Alec Batis of Sweet Chemistry: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry

Don’t be afraid to try different things — but it’s best if they are somehow related and can build your overall expertise and point of difference. For example, I went from a chemist in R&D to Marketing so that I could learn to market the formulas I helped develop. Then I transitioned from Marketing to Sales so I could learn how to sell and build strong relationships with retailers, then to Management where I could learn to combine product/marketing/sales in developing short- and long-term business strategies. And finally, taking all that and learning how to be an entrepreneur today.

As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Batis.

Batis, an accomplished chemist and marketer, has spent the past 30+ years bringing some of the world’s most beloved products to market, working with companies such as Pfizer, Shiseido, L’Oréal Group/Kiehl’s, Victoria’s Secret Beauty, & NARS.

Appearing in the International Emmy nominated documentary, Toxic Beauty, he has a vision for skin health and is now sharing his first-of-their-kind formulas that he’s used for over 30 years. Ones that optimize activity and modulate emolliency by rethinking emulsion processes, utilizing functional levels of actives instead of marketing levels, eliminating microbiome-damaging pesticides, and innovating packaging and preservation techniques. And now combined with Matrikynes® bone peptides

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I debated whether to give the safe answer or what really happened. I would like to say that I stumbled upon it, but the truth is I entered the beauty industry because of deep rooted insecurities that ended up almost killing me (how’s that for an answer?).

Growing up, I loved both science and art, and just learning in general. I was considered the nerd of the school — the kind of nerd that when people were laughing at me, I thought they were laughing with me. I had a yellow tracksuit that was so comfortable that I had my mom buy 5 pairs, one for each day of the week. One day, a student stopped me in the hall and said “Sunny (my nickname), do you ever wash those?!?!”. Suddenly, I realized everyone thought I wore the exact same ones every day, and that I was dirty. I told my mom, who is known to be a woman of great style, and she took me down to LA for a full makeover — contacts, shaved down my bucked teeth, parachute pants, Vans, hair — everything that 1982 Melrose Avenue could offer. The day I came back to Calgary, Canada, I went from being shunned to instantly celebrated and the most common note in my yearbook was “Wow, what a transformation!”. That day, my teenage mind led me to believe that what matters most in life is how you look.

Unfortunately, cruel treatment in school wasn’t the only thing that drove me to this industry, I’ve learned that my family generational history played the largest role. My grandmother was a rice farmer’s daughter in Japan who was sold as a bride and brought to Canada. When my mom was a young girl, the family was put into internment camps during WW2. Both were taught the only value of a woman was her beauty and once that was lost, it was understandable why a man would wander or leave — like my father ended up doing. My mom would tell me that even though people say it’s what’s on the “inside” that counts, the truth was that without youth and beauty, love will leave. I didn’t realize it at the time, but putting the pieces together now, I know I entered university, got my degree in Chemistry, and entered the beauty industry because of these misguided beliefs. I then spent many years in R&D and Marketing pushing the perfection agenda but, on the inside, I continued to be extremely insecure and was on a very destructive personal path that came very close to killing me. At the same time, I worked very hard in cognitive therapy where I’ve learned to internalize an appreciation and acceptance of myself and create relationships in my life that are meaningful and more beautiful than I’ve ever known. And now, I see beauty through the right-sized lens, not as something that defines a person’s worth.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

As you can imagine, there are many interesting stories that have occurred in this industry — especially during the 90’s — but the most interesting was my experience with NYC fashion icon, Isabel Toledo and her incredibly creative husband, Ruben Toledo in 2014. I was hired to collaborate with them to create Isabel’s namesake fragrance line and I assumed it was just another good project to add to my CV. What I received was the most inspiring “work” experience I’ve ever had. I was introduced to their almost magical studio where they would seemingly create art from air, filled with unapologetic passion and joy. And they invited me in. They had met in high school and had been together for well over 30 years, and for almost two years, I witnessed two people treat each other with such respect and care — even when they thought I wasn’t looking. Not only was it incredible to work with them, but I then knew what I wanted to find for my own life.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

I’ve always been driven to be successful, and the initial “tipping point” was when I was working as a chemist in R&D for the L’Oréal Group in 1993 and expressed my interest in Marketing. At the time, L’Oréal only hired MBAs in Marketing, but I managed to convince leadership that I could bring a technical knowledge to marketing that was unique. I think I was maybe the second chemist to ever be transferred from the lab to marketing. What I realized is that if you can understand what you are good at, and if you can appreciate that talent in yourself instead of wishing for different abilities that someone else has, you can do anything within those parameters.

