Nubiform, according to Porex, is intended as a replacement for foams and foam-like products in cosmetics (e.g., for lip products, eye liner applicators, etc.). It allows products to flow through its structure while also taking on unique 3D shapes.
We caught up with Rusty Martin, global marketing manager for Porex, at the recent Cosmoprof Bologna trade show, to hear more.
What’s innovative about Nubiform?
“What’s new and different about it is that it’s flow-through technology, it can be moulded in 3D shapes, and it can be antimicrobial,” Martin explains.
It is a real shift from what’s currently available on the market when it comes to applicators in this style, he asserts.
“You can get a foam applicator product, but it has to be in a flat sheet format. Apart from Nubiform, if you mould foam, it’s no longer flow-through. It’s a significant change to what’s been available in cosmetics for a long time.”
What applications could it have?
Martin says that Porex believes Nubiform could be particularly influential in beauty for three key product types: lip stains, foundations and eyeshadows.
“If you think about lipstick, the basic wax type lipstick has been the same for about 100 years - the ingredients may have changed, but the shape and the form hasn’t,” he says.
“People have tried to come out with lip stain applicators that look like lipstick using fibre parts, but imagine - with our capability you could make an actual flow the applicator that looks like a lipstick. Nubiform moves products away from wax type application to liquid applications.”
Who’s it for?
The company is aiming to supply to contract manufacturers and to brands directly: “We’re in contact with both and working with both,” Martin notes.
Nubiform was launched in December, 2016, so it’s still new to the market, but Porex’s vision for the elastomer product is ambitious.
“Our goal is to have products on the market this year. We’re looking for opportunities to slide into current projects as well, offer solutions where there are challenges that Nubiform can meet. There are two projects already live that Nubiform is involved with, and another project in the prototyping phase.”
Martin explains that for now, the Nubiform development is based in the US, at Porex’s global headquarters, but the plan is to roll out development to its regional product development groups in Germany and Malaysia in the near future.