EP34. Top 10 Beauty Trends 2019 at In-Cosmetics Global

Hello and welcome to the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. My name is Gemma. I'm the relationship manager at Formula Botanica and also the host of this podcast. If you want to find out a little bit more about who we are and what we do, then please head over to formulabotanica.com and check out our free sample class. In this episode, Timmy, Lorraine and I chat all about our recent experiences at In Cosmetics Paris, looking at what had changed in the show from previous years and what our top trends were. Enjoy. So, hello and a big warm welcome to the podcast. Timmy and Lorraine, hello.

Thank you for having us.

Hi Gemma.

We're excited to be here.

I am thrilled that we are here as a team and that we've been finally got our fabulous education manager here who is going to be sharing all of her wisdom with us today, all about In Cosmetics. So I thought just as a brief intro, if Timmy, you could introduce yourself and then Lorraine, if you could introduce yourself before we kick off our very lively chat about In Cosmetics.

Okay. Yep. So my name is Timmy. I'm the education manager at Formula Botanica where I work with an awesome team of tutors and project coordinators and we look after our students on a daily to day basis, deal with our courses, bring new developments to the school, writing exciting blog posts. So yeah, we are very busy.

Yes, you are very, very busy.

And I'm Lorraine. I'm the director of Formula Botanica and I've been on the podcast a few times before, of course, and I run the school on a day to day basis and I'm really excited to be here again.

Gemma, thank you. It's been a while, Lorraine. So as, as everyone knows, this is a podcast about In Cosmetics and the three of us, Timmy, Lorraine and myself attended the recent show in Paris and I just wanted to kick off the conversation before we we go into our trends and our analysis just to talk a little bit about from a formulator's perspective, why In Cosmetics is a great show to attend.

Timmy. Well, I think especially this year In Cosmetics has been or was the place to be if you are a brand owner, a formulator, if you thinking about starting business about skin or hair care, it's a great show. When I read the report about the actual show, I think There were nearly 800 different suppliers, distributors, ingredient manufacturers, headstands, and people could just walk around and find out more about what they do and how they work, whether they would be a good fit for them. I also think it's a great place to bring everyone together in the industry and also to network, to make connections. And not just about finding out about innovations and new developments, but also just to meet people in the same industry and see if you can develop some new connections, new relationships.

Yeah, it was really busy. Very busy. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Packed 800 people. And when Timmy and I were talking about this yesterday, Timmy had some very good advice for people. People, if it's the first show that you are going to attend, what were we talking about yesterday? Timmy, if you're planning on going, that you should try and prep in advance. Exactly.

That's the one. Yes. So this time I went to the show two years ago and I was a bit disorganized and slightly overwhelmed because there is so much to see, so many people to visit. And then I ever mentioned the talks, the various things about innovation, the sensory bar and so on. The best thing to do. And that's what we did this time. We really planned ahead. We wrote the website is up and running quite early before the actual show. I think now that they finished the Paris show, they will soon be preparing for the next year 1. I think that will be in Barcelona. And the website will be up and running with a list of to do things you can do in the show. They have separate learning sections. You can have a look at marketing trends, formulation workshops. So there's a lot to do and lot to see. So the best thing to do is just visit the website and create some sort of a plan before you actually head to the event. The event is running for three days. I mean, we were there for two days out of the three. And I still feel that we haven't, you know, we couldn't do all what we wanted to do. I mean, I set out to do various things, especially in terms of formulating, but there is so much to see. And the only way you can really make the most of it if you have a plan. So plan ahead.

Yeah, I agree. I mean, just reflecting on that. So you and Lorraine went to the In Cosmetics show in London in 2017. And then Lorraine and I went to the one in Amsterdam in 2018. And then we all went to the. To the Paris one in 2019. And I think we all agree that there were some significant changes to in cosmetics 2019. And I just wanted to have a little talk about some of the things that you thought might have changed.

For me, the biggest change was the focus on natural. Natural and organic. The other one that I experienced firsthand is how the exhibitors want to talk to you. I mean, even back two years ago, we went there as Formula Botanica, as an educational establishment. We were not there to. To buy ingredients. We wanted to explore ingredients, to see what we could include our courses, what the trend is and what our students may be interested in. And we didn't really get a good reception as such. Some. Some people were lovely, some people were a bit more negative. However, this time, everybody was just great. I mean, I had great conversations with various suppliers, whether they were smaller suppliers, whether they were one of the big players, so to speak. Everybody was happy to talk to me or talk to us, particularly one that I still remember is one of the ingredient suppliers. I had a chat with them because we use one of their ingredients in our courses. So I wanted to find out a bit more about their usage. So I need a bit of technical help. And we had an excellent conversation and they were just so keen to help. When I told them who we are and what we do, what the plan is, they were very happy to help. And I actually figured out where I went wrong with that particular ingredient. So that was. That was just great. So for me, these were the two biggest differences.

Yeah, I mean, they had the indie beauty trail ticket.

That was the first brochure that ran out. I think we got there not that late, and already that part, you just couldn't get it. And I was very lucky to have the Indian beauty trail map from one of the Formula Botsnicker students. She picked up two, so she gave me her spare one, so that helped.

And. And like you said, there was a way more of a. Of a focus on naturals and organics. And I was wondering, Lorraine, if you could just have a little talk, because you actually gave a presentation on the day in the marketing trend tent, all about naturals. So if you could just, you know, explain to. To people who didn't get to attend and didn't get to see that talk, you know, it was packed. It was absolutely packed.