It may be controversial to say, but I’m not sure someone can accomplish “anything” they put their mind to when it comes to a career if they don’t have the skillset. It’s my opinion that it’s exceedingly important to find out what your talents are and utilize those to create a point of difference to set yourself apart in the industry. What I’ve also realized is that I perform best when I position the work at hand as a puzzle to be solved — a challenge that can be won. This way, the work then becomes more enjoyable and less like a job.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Caroline Flandrin. She was the VP Marketing at L’Oréal Professionel who gave me a chance and plucked me from the lab with absolutely no marketing experience and taught me the “4 P’s”. She was tough and had exceedingly high expectations, but she would recognize you when you excelled. I had only been there for under a year, she gave me credit for the concepts I developed and chose me to present them to the international division in Paris — in French! I wasn’t fluent, and I remember I started to ramble at the end of my presentation but then she stood up and effortlessly helped me conclude. She is still a mentor to this day, and is someone who gave my biotech partners, Xylyx Bio, a reference that solidified a partnership in our new venture, Sweet Chemistry.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

After over 30 years in the industry working for some of the most incredible beauty companies in the world, I thought I knew everything. I was satisfied with the meaning of innovation being another mushroom peptide or another synthetic hyaluronic acid polysaccharide. My goals at almost 55 years old were to simply help companies achieve their objectives and to use most of my creativity in the marketing of various projects. Then I met Dr. John O’Neill.

John is an expert in extracellular matrix technologies, a bioengineer who started his work in the field of regenerative medicine at Columbia University’s Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, which then spun out to become Xylyx Bio. At Xylyx they are making important discoveries in tissue regeneration — from surgical sealants that heal lung air leaks to whole-tissue recovery platforms to address the shortage of transplantable organs. They also create the extracellular matrix biomaterials used to advance the discovery of new pharmaceutical drugs in cancer and fibrosis. They also discovered that fragments of natural extracellular matrix of upcycled bovine bone, called Matrikynes®, have remarkable benefits in skin tissue regeneration, and we are harnessing these biomedical advances in our Sweet Chemistry skin health products.

The reason this advancement matters is because there is a challenge with today’s skincare. Current treatments work by damaging the skin to build collagen (lasers, micro needling, IPL, etc.), but the collagen formed is scar tissue which is significantly less functional than normal tissue. Also, current peptide technologies on the market are synthetic, singular, or botanical, and only minimally repair the skin. Matrikynes® are novel because being peptide fragments of natural ECM, their function is to repair the skin without having to damage it first and the collagen formed is healthy living tissue instead of non-functioning scar tissue. They are also able to regenerate skin tissue significantly more effectively than current singular synthetic or vegetal peptides with hundreds or regenerative multi-peptides that are currently being used in regenerative medicine.

How do Matrikynes® work?

Tissue regeneration involves complex systemic interactions between cells, extracellular matrices, and soluble mediators, including potent bioactive signals called matrikines. Our Matrikynes® are proprietary combinations of matrikine peptides that promote functional tissue repair by activating intracellular signaling pathways that facilitate cell differentiation, matrix synthesis, and restoration of tissue homeostasis.

In addition to the reparative advancement, what about the formula itself? As a previous corporate Value Analysis chemist, I’ve always known there was a better way to formulate.

While most moisturizers, in both mass or prestige, are around 80% water and 10% emulsifiers (leaving only 10% room for dermatological or botanical actives), I selfishly preferred to create a 50% water emulsion with only 5% emulsifiers, leaving 45% of the formula for the good stuff. Traditionally, the industry uses what we call “Marketing Levels” of actives, which means the smallest amount possible so that it can at least appear on the ingredient list. Personally, I prefer “Functional Levels” of actives which is the level that has been clinically tested by the raw material suppliers to be most beneficial to the skin. Which “level” would you choose?

