In the midst of Asia’s rapid growth in the world economy, the region’s beauty and personal care market has shown similar high-speed evolution. A broader consumer base with expanding disposable income is driving a briskly developing combination of tradition and 21st-century innovation – with a thriving youth market, fashionforward female buyers, and even a growing men’s market.
This new marketplace has brought several significant trends in Asian beauty and personal care. Female consumers are more interested than ever in skin whitening products and applications that help even skin tone. The region’s maturing population seeks help in delaying skin ageing and masking its inevitable effects. Meanwhile, consumer interest in natural materials prompts formulators to create skin care products that ensure pleasing aesthetics. On the hair care scene, greater use of colorants and heat appliances, along with the stress of everyday grooming, translate to the need for moisturisation, protection and repair. Specialty silicones have versatile and multifunctional roles to play in response to market trends. In fact, discerning global consumers have enjoyed the benefits of these materials for years, often not realising the range of silicone technologies that continue to shape product aesthetics and performance.
Why silicones?
Silicones are recognised by formulators and consumers alike for their sensory benefits and have been used in personal care products since the early 1950s. The term ‘silicone’ encompasses a vast array of technologies that can be combined among silicone families or with organic materials, including natural ingredients and actives. To improve the experience of consumers, formulators seek to optimise the texture and sensory characteristics of formulations to match their long-term functional benefits. With a light feel, ability to spread easily, lubricating qualities and tendency to repel water, silicones play a variety of roles in today’s personal care products. They can enhance the appearance of skin and hair, demonstrate durability and wash-off resistance due to their film barrier properties, improve sensory characteristics during and after application, provide innovative textures, protect and enhance hair strength, and deliver active ingredients with greater efficacy. Because silicones are multifunctional and often serve more than one use in a formulation, they can help make product development and manufacturing easier and more cost effective, since fewer ingredients may be needed. They are especially useful for formulating products that meet evolving beauty and personal care trends in Asia.
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