Yeah, it was. It was so exciting. So it's. I mean, it's been a huge honor to be invited to speak at in cosmetics, because you don't just turn up and get invited. You have to be vetted by a panel. You have to be put forward. You know, it's a really, really big deal. So the fact that Formula Botanica and. And I was invited to come there is massive for us. And so I really wanted to talk about naturals in the. In the more philosophical sense of the industry and the fact that we need to start changing the conversation around naturals and synthetics. So that was the the main crux of my talk, it was called challenging the assumptions of naturals in cosmetics. So I talked really about the fact that, you know, we've got to this stage that there's been this, this battle in the industry for years now. You know, some people are saying synthetics are better, some people are saying natur better. Even in the run up to in cosmetics for my talk, I was asked a couple of times by journalists, why are naturals better? Because there's constantly this assumption that you have to pit one against the other. So my talk was all about the fact that we need to move beyond that and start to talk about sustainability in the truest sense of the word. You know, actually managing our environmental footprints, doing the right thing by the communities around where ingredients are grown, the stakeholders involved in the industry and still obviously making a profit because it's such an important, amazing industry. But that doesn't mean that we can't look after our footprints. So that was the main topic that I wanted to talk about. And as you say, you know, people were queuing to get in, not everyone could fit in. I think There were about 250 people there in total. And it was just super exciting and quite nerve wracking actually. It was the biggest audience I'd ever spoken to. So I loved it and hopefully we'll be invited back in the future. Hint, hint, if anyone's listening.

So before we start talking about the trends that we spotted, I just wanted Timmy to talk about some of the workshops that you went to because I think you said when we were talking yesterday that those workshops haven't always been super accessible. But that's changed again. So I think you said you could get two per participant.

I believe so. I think that was the limit as far as I'm aware. So through all the three days had some formulation workshops in the lab section and again, you could find out information about them beforehand and you could put your name forward and they let you know before the event whether you got accepted or not. Yeah, and I was lucky. I got accepted for two of them, which I was really interested in and so I was obviously very happy about them. Both workshops, formulation workshops were about new emulsifiers by different companies. And they were amazing. The first one was particularly great because it turned out that we had one whole formulation table just for the Formula Botanica team, as in Formula Botanica students, because it turned out many of our students decided to go to these workshops. So yeah, we occupied one whole table. We've got some great photos, hopefully we can show them to you later on. And yeah, we worked with a new emulsifier which was brilliant because you could use the same emulsifier to get two quite different products. So we created, we could, you could create one emulsion which is more like a mist, like a sprayable milk, but also with the same emulsifier you could create a rich cream which had nearly 70% oil phase. And it's very, very different texture and very different skin feel and is just amazing from, from a formula point of view that you could just create so different product with, with one ingredient, one main ingredient as such. So yeah, that was the first workshop. I'm sure the students will have a lot more to say about that. And the second workshop again was about another emulsifier. Again, fantastic and absolutely brilliant. All natural Natural Cosmos certified. They also paid attention to niches, so they are accepted by vegan niches or even those formulators who focus on halal skincare products. So yeah, it was really exciting.

Sounds really interesting. I know that a lot of our students reported back that they had great times at those workshops as well.

Yeah, the foddy part is, was that after the workshop, everybody just the whole, the, the formula botanical team decided to ambush the supplier. So we went to their stand and they were just really great. They were so happy to help us. So we could ask for some samples.

Oh, nice.

So we could do some. So maybe some blog posts in the future. Who knows? Yeah, but yeah, they were, they were really great. They helped us.

Yeah. Good, good, I'm glad. Let's kick off then with, with our trends and I think moving on from, from what Timmy was saying, formulations and the type of things that you can make. The first trend that we tended to spot was this desire for products with a jelly like texture. So I'd seen it at the professional beauty show as well that I attended in February. There were so many products with, you know, jelly cleansers and jelly like textures, textures that don't kind of tend to move, move around. So I know that sounds, maybe haven't explained that very well, but you know, when you put it into your, like a cleanser, for instance, it doesn't, you know, sort of spill all over the way it comes out in a little blob. And then you can then apply it to your skin really easily. And I think that we saw quite a lot of those in the innovation zone.

That was one of the main thing I spotted as well. The jelly like textures, you could see all sorts, not just the jellies that we would understand as jelly but also gel cream or you had jelly to cream textures or gel to powder. That was really interesting. It was one of the makeup products that they displayed. I think it was an eyeshadow and it had this texture that it was a gel. But when you apply it, it becomes like powdery substance. It's great to apply when you use makeup. So jellies were the hit again and I think you guys said that last year as well. This was one of the, the bigger trends. So I think they continued from then on this year.

Yeah, we saw it quite a bit last year, didn't we?

Where.

Yeah, we saw particularly in the, in the formulation area where they had big pots of gels and particles suspended in gels. It's good to see that continuing.

Yeah, there was, there was definitely products that had particles suspended in them again. And I think we've moved away slightly from glitter. Like it was quite glittery. Last year, Lorraine and I, in that podcast we recorded, if you go and listen to it, we talked about this kind of unicorn corn trend where there was lots of glitter. But this time I felt they people were focusing on more sustainable things that could be suspended within the jelly. So there was these little charcoal spheres and these gels with things in them could be made into a face mask. So this specific one was. Had this, it was a gel with these charcoal, little charcoal spheres and you could use it as an anti pollution face mask, which was really interesting. I was telling Timmy yesterday about this illuminator I found. So again, it was a makeup and it was like a jelly illuminator. So it was like a pot that you could use and you could just poke your finger into it and, and obviously get a small amount which is great for an illuminator. But it kind of bounced back. It was springy. And I said to Timmy, I was there ages poking it, going, boom. Look. Oh look, it bounces back. It's just this is a really interesting product to use.