Also, in traditional formula’s only some botanicals will be organic to be able to market to it. Since the function of pesticides is to essentially kill living organisms, there is no way I’d want them on my skin day in and day out because my microbiome, which is made up of millions of beneficial microorganisms, is important to me.

Lastly, traditional airless packaging is 100% plastic (even if Post Consumer Plastic is used). We have chosen the world’s first glass airless packaging where the only plastic is the pump — ie. 90% less plastic. To us, that’s not greenwashing.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

1. Advancements in biotechnology, specifically in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. This is a field that is rapidly expanding with incredible research in organ tissue repair that is sure to have applications to skin health.
2. Transparency, safety, and accountability (vs. 1990’s). The idea of “clean beauty” is often ridiculed because there is no regulation of what that term means, which is understandable in one way. However, I remember the days (1990) when no one wanted to hear or discuss anything that questioned the safety and quality of the things we put on our bodies every day. The idea was “miracle cream” — beauty was a “secret”, so, I applaud those who question back and don’t accept the status quo. On the other side, has the movement gone a little too far? Have chemicals been overly demonized? Yes, but I still say it’s better to have intense dialog than the alternative.
3. The diversification of beauty. In 1998 I was one of the first marketers to be hired for Victoria’s Secret Beauty’s massive expansion. I drank the “cool”-aid, perfection was the goal, and I excelled at it. What I didn’t realize was that I was also participating in the objectification of women — or, in other terms, making women feel bad about themselves so that they would buy the product hoping to be accepted, and ultimately loved, by others. What kind of world is it that says that your desirability/lovability is a direct function of how perfectly “same” you are? I love the newer generations who are starting to expand what is considered beautiful because no one should have to go through life feeling that they don’t belong.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?

1. Ai/filters — In much the same way as my generation grasped perfection, it seems it’s creeping up again through AI and filters. I think we, as the “beauty industry”, have a responsibility to bring perspective to the concept of beauty, and influence the conversation away from fake beauty instead of fueling the fire. Again, it’s extremely important because people’s self-worth is at stake. To be able to influence the extent to which a person thinks of themselves as attractive can affect how loveable they think they are. And that’s a big deal in life.
2. Marketing levels vs. Functional levels — Marketing Levels is still an accepted method of formulation — where you include a minute concentration of a functional ingredient to write it on the label. In today’s age of transparency, I don’t think Marketing Levels have a place. Functional levels are where it’s at for me and I think the consumer deserves to know the truth.
3. Animal testing and the term “Cruelty-free” — Something that has always bothered me is that our entire industry claims “cruelty-free”, “never ever tested on animals”, etc. What most won’t divulge is that every single ingredient in all products in the market has been previously tested on animals in the 50’s/60’s/70’s. And we only now use historical data so that we don’t have to test in the present. From skin and eye irritation tests where an ingredient is rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits — to repeated force-feeding to look for signs of illness or health hazards such as cancer or birth defects. To lethal dose tests in which animals are forced to swallow large amounts of a test ingredient to determine the dose that causes death. These were performed decades ago so that all of us can use these products without ill effects, because if the mascara we use were to make us go blind, society would be outraged. Fortunately, there are now many in-vitro methods to test for safety but back then they didn’t exist.

I educate the above in full transparency not to be obnoxious, but instead to make sure that the animals who suffered so that we can be safe using the products we love, are not forgotten. The least we can do is acknowledge the past, honor, and beg forgiveness from them. Therefore, to be transparent, NO product on the market will ever be truly “cruelty-free”.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share a few ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

This is an interesting question. One way to feel beautiful is simpler and somewhat more fleeting. The other is longer lasting. And, one day, I hope “expert in beauty” can encompass more than skin deep. There are many more ways to experience beauty than that.

On the surface, one can take care of themselves by taking care of their skin, their body, apply a little mascara, lipstick, gloss, a signature scent, and coordinate that with their wardrobe. Another way that is perhaps a little more complex, is to strive to appreciate life on life’s terms, have empathy for themselves and others, surround themselves with meaningful human relationships — things has been clinically proven to build “beauty self-esteem” and can be helped along through different methods including cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective on how one sees themselves in the world. It aims to help you recognize negative thinking and change it before it affects your well-being. It’s an approach for which there is ample scientific evidence that the methods that have been developed produce change. And that can help anyone to feel beautiful.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”.

