Beauty innovation future: ‘Nature and science are not and will not be separate’ – Mintel

Next month’s in-cosmetics Global will be an important event for the international beauty and personal care space, with extensive product launches, business meetings and educational sessions. Sustainability will, of course, remain front-of-mind for industry, and technology will hold an important spot within this green conversation.

Innovating with ‘the full power of biotechnology’​

Andrew McDougall, associate director for Mintel Beauty & Personal Care – set to present at the event on what the next ten years holds for industry – said nature and science would certainly go hand-in-hand.

Speaking to CosmeticsDesign-Europe ahead of in-cosmetics Global, McDougall said: “Nature and science are not and will not be separate in beauty innovation; they can and will work together to meet the needs of consumers – in some cases, they have been doing so for years.”​

“…At in-cosmetics 2020, I am sure we will see some great innovation and ingredients that show the full power of biotechnology. What is important is how we communicate the benefits and how a better understanding can be built,” ​he said.

Sustainability was “a key narrative”​ that could be used to emphasis the benefits of these biotech and lab-engineered ingredients, he said, and brands would also have to explain how biotech created “safe, functional products”.​

“Beauty players need to leverage the growing trend of using ‘engineered natural ingredients’ to satisfy consumer desire for safety, but also solve costly supply chain issues related to sustainability of natural materials,” ​he said.

Clean beauty movement – tapping into safety and functionality​

McDougall said this all played into the wider clean beauty movement which was “ultimately about safety and functionality”.​

Beauty brands who managed to convey information and appeal “on an instinctual level”​ without any misunderstandings would see most success, he said, although ultimately it was about more than just marketing language used and had to focus on the “safety, functionality and transparency that consumers crave about ingredients”.​

Brands that partnered with tech firms would also “stay ahead of the race”​, he said. With responsive technology advancing fast, enabling consumers to monitor their state of wellbeing, he said brands now had access to important data to recommend “the right products at the right time”.​

McDougall previously told CosmeticsDesign-Europe whatever product development or marketing action was taken by industry, messages had to be conveyed in a “flexible and authentic”​ way.​