I think we had the same in, in the sensory bar, wasn't we Timmy? Where we were, we found one of those little. It was like a sponge like jelly thing and we kept squeezing it. I think, in fact, you even filmed a video of me doing it, didn't you?

Yeah, I'm not even sure it was something cloud. It had a great name as well. But yeah, it was springy. Yeah, we've got a short video.

Yeah, we'll include it in the, in the show Note podcast blog write up.

Yeah. So I mean those products I find interesting because they provide it's. They're interesting to use. You know, they provide another dimension to the product. So it's not just, you know, putting something on your hand and slapping on your face. You know, like Timmy was saying, you can go, you can go gel to a powder. And watching that transformation can be quite interesting.

Yeah, they were really great textures this time.

Yeah.

And just as you mentioned with the formulation workshop, it was exactly the same thing. You've got one ingredient, but you get two different textures, two different products with different skin feel. And that was a big focus this year.

Yeah. And that actually leads us onto the second trend was this idea of transformational products. And obviously we've chatted a little bit about it, but let's just highlight some more of the ones that we found. I know that you chatted about the eyeshadow one, but I know there was some more that we had a look at. So this idea where it starts off as one thing and ends up as another.

Yes. For me that was more about having either less water or waterless formulation, so to speak, or those with low package or package free. And these were mainly things like, for example, a stick, a stick cleanser that when you apply it starts foaming. So you've got a very compact little product, but when you apply it, it gives a very different feel. And that's not something you, you see a lot. Yes. So we've got the Gell it cream. That was another one. So still the gel, the gel thing. What I also noticed, and it's probably just a bit of a crossover from what we were talking about, the textures is I saw a lot of food inspired products. There were some great names and, you know, I quite like them because obviously food is something everyone can, you know, can understand. So it was good for customers or consumers to understand what the product is. But for example, we saw Silky Jam or Rasp Jelly or I also saw coffee shots. And they are all great skincare products, but I had a feeling that they are pretty much food inspired products. So from the textures and the transforming textures, this was another thing that, that was very apparent.

Did you see that as well, Lorraine? Food inspired?

I did, yes. And I even have a photo. Yes, yes, exactly. I quite enjoyed that. I was walking around the Sensory Bar with, with Timmy going, look, it's a pot of jam, you know, stirring things up. And you know, they, they'd colored their products as well. Now I don't know if they were naturally colored or not. You never quite know because that's the problem. The one problem with Ink Cosmetics is no one ever puts up any of the inky names so you literally have no idea what you're putting on your skin. And I, if anyone's listening, I would really like it if they could change that for future years because as a formulator you want to understand what the ingredients actually are. But a lot of them were coloured to look like food as well. And so, yeah, you often had the feeling you were stirring in a pot of jam or you did have a shot of coffee or you did have some kale in a little bottle in front of you. So yeah, it was interesting to see and I'm sure this will long continue. Of course, the issue with this is that the European cosmetics regulations don't let you market cosmetics to look like food. So there's a fine line that they're treading here and I'm not entirely sure how many beauty brands, brands are going to deal with this, but obviously for the ingredient suppliers, they don't worry about that too much because that's something that the, the end producer has to deal with.

It's an interesting point. I mean, I saw it as well and, and obviously the food inspired beauty relates back to the transformational kind of products and then also relates back to the jelly like textures because all of the jams and the, and the, and the. Was it chutney that they, they called one a face chutney or something. I've got photos of it as well. Where.

What a great idea where they have.

It, you know, the same, the jelly like looking products which kind of look like food. And I saw this at the natural and organic product show as well. So I attended that after in cosmetics here in London and there was a lot of beauty products that were made with food ingredients, so like potato and parsley. And we're definitely maybe using that boundary of how you would market something, you know, quite, quite well. And we saw that at that Mintol table, that kale shot, because it did look almost like you could drink it, but it wasn't, it was a shot for your face.

Yeah. But there were also many things that not just the actual product looked like food or, you know, you could, you could just misunderstand the whole thing. But also they played with the names. Like I found products that were called body vinegar. It's great. And it was a great little toner for the body. But again they went back to food just to name their product. So yeah, it was very interesting. And again, as you said, these were quite one of those transformational products. I think the coffee shop was a foaming body Scrub, which is, again, great.

I think I saw that one. Yeah. I think I saw that one. Yeah. I mean, I was fascinated by that whole thing because I love textures and I love, you know, playing around. Playing around with things. And then I love products that are. That make you think. And those ones definitely do make you think. Like a body vinegar. And that's. That face chutney. I think it was like a face chutney, or I was like, wow, like, what would this be like to use? And obviously, to me and I were talking about this yesterday. Is that the other slight issue you have within cosmetics? And this is never going to change. It's just one of those things is that you can't really use the product that are there because they've obviously been handled a lot by people. So sometimes you can put a tiny bit on your hand. But, you know that. That jelly face mask with the bamboo spheres in it, I was like, I just want to put it on my.

Face to see what it's like.

But you can't do that because.

No. Then you'd be walking around the show.

Yeah.

