I haven’t held a formal product development or R&D internship in beauty yet, but I’ve had volunteer experience supporting small indie beauty brands with tasks like ingredient sourcing, sampling formulas, giving product feedback, and helping organize early-stage product testing. Along with my background in pharmacy purchasing, it’s given me a good understanding of how formulas come together, how suppliers are managed, and what goes into bringing a product from idea to launch.

I think the products really disrupting beauty right now are the ones that blend solid science with personalization and sustainability. Personalized serums and skin tools that use AI to analyze skin are changing how people shop because they offer solutions tailored to individual needs. There’s also a lot of growth in biotech ingredients like lab grown collagen and fermented actives, which give brands cleaner and more effective alternatives to traditional ingredients.