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Overview
Cosmetic chemists develop and test formulas for cosmetic products such as fragrances, lipstick, water-resistant lotions, makeup, hair dye, soaps, detergents and topical products.
In job descriptions, look for formulation, stability testing, raw materials, laboratory trials, product improvement, sensory properties, documentation, safety review and collaboration with production or marketing teams.
Explore this occupation
Open in Job ExplorerWhat the work can involve
Cosmetic chemist work centres on formulas: choosing raw materials, adjusting texture, colour, scent and stability, then testing whether a cosmetic product performs as intended. The lab work connects chemistry with product use and manufacturing constraints.
Skills and specializations
Important skills include formulation, laboratory testing, documentation, understanding ingredients and interpreting results from stability or compatibility trials. Some roles specialise in skin care, hair dye, fragrances, waterproof makeup, soaps or topical products.
Salary context
Salary context depends on laboratory responsibility, product complexity, regulatory exposure, seniority and whether the role leads development projects. A chemist who owns formulation decisions may be compared differently from a technician supporting trials.
Career paths
Career paths can move toward senior formulator, research and development lead, product safety, quality, technical sales or cosmetic product management. Progress often comes from combining lab judgement with practical awareness of production and consumers.
Good to know
Job adverts should name product categories, laboratory methods and documentation expectations. Check whether the role is mainly new formula development, reformulation, testing, quality troubleshooting or support for marketing claims.
Editorial note
This guide gives editorial career context for the occupation. It is not official labour-market statistics or salary data for this exact role.
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O*NET relationships
See occupations connected to this ESCO occupation in the official O*NET–ESCO mapping. The relationship type comes from the source and is not a ranking or recommendation.
O*NET relationships: 1
Chemists
19-2031.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETSource and method
These relationships come from the official European Commission O*NET–ESCO crosswalk.
Relationship direction: O*NET occupation to ESCO occupation.
Several O*NET occupations can point to the same ESCO occupation, and one O*NET occupation can point to several ESCO occupations.
AltoTrail preserves the source relationship type. The order is technical and does not show which occupation is best, most relevant or recommended.
AltoTrail validates and presents the source relationships without adding ranking or recommendation semantics.
Alternative labels
Occupation group
chemist (2113.1)
Source facts
| ESCO URI | http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/11b6390b-1e48-4903-a5df-d3e04b451a19 |
|---|---|
| ESCO code | 2113.1.4 |
| ISCO group | 2113 |
| Concept type | Occupation |