And then you'd be going into the talks covered in face mask gel dripping off your chin. It wouldn't be pretty, would it? Gemma, There's a thought.

Yeah. But it's incredibly interesting to go around and use all those things and just. And just have a look at what is possible.

Yes. And those. Those zones they set up are huge as well, and they seem to be getting bigger and bigger. So over the last three years, I've watched those sensory bars and formulation zones really grow in size, and they're a lot busier now as well, because people want to go and try out all the textures. And I mean, in cosmetics in itself is absolutely enormous. So you will feel totally overwhelmed. But I would say, as a formulator, the one place you should always go is the sensory bar and spend some time there to see what people are making, because it's fascinating.

Yeah, absolutely. And even if it's, you know, not necessarily natural, and even if it's makeup and things that you might not necessarily be interested in formulating, it's still interesting to go and have a look at what people are playing with.

Absolutely. And you know what? I really want to see the natural and the indie sector actually take some inspiration from all of these trends, because I've talked about this a couple of times on our Instagram account, too. You know, we see all these gels, but I don't see that many indie brands making gels. And so the mainstream Industry knows that gels are what everyone wants, particularly gel emulsions, and then the indie sector isn't quite keeping pace with that. So I really feel that indie brands should be looking at what the mainstream industry is to going, doing and taking inspiration and making their own natural or green version, because there's so many opportunities out there.

Absolutely. So, moving on to our, our next trend, and it's one that I'm hoping that you can chat us through, Lorraine, was the ubiquitous presence of the microbiome?

Yes. Well, microbiome is everywhere and it's obviously here to stay. We're not going to obviously turn this podcast into a whole explanation of the skin microbiome and how to formulate for it, but it's obvious that the industry is paying attention and is starting to make more and more ingredients that they feel will strengthen or protect or defend or. I've got some things written down here, all sorts of different claims that people are making. And so we saw, we saw ingredient suppliers sell prebiotics, probiotics, and even postbiotics. And I have to admit, I don't know what that means. So I'm going to go look that up after this and figure it out. But even I was just having a look at the in cosmetics brochure that I've got here in front of me at the technical seminars, and I'd say that there were a lot of technical seminars on. I'd say that Probably a good 10 to 15% of all of those seminars were on the skin's microbiome. So that shows you how much attention is being given to just that topic alone. And I think we're going to see even more of this. Now, obviously, the microbiome is a huge topic and, you know, we know that the skin contains between 1 million and 1 billion microbes per square centimeter. So we live in harmony together with all these microbes on our skin. So obviously the industry is going to start paying more and more attention to that in the coming years and creating more ingredients that will help brands make microbiome claims. So I'm curious to see how much this will grow and where it will go when we attend in Barcelona next year. Because who knows, maybe there'll be a microbiome zone for all we know.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's microbiome conferences already dedicated specifically to microbiome, and, you know, a lot of the big players have announced significant amounts of money to go into funding more research on the microbiome because it's not, you know, very well understood yet. And the science is still, is still forthcoming. And you can probably catch a further discussion on this in another podcast because I interviewed Yasmina Garnet from Mother Dirt, who have a microbiome brand, and she talks a little bit more about the science in that, in that podcast episode. But yeah, microbiome is here to say, I think.

Yes, exactly. And we'll see more and more ingredients come onto the market that can help you make microbiome claims. And sometimes that will be, you know, just moisturization claims effectively, because a healthy skin has a healthy microbiome. But sometimes you may actually have find that ingredient suppliers are starting to make ingredients that will strengthen the microbiome, that will maybe defend it a little bit more and help you make stronger microbiome claims for your formulations. So watch this space. I reckon if we're recording this in three years time, that we'll be talking about this even more.

Right, so let's have a look at what we thought was our next trend. Oh yeah, there was a big presence or a big showcasing of certifications in a way that I haven't seen it at the, the Amsterdam show, as well as showcasing of kind of niche ingredients. So certification for niche ingredients and niche sectors.

So obviously the niche compliance.

Yeah, the niche compliance.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what.

Yeah, so just talking about Cosmos and ecosert, there was a lot of people advertising that their ingredients were Cosmos and ecosert approved in, in a very big way. You know, people were showcasing that. I, I didn't see that so much at Amsterdam, but it was like a badge of honor almost. I felt this this year. And then, Timmy, I was wondering if you just have a little chat about the kind of niche compliant ingredients as well, because that was, that was showcased in a way that hasn't been before either.

No, that's what I noticed as well, that there were many ingredients, as you said, Cosmos and Echo certification. But I also noticed that many suppliers paid attention to specifying niches that they could cater for. So, for example, I'm always particularly interested in those ingredients that have Halal certification. And this year I've seen that in many places where it was clearly displayed that this particular ingredient has Halal certification or kosher certification or vegan certification. And this opens a lot of doors to people who really want to focus on their own specific niches. Whether, you know, you are a formulator, a brand owner, or you want to supply ingredients, this opens a lot of doors. And this year I think they focus this. Focus on this a lot more.

Yeah, I would say so. Did you spot that as well, Lorraine? This year I did.

I saw a lot of Cosmos labels. I have to admit I wasn't specifically looking for certification, so it wasn't something I was paying a, a huge amount of attention to. But I did see the Cosmos logo come back a lot. And I would say that because of this natural trend that people are wanting to, to buy more natural ingredients, that they then want to have the certification to back up their claims. And so I suppose most ingredient suppliers think that the easiest way of doing that is to just become certified and that then ticks the box, doesn't it?

