UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Eberly College of Science alumna Vivian Valenty graduated in 1971 with a doctoral degree in chemistry and worked in various industries including agriculture, textiles, graphic arts and microelectronics before eventually ending up in cosmetics. Valenty found her calling in this industry, and after a year and more than 300 samples, she succeeded in creating the world’s first ultraviolet (UV) nail topcoat and began the process of founding her own company, VB Cosmetics Inc. Now, 55 years later, she is celebrating almost 20 years of her award-winning nail polish brand — Dazzle Dry — and a new partnership with her alma mater.
Inventive chemistry
When Valenty graduated from Penn State, she said, she was prepared to work in any industry, with the goal of doing her best no matter where the job was. So, she took the first job she was offered after graduate school, and, as she put it, "rolled up her sleeves and did the work." She held different positions early in her career, including as an assistant professor, research scientist and a product development chemist, a technical product leader, and finally found herself in the cosmetics industry. Despite not originally being drawn to cosmetics, she said, she quickly embraced the work.
“Once I got into cosmetics, I became passionate in it because there are so many problems I can solve,” Valenty said. “Back then, everybody incorrectly thought that cosmetics were just hope in a bottle. In the nail coating business, technology is required. I had to use my knowledge of chemistry and properties of materials to be able to create an invention.”
During the first 15 years of VB Cosmetics, Valenty sold her UV topcoat patent and created cosmetics products for other companies through private label manufacturing before she branched out to build her own brand, Dazzle Dry, within VB Cosmetics. This happened about five years after Valenty created the first UV nail topcoat, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a statement on the dangers of UV-A light. This in turn caused Valenty to pivot, she said, and she spent the next 10 years creating Dazzle Dry, a nail polish system that dries in five minutes without UV light, stays chip-free on natural nails for seven or more days and removes like a traditional nail polish. She began with the topcoat, using quick-drying cellulose acetate butyrate.
Valenty said she faced several scientific hurdles in perfecting the polish system. As she moved onto creating the nail polish colors, her biggest challenge was developing a polish that wouldn’t turn the nail yellow, which was caused by nitrocellulose, the primary film former used in traditional nail polish. Another challenge she faced was the chipping of the nail polish. To avoid this, she used her prior knowledge from the electronics industry to create a base coat made of polyurethane — a rubbery material that would act as a stress-release agent in between the nail surface and color polish.
Valenty said she credits her understanding of chemistry in solving these problems and creating the Dazzle Dry system, which has been around now for almost 20 years. Her knowledge of chemistry can be connected back to her time as a graduate student at Penn State, she said. She noted that the hands-on research she did in the Eberly College of Science’s Department of Chemistry was crucial for learning the skills to create her line of products.
“The project I chose at Penn State required utilizing 10-step reactions,” Valenty said. “I used existing classical chemical reactions to make the product. I got to learn different techniques on synthesis, isolation and purification of molecules.”
Years later, what stood out to Valenty — who came to Penn State from the Philippines — about her graduate school experience were the people who helped her, she said. One of those individuals was the first person who befriended her during international student orientation and helped her study to get an "A" in a subject she was struggling with. The other person was another graduate student in chemistry who motivated her to go straight to a doctoral degree instead of first pursuing a master’s degree.
Over the years, Valenty said, her experience wasn’t always easy. She noted that being a woman in science at that time came with its own set of challenges.
Looking back, she shared her own piece of advice for women pursuing science that she learned from her journey: “You have to know how to navigate difficult situations and not let your goals be impacted. Learn how to pivot.”'