Cosmetic Management Alumna Interviews Beauty Industry Veteran for Valuable Career Insights

As part of the COSM 255: Field Work course within the Cosmetic Management diploma program, graduating student Leslie Cuevas Torres had an opportunity to interview cosmetic forerunner Victor Casale, Co-Founder and Cheif Executive Officer (CEO) of MOB Beauty, Chairman of Pure Culture Beauty, former Chief Chemist and Managing Director at MAC Cosmetics and Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at Cover FX Skin Care.

Excited to virtually meet with Victor in his San Francisco home-based research and development lab (due to the pandemic), Leslie was able to ask questions about his career, industry trends, and advice for students and graduates.

Due to his love for science, Victor has built a name for himself in the beauty industry. He is constantly changing the industry’s ideals of clean and sustainable beauty through research and innovation. In 2019, Victor came together with his colleagues to create Pure Culture Beauty, a customized skincare routine based on genetic skin types, and MOB Beauty, professional quality, clean, sustainable, vegan, and cruelty-free colour cosmetic brand. "We want to do it, we want to show that we can do it differently," said Victor. He went on to explain the different ways in which he is making a difference in the industry and the world. An example of this would be ensuring that raw ingredients are sourced and produced sustainably and not tested on animals. Another way Victor is making a difference is by designing product packaging with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or resin rather than the traditional acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) which are difficult to recycle.

In 2019 Victor collaborated with Crayola to expand their range of skin-tone crayons with a 24-piece 'Colours of the World' crayon collection. The shades represented forty skin tones around the world and was very important to him as he felt that it would influence inclusivity from a young age. Victor also shared his new non-profit recycling take-back program which launched on earth day 2021.

When asked what advice he would give to students, he suggested they begin in retail so that they can learn firsthand about the products, how they work, and ultimately recognize and identify consumer needs.

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