Absolutely, absolutely. And I guess like Timmy was saying with the, with a niche ingredient, like if you can, you know, talking about vegan beauty, you know, that's, that's moving in a big way. People are getting more and more interested in that and if the ingredients are already compliant, you can show that already. Then if a brand wants to go on to get vegan certification themselves, it's going to be a lot easier working with those ingredients, working with those suppliers, working with the manufacturers. Everything would, you'd already have paperwork, you'd already have, you know, the background to go ahead with the certification that you might want to go ahead with. So that was quite interesting because they're obviously thinking about it from an ease of use perspective.

So a brand is ready to go effectively when they receive the ingredient.

Yeah, yeah, so, so that was, that was showcased in, in quite a big way. Moving on to the next one, we noticed quite a lot to do with water this year. And this comes at kind of from a few different angles. Let's first talk about this idea of waterless beauty. Lorraine. One of my favorite top minimal water and that, that kind of idea, because that was, I noticed that that came up a few times in cosmetics.

It did, it did. And walking around, I saw quite a few claims for low water formulations, reduced water formulations, or even water less formulations. This is a bit of a bugbear for me at the moment. I'm really quite unhappy about the fact that people are talking about waterless beauty because of course, every single product has a water footprint. So what we're starting to see is that people are making these claims, but they're not necessarily backing them up with, you know, sustainable data because of course, if you're making an anhydrous product like a facial oil, then it still is using water at some point along the supply chain to be shipped to be, you know, for those ingredients to be grown, packaging, everything has a water footpr. So basically what we're seeing is that people are claiming that their products are waterless, whereas in fact, you know, they're probably using thousands of tons of water just to produce that single product that goes on the shelf. So that's having a knock on effect in what we're seeing in terms of claims, because people are talking about then reduced water, low water, and what they're implying with those claims is that their products are more sustainable. Whereas of course, actually as I just said, you know, every single product uses water regardless of whether there's actually water in the formulation or not. So I get quite worked up about this topic. We published a blog post on it, I put something on LinkedIn about it, which has been very popular. And I really want people to start questioning what they're saying when they talk about water because, you know, ultimately every single one of your beauty products will have a water footprint.

Absolutely. And then, Timmy, I was wondering if we could just comment about this other aspect related to, to the water kind of side of things and in cosmetics was that there was a lot of products that were there that were saying activated by water.

Exactly, exactly. So as I said before, there were many that said either low water or no water containing products. But also this was, this would fit into the category of no packaging or low packaging product. And I'm talking mainly about solid formulations such as an exfoliating bar or a conditioner bar. All of these would need water to be activated. So it's not when we, let's just say we're talking about lotion bar that you just apply on the skin without any water. But these products are solid formulations, as in bar looking like a bar formulation, but you still need to apply water on them or with them to activate the product. And there were many of these, lots of sticks, whether it's a facial cleansing stick or there was this really fun looking exfoliating stick with little dots in the actual thing and as you apply it with water, it exfoliates at the same time. So it's not the whole product was an exfoliator, but just certain bits in the product. So there were many of these. And in a way it's a good thing because obviously then you are talking about either the no packaging or the low packaging option. And as a formulator, it also helps with your shelf, the shelf life of the product. But at the same time, as Lorraine said, you will need water to use them and to activate them.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, so even then it's, it's Maybe it's water less or without water in the formula, but you won't be able to use these without water.

Yeah, absolutely. So moving on from that, I don't know if this is a trend as such, but it's something that we highlighted last year and something that we saw again this year, and that was that there is quite a high level of greenwashing that tends to happen at these shows. So we highlighted it at Amsterdam because we felt that when we talked to quite a few storeholders when they'd advertised that they had a sustainable product or that this was a natural and sustainable product, when you ask them how it was harvested or how it was grown or how it was processed, there wasn't that much information to back up why it was a sustainable product. And there seemed to have been a, almost a linking of because this is a natural product, it is sustainable, when actually, obviously we know that that quite often is not true. So I know again, Lorraine, for you, this is a particularly.

Over to you.

Lorraine, anger inspiring topic, but let's just talk about how greenwashing kind of emerged at the Paris show 2019.

