18 INTERVIEW
have to be genuine, they can’t just be hopping on the menopause beauty bandwagon. There needs to be a 15-product range or whatever it may be.
TP: What other meta trends do you see in the personal care industry? AW: Climate change and conscious consumerism. We are talking more about having less of an impact on the environment and how we communicate that to consumers. Take carbon neutral. What does that mean and what does that look like? There was one brand that talked about carbon-saving the weight of 50 dinosaurs. I am not sure what that means but that’s a little bit more of a concrete example than talking about grammes of carbon dioxide. We need to communicate
to consumers that products have a lesser impact on the environment, not just that they are ‘environmentally friendly’. Nothing is environmentally friendly. That lesser impact could be due to the packaging or the formulation, but we need to be more concrete with it: we were able to save x number of hectares of trees, or we were able to reduce water usage by 50 tonnes or whatever it may be. For consumers, I think they are
trying to be conscious but it’s a constant battle. They want to be environmentally correct, they want to help save the planet, they want to have less of an impact on the planet. But they also want to be on-trend, they want that newest lipstick, they want the best pressed powder. They want all these things, but
they also don’t want to over- consume. Yet as an industry we are constantly pushing out products. So beauty as a whole is not a very conscious industry. If we were, we wouldn’t keep launching all these products. It’s the elephant in the room. How do we address consumers wanting to be more conscious? That’s something we’ll continue to see grow.
TP: I believe consumers want to buy products with a clear conscience. They want to know what they buy is not harming the planet, but they still want to buy the products. What more could be done? AW: There’s not enough communication on end-of- product lifecycle. That’s why you’re seeing so many refillable products. Refillable shampoos, refillable lip
TP: Personalisation is another key trend. How do distributors like Univar Solutions adapt to that, and what does this trend mean for ingredient producers? AW: Personalisation is huge. Take scalp care. Five years ago, nobody was talking about how to personalise your scalp routine. It was ‘I wash my hair, I condition my hair, I style my hair’. Now we start at the scalp
“We need to communicate to consumers that products have a lesser impact on the environment, not just that they are
‘environmentally friendly’” Arnita Wofford, global marketing and technical director for beauty & personal care, Univar Solutions
gloss pots, there’s even skincare with pop-out glass packaging and a recycled plastic insert. You can pop that out, refill your skin cream or sun care and keep using the jar. I was shopping in Paris recently
and now there’s a refillable mascara. I hadn’t seen that really mainstream before. So I think we’re trying. There’s a lot of innovation that is trying to get us there to help decrease the footprint we’re having on the planet.
TP: Univar Solutions has highlighted the rise of the metaverse. What does the metaverse mean for the cosmetics industry? AW: Right now the metaverse is more of a marketing and e-commerce thing. I can visit a booth in the metaverse, and I can shop virtually and pick up products. I can visit a Charlotte Tilbury stand, I can visit IT Cosmetics. The interesting thing would be if I could pick up products I can’t actually buy in real life, but it’s something I could apply to my avatar. You can already do a lot with
an avatar, like buy clothing. From a branding perspective, you can dress your avatar in things that you may not be able to afford in real life. You can create hair colour styles, and hair looks, and makeup looks for your avatar in the metaverse that is a form of personal expression. Maybe you personally wouldn’t
do it in real life, but you feel free to do it in the metaverse. That’s
PERSONAL CARE September 2023
where the customer connection is happening and that’s having a really good effect for the brand. You might use a brand in the metaverse, which would then influence you to use it in real life too.
TP:What does the metaverse mean for raw ingredient suppliers? AW:We are not yet in a space where ingredient suppliers and manufacturers can have an impact. The ingredient space has not caught up because ultimately the metaverse is still extremely digital. It would be cool if there were
new pigments, for example, that would transform the way you look as a human and as an avatar. A kind of hybrid experience to enhance your look. AI can now can change
your look via a camera. If you were wearing something like a foundation or even a primer that allowed the camera to enhance and change your look even more, I think that’d be super cool. But to my knowledge that doesn’t exist. If we had that type of
ingredient or formulation enhancement that allows you to be even more interactive within a game, or within a store, or within an app, then there’s definitely some ingredient play in the metaverse. But right now it’s more a place for brands to wet their feet as a marketing play. We’re not yet changing the way
we formulate for the metaverse. I think we’re many years away from that.
because we have realised that skincare is so important, and many people want to make sure the skin on their head is just as pampered as the skin on their face and body. So you might be doing a scalp scrub, you might be doing a scalp mask, you might be doing a specific oil hydration routine. All of that before you even shampoo. The more you can personalise
a product, the more you can help a brand and help your business. Looking at Univar Solutions as a whole, it’s our job to help craft a product that is so targeted specifically for your intended audience that they’re only buying from you.
That’s our knowhow, and that’s
what we’re here for. As we have such a broad ingredient portfolio, we have a better opportunity to help you reach that goal. So it comes down to formulation advice, it comes down to the portfolio, it comes down to the product that you’re trying to achieve. For me, personalization is the
next logical step in inclusivity. If the consumer has dry hair or wants the ultimate luxury haircare experience, it’s up to Univar Solutions to help you achieve that. We start from the beginning and then we work through the ingredient options for you.
TP: What role does technology play in the personalisation trend? AW: AI technology jumped leaps and bounds during COVID-19 because everybody was at home, including the developers. I can go on an app and have a very quick conversation with a chatbot. The chatbot is going to tell me what you need is this, this and this, and now we’ve mixed up a special formula for you. Perhaps that formula will either be shipped to me, or I can go and pick it up at the store. There are many more options today than we had in the past when it comes to personalisation and there’s not the same financial strain as before, as AI can help personalise and sell specific ingredients to multiple customers.
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www.personalcaremagazine.com
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