FEATURE ARTICLES

Formulators of modern sunscreen products are required to meet ever-increasing demands in terms of product efficacy, both for SPF claims and broad spectrum (UVA) protection.

At the current rate of innovation, it can seem impossible to keep up with the pace of change. Advances in medical research, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence will make the 21st century a period of explosive growth.

A series of formulation workshops are set to give manufacturers a practical insight into how they can tackle common obstacles and improve their formulations at this year’s in-cosmetics Asia.

Three major themes have emerged over the last twelve months in hair care with claims promoting organic, convenience, and enhancement, dominating new hair care variants.

Plants contain a number of chemicals based on simple sugars and carbohydrates. These include fatty acids, lipids, amino acids, nucleotides, nucleic acids and proteins, etc. Some chemicals act as primary metabolites which are vital to a plant’s life and survival or act as precursors for secondary metabolites and are concerned with the plant’s interactions with the surrounding eco-system, principally acting as deterrents and attractants to pathogens.

An aesthetically pleasing skin appearance is highly desirable; in Western culture a bronze tan is desired while in Eastern culture a lighter complexion is regarded as a sign of youth and beauty.

The delivery of cosmetic actives to the right place is of great importance in order to increase their activity. Through encapsulating, we can modify their physicochemical properties, or increase for instance, their stability, or their penetration.

Stem cells are unspecialised cells with the capacity to self-renew over the whole life period of the organism. When needed, stem cells produce cells that undergo differentiation to specialised tissue cells.

In the quest to slow down premature skin ageing and maintain a fresh look, consumers rely on vitamins known to provide specific benefits to the skin.

CITE Japan 2011 (the 5th Cosmetic Ingredients & Technology Exhibition Japan) was held at Pacific Yokohama (Exhibition Hall) over three days from 25-27 May. For this exhibition, the organiser was the Federation of Japanese Cosmetic Ingredients Associations rather than the Society of Cosmetic Chemists of Japan (SCCJ).

Events have always been recognised as an intrinsic part of the B2B marketing mix – and it is not hard to understand why. Visitors can spend just a few days out of the office and meet a huge number of companies offering solutions that, more often than not, meet their needs ten times over, writes Cathy Laporte, group marketing manager, in-cosmetics Asia.

The ASEAN Cosmetics Association is a cosmetic manufacturing association working on a voluntary basis for its industry members in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Companies are committing to a reduction in their carbon footprint, and for good reason: it addresses environmental concerns and it makes good business sense. Without question, reducing the impact on the environment is the responsible thing to do. Employing a “carbon footprint reduction” policy, however, also leads to the inevitable concern of the economic impact. It costs money to “go green”.

Highly concentrated shea butter triterpene esters are shown to be promising new bioactives for protecting the skin against environmental stress conditions and reactive oxygen species.

Organisms are constantly exposed to different stressful agents, which have led them to develop adaptation methods to deal with adverse environmental conditions that cause acute or chronic stress.

During pregnancy, a woman’s body undergoes substantial physiological changes. From the metabolism, positioning of the pelvis, to hormonal levels; there are few areas unaltered by the process of pregnancy, as the body adapts firstly to nurturing the unborn baby, then preparing to give birth, and finally nourishing the newborn.

Baby and children’s sunscreens are one of the fastest growing sectors within the sun protection market with more and more launches targeted at this age group. In the second half of 2010, 9% of sun care launches were targeted at children (similar to the previous period), and 5% at babies and toddlers (a 2% increase on the previous period) Mintel GNPD.

Healthy baby skin is often the envy of adults and is observably distinct in appearance, texture, and feel from adult skin. Physiological differences between baby and adult skin leave baby skin more vulnerable to environmental and biological stressors.

We often hear the term “nutricosmetic” and how it is an important market trend. By definition, a nutricosmetic is effectively a formulation taken orally that offers cosmetic benefits such as improving the condition and health of skin or hair.

The 2011 in-cosmetics in Milan was very much a global exhibition, taking in exhibitors and visitors from a wide variety of countries and continents to illustrate the shape of the cosmetics industry.