Hair care

Europe takes the strain for A.S. Watson as China sales slow due to COVID-19 woes

28-Mar-2022 By Amanda Lim

A.S. Watson's health and beauty division grew up by 17% on the back of growth in Europe which helped to offset declines in China brought about by COVID-19

Exclusive in-depth analysis

How to win over… beauty consumers in a rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape

28-Mar-2022 By Amanda Lim

The beauty sector might be one of the hottest arenas in e-commerce, but there looks set to be boundless new opportunities on the horizon for digital-savvy brands, from social commerce advances to the metaverse.

Eco boost: Five recent developments in sustainable beauty across APAC

25-Mar-2022 By Amanda Lim

We round up our five most-read stories relating to one of the hottest topics in beauty today, featuring innovative solutions to the sustainable beauty movement coming from Asia Pacific.

Q&A

"Acknowledging men’s uniqueness": Schick rebrands to meet consumers where they are

25-Mar-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

Shaving company Schick launched a rebrand in March focused around showing a wider variety of men, minimalist design and user-generated consumer stories on social media. CosmeticsDesign interviewed Matt Bell, senior vice president of North America at Edgewell...

Next-gen methods can 'transform' chemical risk assessment: Experts

24-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

There are strong opportunities to widen use of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for chemical risk assessments on worker safety and environmental impact of cosmetics, though regulatory acceptance will require a collaborative industry-research push, say...

‘Drastic but necessary’: Beauty majors cease business in Russia

22-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Several major beauty brands and retailers have suspended operations in Russia amidst the ongoing Ukraine conflict – action that aligns with widespread consumer sentiment and the increasing difficulties of doing business in the country, according to one...

Citrus fruit waste offers upcycled active skin care promise: Review

16-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The peel and seeds from industrial processing of citrus fruits can be used in an array of active skin care formulations for their bioactive compounds, though circular industrial frameworks need to be further developed to scale use, say researchers.

Endocrine disruptors? SCCS closes comment period on phytoestrogens cosmetics safety

14-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The European Commission’s Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) has closed the comment period for its preliminary safety opinion on the two phytoestrogen isoflavone substances, genistein and daidzein.

Unilever invites ‘disruptive’ sustainable innovators to join its collaboration initiative

10-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Personal care major Unilever has widened the call for startups, scaleups and entrepreneurs to engage with its collaboration initiative, inviting those specialised in sustainable ingredients and packaging to join.

‘Remarkable growth’: UK certified organic beauty and wellbeing market up 15% in 2021

10-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The UK’s organic beauty and wellbeing market has reported its 11th consecutive year of growth, largely driven by shifting consumer mindsets favouring environmentally friendly products, says British charity and certifying body the Soil Association.

Beauty Kitchen’s circular retail model ‘Re’ secures €3.6m in UKRI funding

09-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

UK indie brand Beauty Kitchen has secured a multi-million funding grant to upscale its circular retail model Re, aiming to save thousands of beauty bottles from landfill and break linear business models in the years ahead.

More than skin deep: Redefinition of beauty driving women to focus on sustainability and health – Watsons CEO

07-Mar-2022 By Amanda Lim

The changing perception of beauty is leading women to focus on sustainable beauty products and beauty supplements, says the CEO of health and beauty retailer Watsons

‘Maintaining the microbiome’: Biotech startup Sequential Skin debuts in vivo B2B testing service

03-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

UK-Singapore headquartered biotech startup Sequential Skin has taken a solid stride into B2B microbiome testing with the debut of its end-to-end in vivo service for consumer care companies.

BIG BRAND TALKS – IN CONVERSATION WITH TODAY’S BEAUTY LEADERS

L’Oréal exec: The future of beauty packaging is ‘eco-desirability’

03-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The future of beauty packaging will centre on blending sustainability with desirability and rely on innovative industry partnerships and advances in material science, lifecycle analysis and smart product design, says L’Oréal’s global director of sustainable...

‘Great resilience’: Beiersdorf sales and net profit rise in FY 2021

02-Mar-2022 By Kacey Culliney

International skin care major Beiersdorf has reported a rise in group sales and net profit for the full year of 2021, with significant growth in Latin and North America.

Back to basics: major areas for growth in R&D for Black hair, according to experts

01-Mar-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

Brands from the mass market to prestige products have been looking to be more inclusive of Black hair care consumers, but whether or not they’re doing that starts with R&D.

Beauty Bites Gallery

Regional expert: Watsons reveals strategy for success in ‘vibrant’ Middle East skin care category

28-Feb-2022 By Amanda Lim

Health and beauty retailer Watsons says positioning itself as a ‘skin care expert’ is key to achieving success in the Middle East market.

