Innovations and Solutions at the Heart of Beauty Needs and Trends

Interview with Olivier Garet, Business Development and Marketing Lead Personal Care EMEA
DSM

What are your key innovation drivers?

At any time, new consumer needs and expectations can arise. At DSM Personal Care & Aroma Ingredients the focus is to provide the Beauty industry with personal care solutions capable of accompanying the project developments of our customer in a consistent and meaningful way, keeping them ahead of the curve.

We observe on the market the importance and continuous need for the Clean Beauty movement that we tackle since 2017. DSM’s House of Naturals was one of the first answer, a guide to DSM’s natural, organic and sustainable beauty ingredients. With ISO 16128 norm as a benchmark, we can show that more than 45% of the ingredients in our portfolio are of natural origin. 

We can highlight in this context ALPAFLOR® EDELWEISS CB, our natural, organic bioactive expert in self-protection. It is a Leontopodium alpinum ‘Helvetia’ extract cultivated between 1000m and 1500m altitude in the Swiss Alps. This product is preservative-free, COSMOS, NATRUE organic certified and Fair Trade certified according to the Fair For Life standard. ALPAFLOR® EDELWEISS helps slow down the premature aging of skin and protects the skin against oxidative stress, it rebalances UV-induced stress markers to normal levels and helps the skin preserve its natural balance, perceptibly reducing skin sensitivity.

New in-vivo studies also show that ALPAFLOR® EDELWEISS CB significantly reduces glycation, and glycation-related signs of skin aging in all facial areas after 4 weeks. These findings have been visualized using color facial glycation mapping (visible AGEs reduction in all facial areas and especially on jaw line and forehead with 3% ALPAFLOR® EDELWEISS CB).

To address consumers’ top concerns, looking for trending and proven effective skin care ingredients to incorporate into their hair care routine, ALPAFLOR® EDELWEISS CB can be a right ingredient in hair & scalp care formulations. In-vivo studies show that it can help increase hair density by 13% (after 5 months, leave on formulation) and promotes darker hair appearance by 13%, (after 4 months, leave on formulation) with significantly better performance vs placebo.

Consumer demand for clean, safe, and eco-conscious beauty care ingredients is set to accelerate. To enable a more resilient and sustainable future, we have introduced a new, naturally derived grade of Vitamin B12 for vibrant looking skin. An innovation by DSM awarded at in cosmetics Global 2022, innovation zone - best ingredient award Silver. This new grade of Vitamin B12 is produced through non-GMO bacterial fermentation enabling to get a natural origin index of 68.7% (based on renewable carbon according to ISO 16128) and is Vegan friendly.  

Our new studies show, it could help relieve fatigued and irritated skin, protect the skin barrier, and promote a more vibrant looking complexion. Moreover, Vitamin B12 helps prevent the UV-induced and pollution-induced skin damage, reinforcing the skin barrier which is damaged by inflammation. Vitamin B12 is a hydrosoluble vitamin easy to use in any kind of formulations and provide a nice pink color in the cosmetic formulation.

How do you embed sustainability in your activities, innovations?

Today’s conscious consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental and social impact of beauty products and are becoming ideological in their buying preferences. Especially biotechnology will gain importance over the coming years, driven by environmental concerns and limited natural resources. With the launch of the multifunctional personal care ingredient TILAMAR® PDO with NØØVISTA™ we combine naturality, sustainability, conscious beauty and high performance in only one product.

TILAMAR® PDO with NØØVISTA™ is the first made-in-Europe cosmetic grade of 1,3-propanediol, 100% bio-sourced from non-GMO and palm oil-free feedstocks, sourced from a brand new eco-designed facility contributing to local industrial redevelopment and diversification. It is a high-quality microbiome-friendly, multifunctional natural ingredient designed to reduce formulation complexity by acting as a preservative booster, a skin humectant, sensory enhancer, solvent and actives carrier.

New studies shows that adding 5% of TILAMAR® PDO with NØØVISTA™ to a moisturizing facial cream boosts hydration by +14.1% hydration boost after 4 hours vs baseline in our test conditions. This is good news for the many consumers prioritizing moisturization in their quest for healthy-looking skin. And with our facial color mapping modelization, you can make this improvement visible to them in a tangible way too.

In addition, we’re committed to securing the future availability of natural resources and unlocking more value from those we have. That’s why we embrace circularity in the making of TILAMAR® PDO with NØØVISTA™. With valorization and recovery along the entire chain, this bioprocess starts and ends with the renewable rapeseed plant. A video about the circularity in action is available online. We also just launched a calculator to measure the positive impact when choosing TILAMAR® PDO with NØØVISTA™ instead of synthetic propylene glycol produced in Europe. Not only you could cut your Scope 3 emissions by 27% but also you can show consumers what this saving means in term of carbon sequestered by tree seedlings grown for 10 years. https://www.dsm.com/personal-care/en_US/products/multifunctional-ingredients/tilamar-pdo-with-noovista.html

To meet consumer expectations for sun care solutions that are good for skin and the planet, SPF formulations have to meet the growing demand for eco-friendly and broad-spectrum protection. However, it is a challenge to formulate sun care that delivers on protection but is also kind to the environment. To facilitate this, we’ve made sure that the latest addition to our UV filter portfolio – PARSOL® EHT− scores highly for both UVB absorbance and eco-friendliness. Morevoer, DSM’s solution is based on our combo of 3 eco-friendly UV filters as the building blocks:

• [new]PARSOL® EHT (EthylHexyl Triazone) − for maximum UVB protection with minimal environmental impact
• PARSOL® 1789 (Avobenzone) - the most eco-friendly UVA filter with contribution to the SPF
• PARSOL® Shield (Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine)− the most efficient broad-spectrum UV filter on the market

On top, to reassure consumers that their sun protection choices really are more eco-friendly, DSM’s on-pack Eco-labels are based on established science in respect to the environmental impact following the Persistence, Bioaccumulation and Toxicity profile of all UV filter ingredients in the market, and they are balanced against thorough market and SPF benchmarking. These easy to understand, ready-to-use graphics give  consumers the clarity they seek. They’re an integral part of the eco-classification tool in our DSM Sunscreen Optimizer 2.0™ and a great way to demonstrate eco-credentials (especially in formulations featuring a high-scoring combo like PARSOL® EHT, PARSOL® 1789 and PARSOL® Shield). 

