Hot Topics: Top 5 trending beauty and cosmetics news stories on social media

1 - Kao develops spray-able film that can “dramatically advance” cosmetics

Japanese personal care company Kao has announced the development of a fine fibre technology​ that creates a barely-visible film on skin, which can potentially enhance wear-time and texture of the cosmetic formulations.

“By using fine fiber technology in combination with various Kao-developed products, it is now possible to go beyond traditional concepts in cosmetic fields such as skincare and makeup,” said Kao.

The membrane is created by spraying the skin directly with a polymer solution developed for cosmetics. The solution is loaded into a small, specialised applicator is applied through a nozzle

2 - Skin-on-a-Chip: Singaporean scientists develop device which can replace animal-testing

Researchers from A*STAR’s Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) have successfully reconstructed human skin on a device​ which can reduce or eventually replace animal-testing.

The credit-card sized device was created by a multidisciplinary team, led by Wang Ziping from the A*STAR SIMTech and Paul Bigliardi from the A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology (IMB).

The device, dubbed the skin-on-a-chip, works based on microfluidics, can process small quantities of fluids at a microscale.

This makes the device even more capable of mimicking the structure functionalities and microenvironment of human skin compared to static skin cultures.

3 - Below the belt: Intimate care transitioning into beauty realm

New intimate care products are increasingly steering products into the beauty category​, instead of its traditional hygiene and health positioning.

These products are encouraging more women to open up about traditionally taboo subjects while giving brands the opportunity to talk about beauty from a new perspective.

Nicole Fall, founder of Asian Consumer Intelligence, observed that the intimate care category is currently at the same stage as facial care was in developing countries 10 years ago.

“Intimate cleansers that solely push hygiene benefits are being replaced with claims that have edged beyond that with whitening or firming claims in the same way a decade ago when facial wash only cleansed,” explained Fall.

4 - Bespoke beauty: Why personalisation should be the new norm, not new luxury

Consumers may pay a premium for bespoke beauty products, but Constance Mandefield, founder and COO of Singapore skincare firm alche{me}, personalisation should not be perceived as a luxury.​

When alche{me} was conceived, Mandefield said that one of the goals was to make its products accessible as they believe that “every woman has the right to beautiful skin”.

Making a comparison to other personalised products, Mandefield said: “You pay $10 to $15 more to have your initials and it’s seen as a special luxury, but it doesn’t necessarily change the way you use your wallet.”

“When it comes to skin care… what is inside is really different. It’s not just for the hype of having your name on the bottle. When you have a product that is personalised, you actually change the function of the product. It’s meant for you so you can have nice skin and an efficient skin care routine.”

5 - The end of animal-testing in China is in sight, says regulatory expert

As China’s regulatory landscape continues to shift, one expert believes it will move to abolish compulsory animal-testing​ on imported cosmetics very soon.

Paul O’Brien, a regulatory analyst at Chemlinked said that he is expecting to see China change its animal-testing requirements for imported cosmetics “in the short term”.

Realistically, O’Brien believes China will begin to move forward by utilising a system which will continue animal-testing on high-risk products and ingredients, while those considered low-risk will be exempt.

Instead, lower-risk products or ingredients will be eligible to generate safety data through the use of alternative models or computer-based quantitative risk assessment.