Exclusive in-depth analysis

How to win over… the eco-conscious consumer while avoiding the pitfalls of greenwashing

28-Feb-2022 By Amanda Lim

Sustainability is one of the hottest topics in beauty today, but how can the sector move beyond packaging to innovate with new concepts, product formats and materials to win over the eco-conscious consumer, while avoiding the trap of greenwashing? We...

‘Clear, transparent and comparable’: Beauty giants launch EcoBeautyScore Consortium

24-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

A group of beauty majors have kickstarted an EcoBeautyScore Consortium, set to establish a brand-agnostic and transparent global environmental impact scoring system by the end of this year.

Cruelty-free cosmetics: Industry majors publish ‘practical and structured’ 10-step framework for animal-free safety analysis

23-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The trade association Cosmetics Europe and scientists from Beiersdorf, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble and Unilever have published a study outlining a framework on using read-across as part of a next-generation method to conduct cosmetics safety assessments.

Prill power: P&G files patent for dissolvable hair care pouches

18-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Personal care major Procter & Gamble (P&G) has developed water-soluble pouches containing dissolvable hair care pellets for a user-friendly, sustainable alternative to existing bottled and solid formats.

Unilever focused on countering ‘dramatic’ input inflation amidst 9% 2021 net profit rise

15-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Consumer goods major Unilever has reported growth in full-year 2021 net sales and net profit, with a strong performance in beauty and personal care, but has said a dramatic rise in input costs remains a considerable challenge.

EU green and digital agenda: Bridging ‘gap’ between pan-European policy and action key for fragrances - IFRA

14-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Establishing and encouraging EU-local partnerships as the European Commission pushes ahead with its green and digital agendas will be critical in ensuring the fragrance industry remains resilient and continues to thrive, says the president of the International...

SPECIAL EDITION: ETHICAL BEAUTY – VEGANISM, CRUELTY-FREE AND PLANETARY GOOD

Environmental impact the ‘big’ opportunity in ethical beauty

11-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Consumer interest in ethical beauty continues to soar in Europe, fuelled by heightened concerns around climate change and the ongoing global pandemic, and so industry must sharpen action and communication on environmental impact, says a GlobalData analyst.

L’Oréal reports ‘historic’ full year for 2021: Net profit soars 29%

10-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

International beauty major L’Oréal has reported a significant rise in full-year 2021 sales and net profit globally, with Latin America and North Asia performing particularly well and business in its Luxe and Active Cosmetics divisions leading the surge.

Flower extracts promising as natural multi-functional cosmetic dyes: Study

10-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Plant extracts offer plenty of active cosmetics promise, but the colourful flowers of some plants also offer up natural dye potential in addition to providing a bioactive punch, say researchers.

A dramatic C2C ‘powershift’? Consumer voice holds ‘biggest influence’ in retail purchases, finds report

09-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Peer-to-peer insight on a product or brand is the most powerful influencer in global retail purchases, signalling significant promise for beauty to provide more user-generated content in-store and online, says an expert.

Holland & Barrett targets Greece, Bulgaria and Romania with new store openings

09-Feb-2022 By Nicola Gordon-Seymour

UK wellness retailer Holland & Barrett will open 120 stores across Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania over the next few years following a partnership deal with Fourlis Group.

‘Growth remains our top priority’: Unilever divides up beauty and personal care mega division

08-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Personal care major Unilever has split out its operations into five distinct business units to create a more category-focused company, breaking up its largest division beauty and personal care.

Green Claims Code: Environmental beauty messaging must be ‘data-led’

04-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Green beauty’s insatiable rise is now subject to additional scrutiny in the UK under the Green Claims Code, and industry ought to carefully consider the guidance, says the head of the UK’s Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA).

Unilever files patent on prebiotic scalp care formula targeting dandruff

03-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Personal care major Unilever has developed a scalp care formulation using the disaccharide trehalose as a prebiotic to reduce levels of fungi associated with dandruff.

What to know about four common Black hairstyles, benefits and risk to consumers: Study

02-Feb-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

The beauty industry has recently turned more attention to Black consumers and knowing the ins, outs and risks of the hairstyles used by them can guide R&D, product development and brand innovation.

Lush investing €5.9+m in 2022 store refits: ‘You have to be inspirational’

02-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Cosmetics major Lush will heavily invest in brick and mortar modernisation across its European store network this year, in a clear nod to the potential it sees for the high street.

British Beauty Council unveils online trade hub to unpick post-Brexit woes

02-Feb-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The British Beauty Council has developed an online hub to help UK beauty and personal care businesses navigate through post-Brexit confusion and concerns around evolving trade costs and rules.

