CREATING ORGANIC COSMETICS

THERE IS A CERTAIN EXPECTATION given when one reads the blurb at the back of a book. It is supposed to tickle your curiosity. Using the span of words normally reserved for a Twitter post our assumptions and opinions are made and we either put the book back onto the rack of bookstore obscurity or into out basket to be added to that obscure rack of homebound books.

This is the enigma of a person like Dr Mohd Razip Asaruddin. He’s that book we discover is deeper than just a mere blurb.

Dr Mohd Razip Asaruddin’s journey began as a young man from Perak, who made his way to Sarawak to be part of the pioneer batch of 118 students of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) in 1993.
What drew him to Sarawak? “I wanted a change in my life and starting a new life in Sarawak just felt like the right thing to do,” he told me as we talked over coffee. “When I came to Sarawak, my father did not even know I had hopped onto a plane and arrived in Kuching. I eventually told him where I was but by then it was too late to ask me to come back to Perak.”

And he is proud to call Sarawak home, eventually settling down and starting a family of his own.

“As a young man, I have always been interested in ways to better one’s self. I have accomplished much as a silat practitioner in my youth and was always attracted to traditional healing methods especially the use of natural ingredients like plants or various elements anyone can find in nature.” He said as he recalled his youth.

“FROM OUR DRUG DESIGN APPROACH, WE EXHIBITED THE MONOLAURIN AND LAURIC ACID FOUND IN VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (VOC) SHOWED A HIGH POSSIBILITY TO INHIBIT THE COVID-19.”

VIRGIN COCONUT OIL
“The healthiest Oil on Earth” contains both monolaurin and lauric acid, two ingredients that have powerful antiviral, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties. Studies have found that these ingredients are effective in fighting certain viruses, including herpes. The possibility of using VCO to fight the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is being studied extensively by
researchers globally.” Dr Mohd Razip Asaruddin Pharmaceutic Technologist
Dr Razip a university lecturer, holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (Hons) (UNIMAS), Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacognosy) (Kyoto University) and a PhD in Pharmaceutic Technology(USM).

Dr Razip, as he is fondly known by, is mentioned in reverant tones within the circle of local cosmetic industry players. And for good reason; he is hugely trusted, well respected and aversely inventive. His inventions have help generated wealth for many who have had the privilege of engaging his services.

An alchemist who works exclusively with natural ingredients, he designs cosmetics for a customer base hungry for all things natural, organic, nonchemical or non-artificial.

Soft-spoken, with a whisper-like voice, his gentle demeanor disguises the mad scientist who is more at home in a chemistry lab and happiest when out foraging for ingredients than in a board room.

Yet, for all his accomplishments, he stays out of the limelight. Choosing instead to allow others their chance to shine. Happy to see his inventions brought to market yet shuns being caught up in the rush of business and the art of making money.

And while most researchers bask in the light of winning a single gold medal at an international invention expo, Dr Razip won three gold medals in 2019 alone; including one gold at the Seoul International Invention Fair 2019 (SIIF 2019), held at the COEX Convention Center, Seoul, South Korea from 27-30 November 2019 for his work on Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) Solutions for Beauty Products.

And there is more to this awardwinning designer of cosmetic products than just cosmetics or skin care.

This unassuming university lecturer holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (Hons) (UNIMAS), Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacognosy) (Kyoto University) and PhD in Pharmaceutic Technology (USM).

His PhD research was on viruses and specifically the class of viruses known as Coronavirus of which the COVID-19 is a part of. And in recent days, Dr Razip’s opinions have been in high demand by local news agencies for his thoughts Coronaviruses and COVID-19.

“Most people know me as the cosmetic-guy so when I started talking about viruses; I received criticism. But they either forget or do not know that my seven-year PhD research was about Coronavirus. So, I have every right to talk about the COVID-19 virus.” He commented when I asked him about his recent comments on the virus. Viruses aside, he is particularly excited when talking about his work into Virgin Coconut Emulsion (VCE) – a process that makes Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) 100% soluble in water while leaving all the raw beneficial nutrients intact.

“My work with Virgin Coconut Oil has allowed me to work with about 15 cosmetics products, which various companies have used to introduce coconut-based cosmetics in Malaysia. And it is not just cosmetics. My work also covers coconut-based products for skin-care and health supplements.” He said when asked about his pioneering research into Virgin Coconut Emulsion – the world’s first stable emulsified Virgin Coconut Oil.

VCE reduces the size of the coconut oil molecule, rids the strong oil scent and allows the coconut molecule to better bond with other natural elements. The VCE process itself is patent protected and is gazetted with the Register of The Japan Patent Office (JPO), Malaysia Patent Office (MyIPO) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

And as if one patent is enough, he has five other patents in the bag that covers items such as cat food, hair cream, an antimicrobial composite, a cosmeceutical composition and an oral care spray (patent pending).

Dr Razip has other works which uses ingredients such as Aloe Vera, natural stingless bee honey or kelulut, bird’s nest and rice.

“If you look at the products I have designed, you can actually eat them since most are ingredients that appear in cooking recipes.” He joked. Edible cosmetic products? Now that’s uniquely, mad scientist level genius at work.

“There is a huge market for local products like cosmetics or health supplements that use naturally available produce. This is Borneo, this is Sarawak; and she has provided so much for us to use. It’s simply boils down to whether we want to put in the effort to learn her secrets or not.”

Maclean Patrick has published two books, written political commentaries and is active in the activities of the Wordsmiths of Kuching, a Sarawak based poet’s community and SaraLawak, a Kuching based comedy group. Experienced in theatre, spoken word performances and stand-up comedy shows, he was in the Petronas short web-film – Baju Burung Apai released in May of 2019.