ISCC CONFERENCE 2020

at HPCI India

HPCI 2020: New Horizons in Cosmetic Industry

The cosmetics industry with a market share of $ 532billion is on a rapid upward trajectory globally. In India it is growing at a very fast pace at the rate of 15% -20 % per annum. The country is being looked up as an interesting market. Over the last five years the demand for cosmetics in Indian market has increased by approximately 65%. Indian cosmetics industry is driven by the high personal disposable income of people, rising awareness towards wellbeing, coupled with increasing demand for natural cosmetics.

The consumers involvement in ingredients and technology has led to major shift in marketing strategies in the Indian market. Even the manufacturing sector has not been left untouched by this involvement leading to a paradigm shift in the process outlook of the companies. The shift in market trends has created an opportunity for independent cosmetics businesses to apply creative solutions to the emerging customer demands.

According to market research firm Mintel, the demand for personalised cosmetics is growing fast. Most of consumers like the idea that a beauty product is customised especially for them and they feel that they give best results. More and more online beauty brands are increasingly using augmented reality to enhance the experience.

The new mode of online marketing is changing consumer personal care product demands as providing end users with a real-time digital experience. More importantly, personal data captured through new digital touchpoints creates the opportunity to optimize future product offers. As customer data and profiling becoming more important, more companies are trying to collect the data and use it for their benefit. Is this a challenge for the consumers or does it help them?

Conscious customers have led to focus on environmental sustainability in packaging. Till date the focus in packaging was more on practical and easy-to-use aspects as well as convenience and aesthetics for consumer attractiveness but now the marketed innovations are claiming to be sustainable either by their resources (bio-based) or their end of life (biodegradable) but without a full and fair assessment of their overall environmental benefit.

Most of these eco-friendly innovations are questionable like materials, renewable resources, compostability of the packaging and other aspects. New bio-packaging solutions with attractive shapes and sizes are coming in the market. Mushroom Packaging, Water capsules are new innovative 100% biodegradable replacement for plastics which are being made available in the market.

The brand-consumer relationship has shifted in a major manner leading the industry behaviour to become more information and emotion driven resulting in trends like Clean Beauty in skin and hair care products. The rise of the health-conscious movement within the beauty product market has been inundated by cosmetics promoting a healthier lifestyle. This includes making selective purchases on beauty care products based on the raw ingredients used, whether avoiding some components or being unsure about safety of some components or seeking those with more natural materials.

Hence, products with preservative free systems or alternative preservative systems are being created. Though preservatives are integral part of formulations the demand from the consumers have led to creation of alternative and preservative free cosmetics with huge claims.

Similarly ,the trend has led the formulators to revisit our traditional knowledge of Ayurveda and the traditional way of artisanal crafted formulations Even ancient scriptures and mythological epics are being considered for the manufacturing and use of cosmetics for enhancing beauty. Kajal, Tilak, Agary and Alita were used for decorative purposes on the skin and the face, even during the days of ancient Gods and deities.. Ayurvedic Cosmetics Formulations are being designed to provide best efficacious treatment for ailments and are being prepared by blending ayurvedic herbs in particular ways to make cosmetic products with natural certifications.

The cosmetic products are being formulated after understanding the complete skin biology right from the circulatory system to the skin micro flora. The total microbial cell count in and on our bodies is similar to the number of human cells. The skin Micro flora is of two types mainly Transient and resident skin flora. Resident microbiota are found in the upper parts of the epidermis and congregated in and around the hair follicles. Gram positive and Gram Negative are generally the Transient bacteria’s on the body. The face itself has a wide spectrum of microflora residing in various parts. Microorganisms can be grouped according to their relationship with us as Commensals, Symbionts and Pathogens. The microbes affect the skin pH and other aspects. This knowledge is now being used to form the Microbiome based cosmetic products.

Environmental protection specially UV protection products have now changed tremendously. The structure and formulation of these products are being revisited leading to more organically crafted formulations designed with focus on the environmental pollutions and other aspects. Sun care formulations and there analysis has changed significantly with lot of emphasis on the skin type, analysis aspects, UV A protection, UV B protection. The industry is also facing challenges on the evaluation of the sun screening products.

With changing trends, the legislation is also becoming more stringent. The Biodiversity act has started making its presence felt specially for the herbal extracts and cosmetics. The Biodiversity Act was passed by the Lok Sabha on 2nd December and by the Rajya Sabha on 11 th December 2002. The act is designed as the result of new developments in technology, in particular, biotechnology and information technology, and, secondly, the ongoing degradation of the environment accompanied by erosion of biological diversity.

These developments show that all organisms are potentially resources of considerable economic value, worthy of efforts at conservation, scientific research, and of securing rights over the related intellectual property. The act emphasises on the sovereign right of countries of origin over their genetic and biological diversity resources and the acceptance of the need to share fair and equitable benefits flowing from commercial utilization of biological diversity resources with holders of traditional knowledge and practices of conservation and sustainable utilization of these resources.

The conference will also be providing knowledge through its workshops on Advanced skin evaluation and Hair texture creating formulations.

For further information on the ISCC Conference, please contact:

Ms. Preeti
Email: cosmeticchemists(at)yahoo.com
Cell: +91 93243 21939