L’Oréal’s new UV Sense patch is compact enough to fit on a fingernail, does not require a battery, and aims to keep consumers safer in the sun.
It’s the latest sign of a category particularly keen to harness the potential of digital as one key trend, and alongside this, sun care players are also tapping into trends like anti-pollution and anti-ageing, while also keeping an eye out for natural ingredients and sustainable solutions.
Market overview
Euromonitor International, a market research provider, released a report into the category October last year.
It pulls out several key trends, and can be found here.
“Sunscreen formulations have moved beyond simple UV protection to products with added skin benefits and more attractive textures that are easy to apply and also protect against pollution and slow skin-ageing.
“This has brought some challenges that the industry has turned into opportunities by the use of innovative ingredients,” the firm explains.
“Sun protection manufacturers are now targeting specific market segments with products designed for different skin tones, climate conditions and activities.”
Major interest in multifunction
The crossover of trends is seeing consumers demanding products that can meet multiple demands.
This is having an impact on the types of ingredients formulators are looking to use: consumer and industry interest in multi-functional products is driving demand for ingredients that can serve multiple functions.
This is a situation that Euromonitor ingredients analyst Maria Coronado has observed developing over the recent period.
“The use of multifunctional ingredients is among the top ten reasons to purchase sunscreens or dedicated sun protection products worldwide,” she explained in a interview with CosmeticsDesign.
“As consumers increasingly want sun protection products that go beyond simple UV protection, there is a growing need for multifunctional ingredients and simpler formulations.
“Ingredients suppliers are developing ingredients able to play different roles in the formulation, from UV, light and pollution protection to anti-ageing, skin conditioning and benefiting agents.”
For market insight into the scope of naturals and organics ingredients in sun care, find a CosmeticsDesign interview with Neal’s Yard Remedies on the innovation behind its organic sun care here.