Special Edition: ETHICAL BEAUTY – VEGANISM, CRUELTY-FREE AND PLANETARY GOOD

Beauty can drive 'holistic' sustainable action with life cycle and social focus

31-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Cosmetics companies are aware and invested in sustainable action, but more can be done to drive better beauty consumption and take a more holistic approach, according to findings in Brazil that offer wider valuable learnings, say researchers.

Sustainable packaging roundup

Luxury, quality, fragility: Glass is highly recyclable packaging option, increases expense

28-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

Glass containers may be the most breakable and heavy non-virgin-plastic packaging option, but the material also communicates quality to consumers.

Q&A

Lack of final product safety testing likely drove aerosol product recalls in 2021

26-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

Last year saw a rash of personal care product recalls. CosmeticsDesign discussed the connection between the recalls and what to learn from them with Harpreet Sareen, Manager, Quality and Regulatory Consulting at Eurofins.

Prioritizes soil as much as skin: B corp coalition aiming to collaborate on improving industry

26-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

While B corps are generally working towards improved social and environmental impacts in their industry, the newly formed B Beauty Coalition believes open collaboration could mean real progress.

Financial focus: Coty, Yatsen, L’Occitane and more feature in our latest beauty business and finance update

26-Jan-2022 By Amanda Lim

Coty, Yatsen, L’Occitane and more feature in this round-up of financial results, M&As and funding drives in the cosmetics industry.

Q&A

CBD law: Unsubstantiated health claims, non-uniform regulations state to state pose roadblocks

25-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

Many CBD products are not actually legal under FDA regulation, but they are sweeping the US market anyways. CosmeticsDesign spoke with lawyer Tommy Tobin, associate at Perkins Coie LLP, about where CBD stands legally in the US.

Lots of moisture, a bit of cleansing: 5 formats of CBD and hemp seed oil products on the market

20-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

While many multinationals in the United States don’t produce CBD products on a mass-market scale today, there are many types of CBD beauty products for sale in many formats.

Garnier unveils 'no rinse' conditioner: We want to help change 'day-to-day beauty routines’, says president

14-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

L’Oréal’s Garnier brand has launched a no rinse conditioner line across Europe this week, in a move set to challenge consumers into re-thinking beauty routines and slashing water use at mass scale.

Big Brand Talks - In conversation with today's beauty leaders

Rituals CEO: Our vision is to ensure luxury, sustainability and social responsibility ‘go hand in hand’

12-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

Dutch beauty major Rituals has achieved B Corp status after three years of transformation, forming part of a much wider vision to blur the beautiful with the good, according to its CEO.

Predicting hair loss: L’Oréal files patent on alopecia prognosis, diagnosis and treatment

10-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

International beauty major L’Oréal has developed a method to identify the molecular signature of a person’s scalp in a common alopecic state, enabling prognosis and diagnosis, along with the development of efficacious cosmetic treatments for such hair...

Q&A

Solving specific problems: Sunday II Sunday on haircare, equity and inclusion in 2022

06-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

Sunday II Sunday is a Black-owned athleisure haircare brand which has capitalized on the needs of a consumer with a specific lifestyle to find a whitespace. Christina Williams, associate brand manager spoke with CosmeticsDesign about what their model...

End of an era? Lush social media shutdown part of wider beauty shift, says expert

06-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

The decision by Lush to close several of its global social media accounts last year marks part of a wider beauty movement favouring more personalised and flexible consumer engagement, says a communications expert.

L'Oréal launches to bring “new age” tech, data to in-home, salon hair coloring

05-Jan-2022 By Ravyn Cullor

L'Oréal has launched two new technologies for mass-market consumers and stylists, developed to circumvent hair coloring problems “only technology could solve.”

Special Edition: ETHICAL BEAUTY – VEGANISM, CRUELTY-FREE AND PLANETARY GOOD

E-commerce startup Counter Culture Store wants to make ethical beauty ‘convenient’ and ‘discoverable’

04-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

UK sustainable e-commerce specialist Counter Culture Store is on a mission to make ethical beauty products more discoverable and convenient to buy online – aspects that appeal to a broad set of consumers, its founder says.

Beauty science in review: Blue light protection, essential oils, active skin care and eco beauty key in 2021

03-Jan-2022 By Kacey Culliney

A plethora of scientific reviews were published in 2021, spanning a range of important beauty topics from blue light protection and the history of sunscreen through to active ingredient delivery and circular ingredient promise. Here, CosmeticsDesign-Europe...

CosmeticsDesign-Europe

Resources