6 Media Partner:
Solar Beauty - Warm up your innovation spirit!
Some say that innovating in suncare is like formulating in extreme conditions. All the usual formulation and marketing constraints – stability, allergy, sensitivity, regulation, ageing process, competition, sensorial properties and consumer education – seem to apply acutely. Jacques Sebag, Director of Re-source! and Project Manager of in-focus, sets the scene.
Over the coming years, these challenges may well become even tougher. Which is precisely why cross- fertilisation and meeting face to face with the world experts makes sense! A few weeks from in-cosmetics, gather your material, sharpen your questions, and get ready to make the most of 3 days of energising interactions.
Prepare for avant-garde concepts! With the SPF race reaching 50 in Europe and now in the US, brands need to find new ways of differentiating themselves from each another – which means more daring textures and super active anti- ageing formulae. A host of products launched last summer in Europe illustrate how creativity and science are coming together to deliver highly competitive promises. Brands have been introducing products that are as not only great UV protectors but also powerful summer boosters that enhance the summer experience. Cult sensual products are getting highly functional while scientific brands are opening up to a whole new world of emotions.
Be prepared to support advanced technologies The problem with innovation is that if you go too far, people get scared. What are the effects? How does it interact with the body? What is the environmental impact? Consumers like new products, but not too new. The recent debate over nano-particles is a good example of this. 5 years ago, nano was a positive buzz word. In 2006, Yoelle Guiserix wrote an article for Beyond Beauty Magazine entitled “The Cosmetic Industry is entering the Age of Nanotechnology”. Hydroxyapatite in Platninéum by Lancôme, colloidal gold in Gold Future by Helena Rubinstein and particles under 10 nanometers in Shiseido’s Elixir Skin Up were highlighted as successful examples of a new revolution at work. Now we are starting to see non-nano claims and the regulation system is stepping in. The French Ministry for Ecology and Sustainable Development released a regulation project relating to the annual declaration of nano- size substances and it is expected that nano- particles will be part of the next REACH releases in Europe and covered very soon by the US EPA. Of course, this will make things more complicated, but modern innovation is expected to be sustainable and sustainable development is synonymous with complexity; analysing the complete life cycle of a product is anything but simple.
Nano-technologies should bring phenomenal
We loved the revival of Ambre Solaire’s cult sun- tanning oil revisited with a SPF 30. Vichy surprised us with a suncare oil which mixes deep cell protection with pleasure. Meanwhile on the scientific side, research is delving into the relationship between UV exposure and the acceleration of skin ageing. Avene has been working with the CEA in Grenoble to study how SPF 50 cream is capable of reducing the appearance of characteristic markers of DNA mutation induced by UVA and UVB. The results, which have been published in Photochemistry and Photobiology, represent a milestone in establishing a correlation between SPF and DNA protection. On another level, Vichy is claiming to be the first brand to prove the efficacy of its products in protecting skin stem cells. Clearly the level of expectation is rising fast.
improvements in human health and well being, but what we do not want is to kill the promises in the egg. Hence the need to develop new tools to manage complexity and highlight the importance of rethinking the way we communicate on the science behind the products.
Abandon old communication schemes… and invent new ones There might once have been a time when the words ‘science’ and ‘new’ were synonymous with progress and all things good. However, those days are long gone. Start typing “which sunscreen…” into Google and the search engine will suggest “is best”. Add an ‘s’ to the word and the top 3 suggestions are “are safe”, “to avoid” and “have nano-particles”. “Which sunscreens are safe” leads to no less than 16,500 000 answers; nothing compared to Lady Gaga’s 494 000 000 results, but still enough to reveal a certain anxiety about the issue.
Naturally, consumers have doubts, it’s all part of human nature. They ask questions and join forces, with the power to conduct research and perform trials. They exert lobbying pressure on authorities and spread opinion in the media. This summer, the French consumer magazine 60 millions de consommateurs published an article on how SPF can be misleading. Health and well-being information web site Doctissimo, states that SPF is not a perfect index as it only evaluates protection against sunburn. The site then refers to the brand Estherdem, which does not have any SPF on its solar products as it offers a more comprehensive approach, taking into account the level of sun exposure, ageing risk and individual specific photosensitivities.What Doctissimo does not say, however, is that the specialist they quote, Dr Pierre Cesarini, on his web site
Soleil.info does support the use of SPF 25 + sunscreens. Years of research and innovation accumulated by the industry does matter in making things better. However, what has traditionally been missing in communication schemes is the possibility of a dialogue between brands and consumers. Dialogue and exchanges are essential for trust. Ultimately, listening to how consumers talk about
products, understanding their questions and observing how they use the products may lead to better innovation and stronger brand loyalty. For all its faults when it comes to communication, the internet can also be a fantastic tool to build better dialogue between brands and users. When it comes to sun protection, we are speaking about potential skin cancer and accelerated skin ageing, so the need for communication and reliable information is essential. Innovation in Solar Beauty does not rely only on
new products and technologies, moreover, it requires changes to the way we design products and how we communicate with consumers. At this year’s in-cosmetics, we need to bear these new directions in mind when networking with our peers, so that we can develop new vantage points and make the most of the 11,000 m² of expertise and energising ideas!
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