Exhibition of innovation

2009 was also the 10th anniversary of SCS Formulate, and the first year it has been held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The preceding 10 years have seen the exhibition grow from 51 exhibitors and 509 visitors to this year’s figures of 164 exhibitors and 717 visitors, making SCS Formulate an extremely important date on the industry’s calendar. The emphasis this year was on “radical and pioneering products” in the form of the Genius Showcases. This was a dedicated area for particularly innovative ingredients deemed to be at “the cutting edge of cosmetic science”.

Genius

Within a few minutes of the doors opening on the first morning, the aisles were filling up with people and the stands buzzing with discussion. It was a new location for the exhibition, but there were no signs of any hiccups, and the Coventry arena was easy to find for the hundreds of delegates. Among the Genius Showcase exhibitors was CLR-Berlin who was promoting their SyriCalm natural calming active. The new product soothes and protects skin after external stresses, with the main aim of reducing and controlling inflammation. Based on Phragmites karka and Poria cocos, SyriCalm also has barrier repairing and barrier maintenance functions. Overall, SyriCalm helps the skin react less to negative impacts and also helps it to recover its natural balance. CLR say the product will be ideal for a wide range of possible applications, including daily protection, after-sun treatment and baby care. Also on show was Rahn’s new active ingredient for cell and DNA protection, Celligent. The innovative ingredient targets the treatment of UV-stressed skin. While speaking to Rahn UK’s sales manager, Andrew Goodwin, he elaborated on Celligent’s activity at cellular level and its ability to repair as well as protect DNA via its uridine monophosphate component, which supports DNA repair. Personal Care Europe will feature a full technical article on Celligent in the next issue. Hostacerin SFO was presented at the Genius Showcase by Clariant and Chemlink Specialities. A natural co-emulsifier, it replaces the soapy feel with a rich smooth, spreading skin feel and also removes the need for silicones in stearic acid-based formulations. Several exhibitors at the show focused heavily on the question of the sustainability of cosmetic ingredients. This was especially the case on the AAK Natural Oils stand, who were promoting their adoption of GreenPalm, a new certificate trading system which aims to tackle the environmental and social problems associated with the production of palm oil. The process works by certified palm oil producers being invited to register some of their output with the GreenPalm programme. For every tonne of crude palm oil that they sustainably produce, they are awarded one GreenPalm certificate. These certificates are then put up for sale on a web-based trading platform. The certificates can then be bid for and bought by manufacturers or retailers who are keen to support the production of sustainable palm oil. The money exchanged in the trading of the certificates is made directly to the palm oil producer and the manufacturers and retailers then have certificates to substantiate their environmental claims.