Ingredients innovation: This year's top launches

Cosmetics Business has curated its edit of the biggest ingredients to debut during the past 12 months.

From the first naturally-sourced retinol to a new biopolymer creation process, via upcycled novelties, here are some recent standout ingredients to inspire your creations.

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1. Skin care

Ingredients innovation: This year's top launches

Sederma’s Mel[o]stem is the first ingredient to address both white pigment spots associated with photoageing, as well as dark spots. Under sun exposure stress, melanocytes channel their energy into melanin production, which can mean they stop growing the structures that transport melanin to keratinocytes. This leads the melanocyte to poison itself, triggering senescence and resulting in non-melanated white spots. Mel[o]stem, a plant cell culture extract of Monarda didyma, has been developed to stop this senescence trigger of melanocytes.

Photobiome from Vytrus Biotech addresses how the skin’s microbiota, the first layer exposed to the environment, interacts with sunlight to impact the photoageing process. An extract of cotton seed (Gossypium herbaceum) and pomegranate (Punica granatum), Photobiome modulates metabolites and secretomes generated under sun exposure (some of which are beneficial, some harmful), essentially helping the bacteria on our skin produce photo-defence molecules. This results in improved skin condition and a novel pathway to fight skin photoageing.

CutiFine CLR from CLR claims to be the first ingredient addressing all cell biological processes that contribute to conspicuous skin pores. It acts on the dermal compartment around the hair follicle which gives it structural support, helping keep pores small. It also reduces the hyper-proliferation of follicular keratinocytes, said to be an important factor in oily and combination skin. Finally, it addresses colour contrast between the pore and the surrounding skin caused by factors including inflammation, glycation, shine from oiliness and browning from sebum oxidation.

Givaudan is claiming an industry original: the first 100% naturally-sourced retinol as a sustainable solution to chemically-synthesised retinol. To create the biotech-derived molecule RetiLife, Givaudan uses microorganisms to produce pure retinol in a sunflower oil carrier via a fermentation process from plant sugars, combined with natural antioxidants to ensure the ingredient’s protection, even at a very high concentration. RetiLife offers similar anti-wrinkle efficacy to synthetic retinol.

2. Functional ingredients

Gattefossé’s plant-based, oil-in-water emulsifier Emulium Dermolea MB reduces skin stress and brings long term soothing thanks to its unique lipidic composition rich in anti-inflammatory sterols and triterpenes. Made using Gattefossé’s expertise in wax butter technology, and composed of candelilla, rice bran and jojoba waxes, Emulium Dermolea MB, provides long lasting relief by strengthening the skin barrier function. The ingredient can emulsify oil phases up to 40% and create thin sprays to thick butters.

This year, IFF launched a biopolymer for hair care based on a totally new process. Aurist AGC is a water-soluble, cationic biopolymer that delivers conditioning benefits to hair, improving both wet and dry combability. It is the debut personal care ingredient made using IFF’s Designed Enzymatic Biopolymers (DEB) technology, which produces biopolymers taking inspiration from how nature uses sugar to make building blocks. IFF is able to tune the properties of the molecule and then derivatise it, and AGC is expected to be the first of many such biopolymers produced in this way by IFF.

Inolex is meeting demand for sustainable and natural preservation with Lexgard GH70 Natural and Spectrastat GHL Natural. Lexgard GH70 Natural (INCI: Glyceryl heptanoate) is the first non-palm, 100% natural and ultra-mild preservation component on the market. It provides antimicrobial control in formulations by acting as a building block for a customised hurdle technology system. Spectrastat GHL Natural (INCI: Caprylhydroxamic acid (and) glyceryl heptanoate (and) propanediol), meanwhile, is an ultra-mild, 100% natural complete preservation system.

SilSense Bio 5 emollient from Lubrizol Life Science Beauty is a sustainable alternative to D5 cyclopentasiloxane that provides the same performance and sensory feel in leave-on applications. It is a biodegradable, pure, fast-spreading volatile emollient that provides a lightweight and non-greasy soft feel to the hair, scalp and skin. The emollient is COSMOS-approved and vegan, halal and kosher-compliant.

3. Fragrance solutions

Geogaia is a 100% biodegradable formula from Givuadan that has been designed to translate the scent of petrichor, the smell that comes from the ground when rain falls after a dry period. Described as “the most authentic olfactive translation of this beloved scent”, Geogaia provides green, earthy and watery tonalities to fragrances.

CPL Aromas expanded its AromaSpace collection with Matcha AromaSpace. Available exclusively to CPL Aromas’ perfumers for use within their customers’ compositions, the AromaSpace collection is based on interpretation of data from multiple techniques to produce a detailed composition of the original scent. This ‘skeleton’ formulation is then adjusted to recreate the odour of the source material. The new Matcha AromaSpace replicates the fragrance of the green tea leaves of Camellia sinensis. It has top notes of roasted cocoa bean with a herbal note of mate leaf, and a green floral heart with notes of jasmine and green tea. The base note is sweet with notes of hay and tonka bean.

VernovaPure is a biodegradable, malodour-neutralising technology from Iberchem. It is said to be suitable across all fragrance applications, including air care, and is effective for a wide range of malodours, such as sweat and cigarette odours. Iberchem, now part of Croda, said VernovaPure corresponds to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standard for being ‘readily biodegradable’, degrading ≥ 60% within 28 days, with further degradation afterward.

4. Upcycled ingredients

The Upcycled Beauty Company added a new ingredient to its line-up of upcycled water-soluble actives under the TONIQ tradename. Hair care ingredient Faba TONIQ is a by-product of hummus production. It is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, polypeptides and amino acids to style and condition the hair. It provides better hair manageability, easier detangling and sleeker, longer-lasting curls.

Provital’s Pomarage is a polyphenol-rich ingredient made from upcycled apple pomace. The active’s raw material, apple pomace, is sourced from Mooma, a supplier local to the company, and is a side-product from the processing of apples. Additionally, Pomerage is COSMOS approved, 100% natural origin (ISO16128) and vegan compliant. The well-ageing ingredient exhibited a beneficial effect on both normal and aged human dermal fibroblasts in two in vitro studies, which was backed up by improvements in the skin’s extracellular matrix and the re-densification of the dermis, said Provital.

Last year, Mibelle Biochemistry launched CALMandrin to combat inflammageing. CALMandrin comes from the upcycled peel paste of organic mandarins, which are used in the distillation process for fragrance production on the island of Chios. The ingredient both improves the signs of ageing and soothes reddened and inflamed skin. It also increases the firmness and density of the skin.