Okay, I'll try and stay calm because this always makes me really annoyed. I saw it in quite a few different ways and this isn't going to go away anytime soon. And even talking to the other Formula Botanica students and graduates at the show, you know, they were also saying that sometimes they would go to stalls and they would scratch the surface and the whole story would just fall apart straight away. And I think this is in part why some suppliers are often reluctant to put inky neck names on the ingredients that they're selling in such a public forum, because they realize someone's going to come up to them and instantly go, well, you've preserved that botanical extract with phenoxyethanol. So of course it's not natural, but, you know, so there's, there's quite a bit of greenwashing going on. What I saw was twofold. I went to the Sustainability corner with Timmy on the last day and we just, we just wandered through it and had a look and I can spot sustainability BS at quite a distance. And there were some really interesting products, products in there, some really interesting ingredients. And there was also just a lot of stuff that just didn't mean anything. It was a lot of hot air. For instance, to give you an example, I think I saw two ingredients in there that were listed in the Sustainability corner because they use blockchain technology, which means that they can encrypt the data that is coming out of, I think, the communities where the ingredients are being produced. Well, that's all very nice and I'm sure that has a lot of benefits for the industry, but I wouldn't exactly call that sustainable. So I think there were a few tenuous links there as to what makes a sustainable product. The other thing we saw was this sub zero waste thing. I'm not going to call it a trend because it's not a trend. It was called a movement. It's not that either. It's just a load of greenwashing. And we're going to be putting out some more information on this in the coming months. So what we saw was that people were saying, okay, we're not talking about zero waste, we're talking about sub zero waste. What does that even mean? I mean, it's assuming that we've already achieved zero waste, which of course we haven't because the planet is drowning in plastic, and that we've somehow gone beyond zero waste where, you know, we're putting resources back into the planet, which is, you know, that's what sub zero waste implies. And we saw this on one particular trend table. And I won't name any names, but you know, when we actually scratched the surface and said, what does this mean? They said, well, it means to us that they're a sustainable product. I had one particular example where I was holding up this plastic container in an outer cardboard box which is very standard in the cosmetics industry and it was listed as a sub zero product. And I said, well, first of all, it's in plastic, secondly, it's got an outer packaging box with it. How is this sub zero? And the answer I got was, well, you know, they're giving back to communities. And I said, well, those two things are fundamentally different. You can't say that your waste has anything to do with your community engagement. I saw another one which had is even worse. It was a makeup container, it was non recyclable plastic. It had a little plastic applicator in it which was also wrapped in plastic and had a further outer packaging box that went with it. And that was also called sub zero. And then when I looked at why it was called sub zero, they said it was because they donated to conservation charities. I thought, well, hang on a minute, you're effectively saying that someone can give money to charity and that makes them a sub zero waste product. There is no logic here. I don't know who came up with this concept, but they clearly don't understand what sustainable development means. And I think that sits at the crux of a lot of the greenwashing that we're seeing. So I got quite annoyed by that, as you can tell.

Yeah. I think in that case, I feel that the people who had come up with that hadn't really understood the concept of what the ethical consumer is, because I think what had happened is a lot of these products were labeled to sub zero waste, but also this will appeal to an ethical consumer. And what they've done almost is had a look at things that people might consider ethical and put them in silos, almost. So people like it when people give back to communities. People like it when people source ingredients from a very. Or have a very small, this short supply chain or sourcing directly from a farmer or who are supporting conservational charities or who are, I don't know, doing something with their packaging. Because there, what, there were a couple of products on display that were trying to do something innovative with packaging. I mean, didn't quite meet my requirements for sustainability. But, you know, they were trying. Okay. There was, there was an element of effort. But I guess the idea is that those things exist separately, whereas an ethical consumer, I think if you're looking at it from a millennial and a Gen Z perspective, is looking for far more than that. You know, they're not looking for these things existing alone. They're looking for the whole package. And I think to list those things as sub zero waste is misleading.

Yeah.

And what I'm worried about is that some of these ingredient suppliers will start to latch onto this and tell beauty brands that they can use their ingredients and be sub zero waste, and that this is somehow going to gain traction in the industry and that people will start to talk about it and effectively hijack such an important content concept of, of waste management and sustainability that it'll be lost. So I'm a little bit concerned about that, and I hope we can start to get the message out there that actually we need to reframe what sustainable development means in relation to the beauty industry. But that's a bigger chunk of work than we're going to cover in our podcast today, I think.

Absolutely. So, yeah, greenwashing, unfortunately, still. Still around. And like Lorraine said, I don't think, I don't think think that's gonna change anytime soon due to confusion about sustainable development. But moving on from that, because that could dominate the entire podcast, my next trend that I had listed was the idea of simplicity formulating. So I noticed that there were, especially in the, in the innovation zone and the formulation zone, what was the zone called it was Innovation and Sensory Bar was that there were a lot of suppliers advertising formulations and. And products that only had, say, three ingredients. It only has ex inkulate names, it only has three or four ingredients. You can make this with three or four ingredients. Whereas before, I think there was a, you know, a desire to have as many possible ingredients listed on your bottle or packaging, it seemed to have shifted over to this idea that you could have less and still have more in a product. I don't know what either of you, what your thoughts are on that.

No, I noticed that too, actually. I saw quite a few areas talk about the number of ingredients you can use. And what was interesting was I also noticed that there were fewer exotic botanical ingredients advertised this year, which I was actually quite pleased to see. This was even something I brought up in my talk. You know, it's always about the newest and fanciest and most exotic ingredient you can include in your formulation, rather than what's local to me, where can I reduce my beauty miles? Where can I actually reduce my carbon footprint? And so I think there was a greater focus on functional ingredients this year rather than rare botanicals. And, yeah, I was delighted to see that because this fits in perfectly with our teachings at Formula Botanica, where, you know, we always say less is more. And I think that that one sustainability message was getting out a lot more. Less ingredients, less usage of the products is better for the planet, basically. And I, I hope to see more of that because ultimately, you know, the. The fewer ingredients you use, the more potency they have in your formulation. And, well, this fits perfectly with our ethos at Formula Botanica, doesn't it?

It to me, yeah, yeah, completely.

I mean, it's interesting because you saw that at the Natural and Organic product show as well, people tended to be moving towards things like potato, I mentioned, you know, and potato has obviously been used for, you know, thousands of years. Parsley, you know, things that were sort of less exotic and more accessible. Yeah, exactly. That's a really good word, accessible. Everything just felt a little bit more accessible in that way. And, yeah, whereas the Amsterdam show, there was a lot of big stands with these really beautiful imagery showcasing these big trees that grew all these types of fruits and then, you know, would educate you about the type of fruit that they were talking about. They'd seem to be slightly less of that. And like you say, there's more focus on simplicity and function, functionality.

