The beauty landscape is undergoing a transformative evolution that is raising the bar on efficacy and substantiation. This has given rise to science-backed brands throwing out the playbook and rethinking product formulas using novel ingredients and transformative textures.
No brand achieves success on its own. The innovation happening in labs around the globe fuels the creativity of formulators and drives the products launched by the beauty industry's buzziest brands. Sometimes, these essential industry contributors are overlooked, but ingredients are the very foundation of the products created by beauty and wellness brands.
The BeautyMatter 2023 NEXT Awards surfaced seven of the best ingredient innovations to hit the market.
Best Breakthrough Technology (Ingredient): Recognizes the creation of a new ingredient/technology or innovative use of an existing ingredient/technology associated with the formulation of cosmetic products.
The criteria applied by our judges while evaluating submissions included:
The Judges:
BASF, Epispot: A global supplier of sustainable high-performance ingredients for the personal care industry, including cosmetic active ingredients and other technologies for skincare, suncare, haircare, and oral care applications.
Epispot is a rosebay willowherb extract that addresses the root causes of imbalance in blemish-prone skin, including excess lipids, microbial dysbiosis, and overpowering skin’s defense systems. It delivers a triple effect of reduction of excessive skin shine, microbiome balance, and supports antioxidant defense of healthy lipids on the skin.
In order to understand the needs of blemish prone skin, BASF developed a new method for 3D visualization of skin structures to understand the pilosebaceous unit. Based on two years of scientific research, the company combined its expertise in cell culture, histology, and microscopy to develop this innovative ex vivo model to visualize and understand the natural lipids in skin. This method, called clearing, allows enhanced 3D visualization of the pilosebaceous unit architecture without histological sectioning and allows the study of the whole pilosebaceous unit, keeping as close as possible to the skin's microenvironment. Using this and other methodologies, BASF developed Epispot.
DefenAge Skincare, Defensin-Molecules: DefenAge is an American company founded in 2014 by a team of regenerative medicine experts whose anti-aging discovery became the heart and soul of its formulas.
DefenAge’s exclusive Defensin-Molecules trigger LGR6+ master cells in our body to promote new younger-looking skin, power hair health and growth, and stimulate nail rejuvenation. They are naturally occurring molecules that help with immunity and regeneration. The doctors who discovered their anti-aging power also realized they can get the body to kick-start repair mode in the same way an injury does.
Delavie Sciences, Bacillus Lysate: With a research lab in Worcester, Massachusetts, the scientists at Delavie use novel extremophiles, organisms that can thrive in extreme environments, to create the next breakthrough innovation.
One such ingredient is Bacillus Lysate, a novel SPF booster developed from research aboard the International Space Station based on an extremely UV-resistant strain of bacteria known as SAFR-32. When brought back down to earth, the strain exhibited enhanced UVC resistance. Delavie scientists took the strain and further enhanced its abilities to include UVB and UVA absorption, resulting in an effective SPF booster. As a result of the direct research connection to NASA, the ingredient is the first cosmetic ingredient to be Certified Space Technology by the Space Foundation.
Hydrosome Labs, Hydrosome H2O: A biotechnology company with a proprietary water processing technology that imparts finely tuned physical forces to pure water to create highly stable and unique concentrations of ultrafine bubbles (UFBs). Water makes up the majority of product ingredients but is often overlooked. Hydrosome Labs is turning water from a filler to a functional ingredient revolutionizing cosmetic formulation.
These bubbles act as efficient carriers and stabilizing agents for active ingredients and nutrients, ensuring deeper penetration, hydration, stability, and enhanced delivery to the skin. This results in improved efficacy of cosmetic products, leading to better consumer outcomes that include clinically proven wrinkle reduction, skin firmness, and elasticity because the active ingredients can more effectively reach their target areas and maintain their potency, using a clean and scalable delivery vehicle that is chemically pure water.
Hydrosome H2O shares identical physiochemical properties with pure deionized water, including pH, conductivity, density, and viscosity. Therefore, integrating Hydrosome H2O into formulations involves a straightforward 1:1 exchange for the water currently used in formulation.
Inolex, LexSolv Essential: Guided by the Principles of Green Chemistry, Inolex invents the future of sustainable ingredient platforms by balancing conscious science with nature and artistry.
LexSolv Essential is a 100% natural solubilizer that creates clear formulations by solubilizing preservation ingredients, essential oils, and fragrances. Powered by polyglycerol technology, LexSolv Essential is designed to provide solubility that meets growing consumer demand for something that is 100% natural and EO-Free with comparable solubilizing power to polysorbate-20 and PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, which has a neutral odor profile, neutral skin feel, is a cold processable and easy-to-pour liquid.
Solabia USA, Serenibiome: Since 1972, Solabia Group has been manufacturing ingredients for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and microbiology industries.
Atopic dermatitis is often associated with overproduction of a skin pathogen called Staphylococcus aureus. A new biofermentation derived active, Serenibiome selectively inhibits the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. By targeting this pathogen, Serenibiome helps improve microbiome balance, thereby reducing dryness, redness, and itchiness in atopic-prone skin.
Sweet Chemistry, Matrikynes Regenerative Bone Peptides: Created by Alec Batis and Dr. John O’Neill, PhD, Sweet Chemistry was built on decades of research and sits at the intersection of regenerative medicine and uncompromising cosmetic science.
Matrikynes Regenerative Bone Peptides are patent-pending matrikine peptides that offer the natural regenerative properties of bone, a tissue with intrinsic reparative capacity. Matrikynes are derived from ethically sourced, USDA-compliant upcycled bovine bones from the food industry that would otherwise be discarded.
Matrikynes are derived from natural extracellular matrix (ECM) and are the key to tissue repair and regeneration. ECM is composed of structural proteins (collagen, elastin); cell adhesion proteins (fibronectin, laminin); proteoglycans (glycosaminoglycans such as hyaluronic acid); growth-factor-like components, matrix-associated lipids (ceramides, cholesterol, squalene, fatty acids); minerals; enzymes; and thousands of other components that are fundamental to the living body. When ECM proteins are broken down into smaller fragments, these actively penetrating factors are referred to as Matrikynes.
Used to develop a surgical tissue sealant, Matrikynes are clinically proven to stimulate the body’s innate reparative physiology. In contrast to single synthetic peptides, Matrikynes are rich in hundreds of unique natural molecules that signal complete tissue repair, reversing visible signs of damage and aging and improving skin health.
Join us in Los Angeles on October 24, 2024, when we announce the winners at our NEXT Summit + Awards.
