I’m Dr Theresa Callaghan, a biochemist, cosmetic scientist, author and independent consultant with more than 37 years of experience in personal care, cosmetic science and claims development.
My career began in research. After completing my PhD in Biochemistry, I joined the Pasteur Institute in France as a postdoctoral research fellow. My involvement there with LVMH’s Capture project subsequently took me into corporate skincare research and began a career that has crossed scientific research, clinical studies, product development, cosmetic claims and scientific communication.
Over the years, I have held senior R&D and scientific roles with organisations including LVMH, Unilever, Marks & Spencer, Johnson & Johnson, Evonik, Hill-Top Research and proDERM, working in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
In 2008, I established Callaghan Consulting International, bringing together that experience with a particular interest in an area that has remained central to my work: the relationship between cosmetic science, evidence and the claims ultimately presented to consumers. Science, claims and communication.
Much of my work has involved asking a deceptively simple question: what does the evidence actually allow us to say?
That question has taken me into claims strategy and substantiation, clinical and instrumental study design, scientific writing, evidence review and troubleshooting. It has also led to a wider interest in how scientific ideas are communicated — and sometimes miscommunicated — within the cosmetics industry.
Alongside my consultancy work, writing has become an increasingly important part of what I do. I contribute to peer-reviewed and trade publications, write regularly about cosmetic claims and industry developments, and have written books examining the relationship between cosmetic science, claims and the consumer.
I have served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, and I contribute to industry publications, conferences, podcasts and educational programmes. I have also lectured on cosmetic science and claims and continue to contribute to industry discussion through my articles and Claims Insights.
Today, my professional work is deliberately more focused. I continue to write, lecture and contribute to the cosmetics industry, while accepting a limited number of consultancy and advisory projects where my experience can be particularly useful.
After a career spent looking at evidence, questioning assumptions and occasionally challenging some of the adjectives attached to cosmetic products, those principles remain much the same.
My career began in research. After completing my PhD in Biochemistry, I joined the Pasteur Institute in France as a postdoctoral research fellow. My involvement there with LVMH’s Capture project subsequently took me into corporate skincare research and began a career that has crossed scientific research, clinical studies, product development, cosmetic claims and scientific communication.
Over the years, I have held senior R&D and scientific roles with organisations including LVMH, Unilever, Marks & Spencer, Johnson & Johnson, Evonik, Hill-Top Research and proDERM, working in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
In 2008, I established Callaghan Consulting International, bringing together that experience with a particular interest in an area that has remained central to my work: the relationship between cosmetic science, evidence and the claims ultimately presented to consumers. Science, claims and communication.
Much of my work has involved asking a deceptively simple question: what does the evidence actually allow us to say?
That question has taken me into claims strategy and substantiation, clinical and instrumental study design, scientific writing, evidence review and troubleshooting. It has also led to a wider interest in how scientific ideas are communicated — and sometimes miscommunicated — within the cosmetics industry.
Alongside my consultancy work, writing has become an increasingly important part of what I do. I contribute to peer-reviewed and trade publications, write regularly about cosmetic claims and industry developments, and have written books examining the relationship between cosmetic science, claims and the consumer.
I have served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, and I contribute to industry publications, conferences, podcasts and educational programmes. I have also lectured on cosmetic science and claims and continue to contribute to industry discussion through my articles and Claims Insights.
Today, my professional work is deliberately more focused. I continue to write, lecture and contribute to the cosmetics industry, while accepting a limited number of consultancy and advisory projects where my experience can be particularly useful.
After a career spent looking at evidence, questioning assumptions and occasionally challenging some of the adjectives attached to cosmetic products, those principles remain much the same.