties that the industry has long had in solving these problems.
What inspires your work, and how do you stay motivated to continue driving innovation in the industry?
Offering effective solutions to support the introduction of new products and stimulate industry growth is still my mission. When faced with a challenge, the following three words drive me to find the answer: Professionalism, Patience and Persistence.
What trends do you foresee in the APAC personal care and beauty industry?
Efficacy, sustainability and wellbeing.
What advice would you give to young professionals looking to make an impact in the APAC beauty industry?
As well as building a solid professional foundation, it is necessary to draw on multidisciplinary knowledge to develop a global understanding of the core of the product and of our consumers from multiple angles.
What do you hope to achieve in the future?
As Formulation Manager at Givaudan Active Beauty, the reference in high-precision beauty ingredients, my priority is to provide innovative and highly effective solutions for the application of active ingredients, with the aim of stimulating the development of the industry.