And this fits well with the indie trend as well, because we're starting to see, well, indie brands, obviously, have always gone for greater potential potency. There's less focus on maximising profit margins to the absolute limit by using cheaper functional ingredients and a lot more water. There's always been more focus on using the right ingredients that have greater efficacy in higher percentages. You know, oils, butters, hydrosols, that sort of thing. So using fewer ingredients will have greater potency. And I think this fits in well with what indie brands are doing, which is possibly why there was this greater shift towards simplicity formulating, because perhaps the mainstream industry is paying attention to what indie brands are doing, which moves me.

Nice and swiftly onto my next point, which is indie beauty has gone mainstream.

Yes. And aren't we glad about that point?

Yeah, I think you could see that in the show this year in the fact that what Timmy and I, we talked about earlier was you had your indie beauty trail. And like Timmy said, you know, you couldn't get hold of those brochures for love nor money. And when the show started, you know, there was detail in that tray. People went mental for that idea of the indie beauty trail. You know, like Timmy said, suppliers were more willing to engage. The minimum order quantities were changing, Right? Yeah. And it seemed like there were way more indie beauty brands just there. I mean, we obviously were on the ground with our students and their people that they brought with them. So that was interesting. We also, I felt, saw more talks in the marketing trends 10 that focus on natural and indie beauty.

And the other thing I picked up on, which I got as feedback from our students and graduates, because there were a lot of them there, there must have been at least 50 that we saw. And of course, we didn't even see everyone. So formula Botanica was taking over. Well, Obviously there were 9,000 people there, you know, so 50s are dropping the ocean. But, you know, we were still taking over. The one thing I got back from them was they were saying that so many more suppliers were willing to speak to them about lower minimum order quantities. And one person even said that they would approach a store and they'd say, right, the minimum order quantity is 100 kilos. And then they'd go, well, I'm an indie brand. They'd go, oh, okay, we can give it to you in two and a half kilo packs. Instantly they would change. And that is such a revelation because as Timmy said earlier, you know, know, we've had some quite uncomfortable conversations with suppliers at. In cosmetics over the years where they almost sort of get the broom out to chase you off the store. Like, you're not going to buy in 25 kilo palettes. Get out of my view, you know, don't stand in front of me anymore. So it was very interesting to see that complete shift. And, you know, who knows, maybe in years to come, they'll have an indie beauty zone at IN Cosmetics. It's my next prediction for the future.

I think it's also great because I was thinking about this. When we get all these questions from students in the online classroom, how can I source this ingredient? How can I upscale my production? I have to look at these issues from two sides. One, I'm a formulator. Second, we are an educational establishment. As an educational establishment, we encourage people to experiment, to try out new things. But when I look at things as a formulator, I kind of feel that if I cannot source that ingredient, what is the point of trying? So it's like whether you could get an ingredient in small amount or you can only get the ingredient in 25 kilos. As a formulator, you. You are kind of torn because do I want to try? Let's just say that extract, if I know I will never be able to source it, I will not be able to source it to launch my brand. But then why waste my time exploring it? And as an educator, we would say, yeah, try it. Explore it, because you don't know. So I think this year in In Cosmetics, because there was this bridge between mainstream and indie brands, suddenly this problem is kind of eliminated because you can source these ingredients in accessible amounts. In amounts that you can handle.

Yeah, yeah.

And the thing I would say off the back of that is, if you're an indie beauty formulator, you need to be attending these shows. I mean, Timmy started off talking about why you need to be there, but just to reinforce this point, again, you know, this is your opportunity to speak directly to suppliers, and you need to start thinking about where you're going to get your ingredients from in the future and what the. What your supply chain is going to look like. So if you're not attending these shows, you're missing out on valuable opportunities, because who knows what sort of contacts you'll make. So make sure that you start to attend shows such as in Cosmetics, which are all over the world. You know, you don't have to go to the ones in Europe. There's ones in North America, South America, all over Asia. Get yourself to one of these shows and start networking, because it will benefit your brand in that long run.

Absolutely. I completely agree. Even shows like Professional Beauty are really interesting to go and have a look around as well. To see what people are putting out. And I always say to people, don't. If you are a natural and organic formulator, that's fine, but don't pigeonhole yourselves solely into the shows that showcase naturals. It's really interesting to go and have a look at what the industry is doing as a whole because it will give you some context as to what is happening at that moment and how indie beauty or natural organic formulating or green beauty movement, however you want to, you want to use the term, fits into that or how we are influencing other markets. So it can give you some, just all of these shows can give you some really interesting and helpful information and will really start your imagination going. That's what I found. I mean, you know, after every day in cosmetics, for me it was like, what about this? And oh, I saw this.

And you know, yes, now not everyone looks at these shows in that way. So some people will turn up and they'll feel so overwhelmed that they'll just be paralyzed by it. And so I did talk to one student who said that they felt that way. They arrived and they just looked at it because you're talking, you know, like several aircraft hangars full of stands. That's how it comes across. And you just feel like you'll never see all of it and you won't. So one of our students said that the first thing they did as they arrived was she posted up in our online classroom and said, I'm cosmetics. Is anyone else here? Do you want to join up with me? And someone instantly said, I've just arrived. I I want to walk around with you. And so they got to know each other instantly, became friends and are going to keep in touch. But they also managed to explore the show together that way. So it's often good to buddy up with someone. And if you're at Formula Botanica, obviously there will always be students at these shows who you can do that with.

