In roles varying from cosmetic chemist, to senior executive, and officer of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Mort Westman has more than 35 years experience in the development, and commercialization, of personal care products. He has been responsible for a number of successful retail and professional/salon brands, including those intended for the Ethnic market. As a highly experienced cosmetic chemist, Mort honed his expertise at the bench. That is where he obtained first hand knowledge of the functional, and aesthetic characteristics, as well as the idiosyncrasies, of the chemical ingredients employed in cosmetic products. Of equal and perhaps greater importance, he also gained an enduring passion for product formulation and testing . . . as well as an understanding of consumer needs and behaviors.

In addition to his career long immersion in product development, Mort has been responsible for a number of demanding basic research efforts involving outstanding scientists and highly sophisticated technologies. While the results of several of these efforts were granted U.S. patents, they also served to further broaden the scope of his knowledge and provided him with unique insights into hair and skin, and their response to treatment. Be it through the dynamic response of a product development team to a marketing opportunity, or the scientific demands of a sophisticated basic research effort, Mort has gained a comprehensive technical knowledge and strategic understanding of the cosmetics and toiletries industry. As cosmetic chemist, manager, and executive, he has been an integral part of teams that have brought virtually every form of hair care and skin care product to market.

During his career, Mort Westman gained an enduring appreciation for well-written marketing and advertising copy – the language of cosmetics. This led him to recognize the need for improved foreign-language translation of cosmetic copy. In response, during the fall of 2000, Mort recruited a core of skilled professionals with experience in the translation of cosmetic copy and formed cosmetictranslation.com (an ongoing division of Westman Associates, Inc.) – the only translation service exclusively dedicated to the cosmetic industry.

His career includes . . .

• Senior managerial responsibility for a wide range of hair, skin and aerosol products, retail and professional, as Vice-president, R&D, and member of the Executive and Management Committees, for the personal care division of Dow Chemical.
• Personal care and household product development and support of existing brands as Senior Director, Alberto-Culver.
• Intensive involvement in regulatory affairs and industry issues as Director, Cosmetic Sciences, CTFA.
• Fellow, and past officer and member of the Executive Committee, and Board of Directors, of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists.
• Hands on bench cosmetic chemist, formulating and testing the full spectrum of hair, skin and aerosol products.