From Biotech to Beauty: How Maryna Kalesnik Built Product Lines That Perform

What does it take to create a product that meets EU regulations, lands on retail shelves, and feels unforgettable?

Ask Maryna Kalesnik.

She’s led over 40 launches across Europe, formulations built to perform in the lab, scale in production, and win in-market. With a Master’s in Industrial Biotechnology and 11+ years in cosmetic R&D, she’s not just mixing ingredients. She’s engineering performance, stability, and sensorial precision.

Now, she is poised to bring that proven expertise to U.S. innovation, continuing her impactful career in the industry, backed by data and executed with precision.

This is what biotech fluency looks like in action.

Maryna’s story begins with a deep dive into biochemistry. She earned her Master’s in Industrial Biotechnology at the Belarusian State Technological University, focusing on the formulation science of fats, essential oils, and perfumery. This specialization isn’t just technical; it’s foundational to cosmetic chemistry, where understanding ingredient behavior at the molecular level determines a product’s safety, feel, and function.

From the outset, Maryna approached cosmetic formulation with a scientific mindset: testing, iterating, and calibrating until the chemistry lined up with the desired effect. She quickly moved beyond basic stability or safety checks, asking instead: How does the texture behave in heat? What makes a moisturizer absorb without residue? Which preservatives can survive humidity while meeting clean beauty standards?

Her formulations are answers to these questions, answers that have reached store shelves, bathroom counters, and consumer routines across Europe.

Maryna’s resume is more than a list of job titles; it’s a progression of increasingly complex challenges, each met with precision and leadership.

At SIA “Cita Lieta” in Latvia, she served as a chemical technologist and acting head of production, where she led full-cycle development for skincare, haircare, and sun care lines. More than 100 original formulas passed through her hands, each tailored to market demand, manufacturing feasibility, and regulatory compliance. Her leadership extended to a team of 100, managing training, standardization, and quality control with a steady hand.

She wasn’t just developing samples; she was guiding products from concept to commercial rollout, aligning the efforts of marketers, engineers, and supply chain managers to make it happen.

Before that, she fine-tuned decorative cosmetics at LuxVisage and managed batch-to-retail transitions at Modum. She optimized filling line schedules, improved process documentation, and introduced formula adjustments that reduced waste and enhanced product stability, all while navigating the technical complexities of multiple cosmetic categories.

Maryna’s career lives in the details, the emulsifier that prevents separation, the preservative that holds up under shelf stress, the pigment dispersion that stays true in real-world lighting.

While these details may not make headlines, they are precisely what determines whether a product thrives in the market or faces discontinuation.

Across her roles, she has created skincare emulsions that remain stable in fluctuating climates, shampoos that perform across hair types, and masks with textures calibrated for user satisfaction. 

She’s worked on dozens of successful launches, products that were sold across European retail chains, but due to confidentiality, she can’t disclose brand names. Still, what she can share is compelling: performance metrics, formulation files, regulatory clearances, and a history of stepping in when projects needed someone to make science meet business.

In Maryna’s view, formulation isn’t just science; it’s empathy. It’s about understanding how a consumer feels when they open a jar, smell a serum, or smooth a mask onto their skin. These sensorial elements, texture, scent, and absorption, are critical to brand loyalty; getting them right isn’t luck.

Maryna seamlessly combines consumer insight with laboratory precision to craft sensorial profiles. She considers how an emulsion melts into the skin, how a gel holds up in a humid bathroom, and how a cleanser leaves a “finish” that’s perceptible but not sticky. She takes feedback from test panels and translates it into measurable tweaks in emulsifier ratios, polymer selection, or rheology.

This process, the “invisible” layer of cosmetic product development, is where Maryna shines. Her ability to refine what users feel into changes that labs can measure is what sets her apart.

There’s a quiet strength to Maryna’s professional story. She doesn’t chase recognition. But what she’s built, product lines, lab protocols, production frameworks, is significant.

She has recovered failing product launches by reformulating under a deadline. She has salvaged underperforming SKUs by improving performance and shelf stability. She has streamlined entire manufacturing workflows to reduce waste and increase margin. And in every case, the results are documented: from batch testing data to supplier feedback and distributor reports.

Her work has helped brands secure shelf space, improve market share, and reduce production overhead, all without her name in bold.

As the U.S. cosmetics and biotech industries increasingly seek sustainable, high-performance, science-backed products, Maryna brings the rare ability to bridge formulation with function.

She offers:

• A full-cycle view: From initial concept and ingredient selection to industrial scaling and regulatory approval

• Biotech depth: Grounded in a Master’s-level understanding of ingredient behavior and bio-compatibility

• Process optimization: Proven ability to scale formulations efficiently without compromising quality

• Team leadership: Managed production lines and R&D teams, trained junior chemists, and integrated cross-functional efforts

• Clean beauty alignment: Deep familiarity with EU regulations and emerging clean label standards, transferable to U.S. trends

Maryna doesn’t just understand what the market wants, she knows how to make it, scale it, and get it to shelves.

Maryna’s story isn’t one of potential. It’s one of consistent contribution.

Through this pathway, she isn’t just applying for entry into the U.S. cosmetic science field. She’s offering a portfolio of real-world impact, a track record of complex problem-solving, and the ability to translate scientific knowledge into commercial success.

She’s not looking for a title. She’s looking for a challenge. For collaborators who value depth over flash, systems thinking over surface-level fixes, and outcomes that can be seen, touched, and measured.

Elena Marlowe is a science and innovation writer specializing in biotechnology, cosmetic chemistry, and female leadership in STEM. With a background in editorial research and technical storytelling, she spotlights professionals whose work bridges rigorous science and real-world impact. Elena’s writing has appeared in industry journals, innovation platforms, and brand profiles across the wellness, healthtech, and beauty sectors.