Executive Board

Dr. Amber O. Evans

Dr. Amber Evans is a cosmetic industry professional with fifteen years of experience in R&D and innovation with leading companies. Her passion lies in collaboratively impacting the beauty care experience through science and technology. As Senior Manager of Product Development at Moroccanoil, she leveraged her technical expertise in hair and skin science, ingredient technologies and claims testing to help drive the global launch of prestige hair color and hair & body care products. Prior to Moroccanoil, she worked as a  development scientist at prominent ingredient supplier BASF Corporation, where her contributions spanned multiple market segments, including hair, body, and oral care. She also previously supported initiatives such as upstream research for hair colorants and clinical testing for skin/shave care applications at Procter & Gamble.

Dr. Evans holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Cosmetic Science focus) from University of Cincinnati and a B.S. in Chemistry from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.  She has authored hair care research publications, contributed content to NaturallyCurly.com, the leading resource for textured hair care, and featured on multiple platforms that support aspiring scientists and early career professionals.  As a mentor, Chair of the NY Chapter of the Society Cosmetic Chemists (NYSCC), peer reviewer for the Journal of Cosmetic Science and editorial advisory board member for Global Cosmetic Industry (GCI) Magazine, Dr. Evans is dedicated to influencing the progression of the cosmetic field.

Stacey House

Stacey House is Senior Vice President Consumer Beauty, R&D with a focus on Color, Skin, Body and LATAM for COTY Inc. Concurrently, she is serving as the Chair of New York Society of Cosmetic Chemist (NYSCC). Previously, she was the Global Head of Innovation for KDC/One’s Beauty and Personal Care Division and focused on customer development of elevated, high touch formulas in categories spanning the industry.

She started her career on the brand side at Revlon and Coty, supporting all facets within R&D over a combined 14-year period. She then moved into the supplier side of the cosmetic industry as the Director of Applications for Kobo Products, managing labs in the USA, Brazil, and France. During this time, she was involved in ingredient development of sunscreen technologies, surface treatments and dispersions to optimize pigments in support of diversity & inclusivity, and of natural platforms.  Afterwards, she joined MANA Products as the Director of R&D prior to joining KDC/One. Stacey has been involved in hundreds of product launches and helping emerging brands develop product lines.

Stacey holds a patent on Low Viscosity Phenyl Trimethicone Applications. She has written several published industry articles and has given presentations globally for the Society of Cosmetic Chemist (SCC), IFSCC, and In-cosmetics.  Stacey is the 2023 Chair of NYSCC (New York Society of Cosmetics Chemists), the largest chapter of the SCC.

Stacey graduated from Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business with MBAs in International Business, Operations and Supply Chain Management. She received her Bachelor of Science degree at Rutgers University-New Brunswick with a focus on Microbiology in Cosmetics. Stacey is an active member of SCC and Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW).

John Carola

John Carola has volunteered with the NYSCC since 2010 and worked in the Personal Care industry for over 15 years.  For 13 years he worked with raw materials in HI&I, Personal Care and Pharma with a variety of contract manufacturers, brands, indie brands and distributors. In 2013, began collaborations in Europe and southeast Asia growing and improving overseas partnerships. Over the last 30 months he has been involved in a multifaceted approach, teaming together a fast-growing personal care team to include technical support, operations, customer service, marketing/advertising, warehouse/distribution, and regulatory support. John has held NYSCC roles for over a decade in the following positions: Registration, monthly events, House Arrangements, Social events, Membership Chair and currently as the Future Chemist Workshop advisor to the chair. John has attended SCC chapter monthly meetings and tradeshows in Florida, Chicago, California, Connecticut and Long Island. Following an honorable discharge in the USMC, he began his four degree in North Carolina and transferred to Montclair State University in New Jersey. For the past 4 years he has volunteered for local organizations and co-founded the annual golf outing for Hunterdon county veterans which has raised substantial scholarship assistance for vets and their families.

Mythili Nori

Mythili Nori has worked in the Personal Care industry for over a decade. Her expertise is in Product Claim Substantiation and Data Science. In her current role at BASF, she is responsible for leading Physical Claim Substantiation and Sensory evaluations for Hair & Body Care. She is instrumental in leading research and claims method development for inclusive beauty. Prior to joining BASF, she spent 5 years at TRI/Princeton as a Senior Research Associate, supporting claim substantiation and fundamental research activities for textile and hair surfaces.

She earned a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from India and received Master of Science in Chemical Engineering at North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University focusing on purification of drinking water. She has presented at various industry events and authored articles to NYSCC blog series and cosmetic business.com. She is currently teaching the Claims Substantiation Course at Fairleigh Dickinson University for Fall 2023.

Affiliations: Society of Cosmetic Chemists (2006-present), NYSCC Scientific Committee (2021-present)

Alex Blakeman

Alex Blakeman is originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. He obtained his MS in Polymer Technology from Leningrad Institute of Technology in 1983 having graduated with Honors. Moving to the US in 1986 he started his career in the wonderful world of colors. During his tenure he grew from bench chemist to technical manager, eventually assuming a role of key account manager. In 2007 he joined regional distributor, Superior Materials Inc. and is now covering a variety of industries – from building products to personal care applications. Alex has become a NYSCC member in 2010 and has been volunteering for the NYSCC for the last 5 years.

Diane Dabkowski

Diane Dabkowski is currently Senior Manager of R&D Technical Services Organization with Avon (member of Natura & Co.)  In her current position she leads initiatives to ensure formula compliance, supply security, productivity and sustainability for commercial products across Beauty categories.  She has held multiple other formulation roles during her 19 years with Avon.  Prior to joining Avon, Diane was based in Chicago and held positions in Quality, Formulation as well as Clinical Science while at Unilever where she also received multiple Hair Care patents.

In addition to over 25 years of SCC membership, Diane is also a longtime member of American Chemical Society as well as Phi Beta Kappa.  As one of her positions on Midwest SCC Board. Diane completed a term as Treasurer.  For over 10 years, she also volunteered as Treasurer of her condominium association, Cambridge West in Ramsey, New Jersey.

Diane graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Mathematics.