How do you accompany formulators to satisfy today’s consumer needs?

Thanks to our scientific expertise and consumer insights, we are able to anticipate new manifestations, trends that help us to develop new ingredients, solutions, and concepts that enable our customers to offer products of true value to their consumers. 

Building on our strong expertise in application, DSM formulators create inspirational formulations that can be used in a variety of market applications to help our customers save development time and testing costs.  

Following the same approach, DSM team has developed certified microbiome-friendly formulas, to support and inspire our customers own microbiome-friendly new developments.

We know that consumers seek products that respect and maintain the integrity and balance of the skin microbiota. The pandemic has boosted consumer desire for asking skin care solutions that maintain the skin microbiota’s natural functions and benefits. This demand will reach across many segments. Common skin conditions such as eczema and acne will also drive formulations to target the microbiome.

But how can we assure consumers that the product they’re buying is microbiome-friendly ? After securing the microbiome-friendly label for some of our key ingredients, DSM has developed a ready-to-use formulation in close cooperation with MyMicrobiome that also carries their seal. By combining microbiome-friendly skin care ingredients with our application expertise, we can offer customers an identical 1:1 composition without any re-testing.

The pandemic triggered also many changes in people’s lifestyles while influencing and creating new habits and needs among consumers. And emphasized even more the fundamentals such well-being and the desire of making a positive impact.

We know that beauty can provide positivity and caring. And evoking emotional and physical wellbeing will resonate and enhance consumers’ lives. At DSM, we want to help our customers to create and establish a real true intimacy with consumers. And to do so, we have developed Cheer Up!, a beauty line of 4 personal care formulations designed to add an extra dose of positivity to your consumers’ everyday life! Beauty formulations that combine the high performance of DSM ingredients with a unique experience through fun textures, bright effects, intense hydration and wonderful sensations. All this formulated with sustainability in mind.

A full formulation concept including a Wrinkle filler serum formulation for vibrant looking skin complexion. A Daily Hydrating Facial Fluid SPF 50 offering maximum hydration and anti-aging prevention, as well providing high UV protection. A Solid Shampoo that improves hair shine, combing and anti-breakage. And a Lip gloss providing intense, long-lasting color and a gorgeous feeling of soft, deeply hydrated lips.

Any development, innovations that is expected and coming new & trendy? 

As mentioned earlier, at DSM we are continuously tracking trends, needs to be up-to date and serve our customers as best and reply to consumer’s evolving behaviours. Referring to the clean beauty trend, we keep a big focus and further investigate to improve our portfolio and enlarge our suite of solutions in the sphere of sustainable solutions.

DSM’s latest biotechnology innovation is PEPHA®-TIGHT CB, a natural skincare ingredient, composed of a lab-grown algae and a high performing polysaccharide , combining short- and long-term efficacy with real benefits for healthy looking skin. 

Lab-grown alternatives like microalgae are the next frontier in Blue Beauty, going beyond green to meet demand for natural and sustainable personal care solutions without compromising on efficacy. 

PEPHA®-TIGHT CB is a new version toward Clean Beauty of our skin tightening solution. This is a unique naturally derived tightening and firming skincare ingredient, forming a thin film on the skin. A new in-vivo study proves that it visibly smoothens the texture within minutes after the 1^st application, for a fast flawless effect. Already with two applications, skin looks and feels firmer, more lifted, more elastic and the result is proven lasting up to 12hours. In the long-term, PEPHA®-TIGHT CB is proven in vitro to act as a protective shield against oxidative stress and to enhance Collagen I: with more regular usage, it helps reducing wrinkles & improving elasticity for youthful looking skin. 

PEPHA®-TIGHT CB is a concentrated mixture of powerful functional ingredients produced by biotechnologies, 100% naturally derived & renewable, COSMOS approved: 

• The microalgae Nannochloropsis oculatais cultivated in special photobioreactors for minimizing the impact on terrestrial diversity and the risk of contamination, ensuring high purity, quality and content of active substances. The energy used for the photobioreactors is mostly renewable
• The Pullulanis produced by fermentation of tapioca starch, an alternative to using starch from grains and associated with a lower carbon footprint. 

PEPHA®-TIGHT CB is a very powerful combination of anti-ageing effects, based on biological sources and processed with biotechnology. 

Further innovations and solutions to be followed, bringing together in-depth scientific knowledge, always-on innovation and a commitment to sustainability. Stay tuned and find out more Home (dsm.com). DSM, the expert partner you can count on.

About DSM 

As a global science-based company active in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, DSM is a world leading supplier of vitamins, feed, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, personal care and aroma ingredients. In sunscreens. DSM is a leading world-wide provider of numerous UV filters, including Avobenzone. More information on DSM’s full catalog of UV filters can be found on the DSM Personal Care website at www.dsm.com/personalcare.