These things probably apply to any industry, not just Beauty.

1. Know what you are good at and work to accentuate those + perseverance + persistence. Persistence and perseverance are as important as talent — eg. I was a QC Chemist at Pfizer and wanted to get into L’Oreal, so I reached out to HR every month asking about Chemist positions until 8 months later there was an earthquake that destroyed one of the labs in California — they decided to move R&D to Jersey and voila, a position opened, and I was there to take it.
2. People people people. I’m an introvert, but I act as an extrovert when it comes to career. The most important thing after ability in this industry is being able to grow a solid network and maintain it — mutually supportive people are your biggest allies.
3. When hiring a team, it’s important to surround yourself with people who not only have the skills, but also are transparent with information — good or bad — and who will challenge back with earnestness. It’s equally important as a leader to act in the same manner. It’s not just more productive, but also much more enjoyable and rewarding.
4. Don’t be afraid to try different things — but it’s best if they are somehow related and can build your overall expertise and point of difference. For example, I went from a chemist in R&D to Marketing so that I could learn to market the formulas I helped develop. Then I transitioned from Marketing to Sales so I could learn how to sell and build strong relationships with retailers, then to Management where I could learn to combine product/marketing/sales in developing short- and long-term business strategies. And finally, taking all that and learning how to be an entrepreneur today.
5. Read everything. When it comes to HR, contracts, agreements, make sure you understand everything, all the fine print, if possible, have a lawyer review before signing if there’s anything that you don’t understand.

Here’s an extra two for good luck:

1. Fail fast because you WILL fail but use that data point to course correct as soon as you can. The beauty industry doesn’t own this technique, it applies everywhere.
2. If you don’t already have it from a good upbringing, make sure you do the work to build self-worth. Not the Instagram kind, the meaningful kind that makes one a whole person. I had a significant period of personal self-destruction where on the outside I had success, but I couldn’t appreciate it or really build upon it because of internal self-loathing from a challenging early home life.
3. When you fall, keep picking yourself up and never give up. Part of “success” is discovering you value yourself enough to pick yourself up and figure something else out that is productive.
4. Overcoming ego. This sounds almost impossible to do in the “beauty” industry lol. But it’s essential so that you can keep learning, growing — becoming the best you can be at what you do. Overcoming ego means understanding your weaknesses and blind spots so that you can develop strategies to account for them in fulfilling your objectives. Plus, it just makes for a more enjoyable person to be around.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Whatever influence I may have, I’m trying to use it to evolve how people view the idea of beauty — to be more inclusive of different forms of beauty that should be admired and enjoyed. Currently I see beauty as one note, like the sugar part of the fruit. And just like sugar, too much of it will cause disease. But if you can ingest the whole fruit, including the fiber, the benefits are tremendous.

By fiber, I mean the things that give meaning and bring people together — an important aspect of beauty. For example, two of the organizations we support with 1% of sales are YoungArts and iResearch — one supports and nurtures talented young people who want to pursue a life in the transformative arts or sciences but who might not have the funds or encouragement. Because these youth are going to help evolve the world for the better.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

― Theadore Roosevelt 1910

The above quote speaks to people who put themselves out there and never give up, knowing they are worth the effort.

It still amazes me that I, as someone who struggled with self-worth to an extreme degree, ended up as an “expert in beauty”. The above quote was used in Brene Brown’s book, Daring Greatly. It was during a time when I was doing incredibly well in my career but was in the throes of self-destruction — one that resulted in needing seven surgeries in two years before I valued myself enough to make real change. This quote inspired me then, and inspires me now, to get in the “arena” of life and give it all my effort and devotion and knowing that if and when I fail at some things, I’ll have gained so much more than I’ve lost.

Ps. I know Roosevelt was known to have prejudices against Asians and Latinos but as someone who is Japanese/Puerto Rican, I choose to define his quote in the way that is most beneficial.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram, Sweet Chemistry: https://www.instagram.com/sweetchemistrylabs/

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.