Absolutely right. I want to talk about one final thing that actually I didn't list in, in our trends initially and but I think it warrants talking about because it is such a trend in the cosmetics industry as a whole. And that is cbd.

Yes.

Now, I didn't feel it had a massive presence at in cosmetics, if I'm honest.

Not as big as I would have expected. No.

There was hemp derived emulsifiers being shown and obviously that's different from, from anything that CBD offers. Hemp and hemp and CBD are quite different. But it didn't seem there, there didn't seem to be that many stalls showcasing that for me and I thought there would be more.

I agree with you.

When I attended the other cosmetic shows recently, so professional beauty, natural and organic products show that was out in a big way.

Yeah, I'm just looking at the. In cosmetics magazine here as well because I didn't pick up on many either. I think I saw maybe two stalls in total. And as I said, you know, when you're talking several aircraft hangers full of stalls, only two of them, and there were probably more because obviously I. I didn't see everything, but it's not that much in the grand scheme of things.

No, I was surprised by that, if I'm honest.

I wonder if maybe this is a trend that's coming from the indie industry that the mainstream just hasn't quite picked up on yet. Also, I wonder whether regulatory issues might be getting in the way there.

I completely agree. I think there's a crossover here. I think CBD and hemp cannabis, all of that whole family has always been seen as. I don't know, it's been associated with a certain movement and obviously it has a political issues attached to it as well. So I think first of all there that that can be an issue. The regulatory environment, you know, and how people perceive it as well as free to use, legal to use, do I want to use it, especially when it's been criminalized and people think quite. There's quite a polarity and opinion about cbd, about cannabis, about. About all those sort of things. Secondly, I think the. There is still a. A confusion about the science and the, and the, the safety of youth and the especially particularly science in relating to how CBD works on the skin. There doesn't seem to be lots and lots and lots of science to refer to yet. Obviously it's focusing on ingestible at the moment. That's where it seems to be. The science that is available seems to focus on what happens when you ingest it and how the endocannabinoid system works with ingestion rather than the skin. And obviously the skin does have an endocannabinoid system. It's an organ. But how that works seems to be sort of not quite. People aren't quite sure, I think. So that's why we've seen less of it. I think in cosmetics you could say.

The same for the microbiome. You know, there isn't a huge amount of data to really back up that making a product with prebiotics or probiotics or postbiotics, whatever they are. Has a profound effect on the skin, but that isn't stopping the movement. So I do wonder whether there is still a piece of work for the mainstream industry to do here or maybe it doesn't really fit in with mainstream brands that well. I mean, what did you see at the natural and organic products show?

Well, there was a lot of ingestion digestibles and a lot of infused products there. So brands seem to have been, you know, incorporating that 360 degree aspect of health. So. So that you would, you know, ingest something and obviously treat your inner beauty as much as you would treat your outer beauty. And that concept was quite noticeable amongst everything at the natural and organic product show that the indie beauty, the smaller brands seem to have captured that quite nicely and can understand that and how customers might understand that concept as well. People are very interested in how, you know, how their internal system is functioning, not just how their external system is functioning. And actually, while we're talking about this, Timmy, you know you attended the Marketing Trends. Yeah. Presentation on emotional skincare.

Yes, that was a great presentation. It was one of the first ones, one I actually just completely forgot about it and then, you know, suddenly, oh, I've got this mental talk to attend to. Yes, it was, it was very interesting because they talked about emotional beauty and in my head emotional beauty is something very different here. Basically the whole point was about how those people feel who have compromised skin and how it affects them mentally and emotionally and what brands can do to help with that. And one of the key things I picked upon was how it's recommended, how those people who were asked about it admitted that they didn't really understand the labeling on certain products. So how important it is for brand owners to label their products properly, how important it is to educate their customers. Especially if your niche is for those with compromised skin, whether it's eczema or psoriasis or anything like that, that you educate your customers on how to use your products that you are selling. Another thing was what they called as 360 degree beauty. And that is, as I mentioned, not just skincare, but also emotional and mental health. And that is something big and I think there will be loads of focus on that in the future. They mentioned some great ingredients as we talked about it yesterday. I don't even know how to pronounce some of them, but I haven't heard of them. But yeah, I mean, they mentioned some interesting ones such as matcha tea or matcha powder, moringa, turmeric. So there were quite a few ingredients that and they mentioned hemp and CBD in that talk, how that could help those people with compromised skin.

And I think this is what we saw at the natural Organic products show is that you, you had this idea already embraced by the indie beauty community. They were already talking about the ideas of, yeah, the emotional connection, how you're feeling. It's not just about what you put on, it's about what you put in. So there was quite a lot of stands, like Turmeric is quite a good example where you would have ingestible turmeric but also say a turmeric infused face mask or, you know, so that idea was very, very well communicated, I felt already by the indie beauty community.

I think, you know, for, for us or for me, for example, because I've never had any issues with my skin. Luckily I, I find it difficult to imagine what it must be like. But another data showed that many people feel beautiful just because they feel confident or they've got a nice skin, not because they put on makeup and that makes them feel beautiful. It's more about the emotional and the mental balance that would make them feel beautiful and how skincare brands can help achieve that.

Yeah, and that fits perfectly with our overall philosophy, which is that natural beauty isn't just about beauty, it's also about.

Well, being Absolutely right. I think we covered everything that I wanted to cover. Any parting thoughts from either of you? Yes.

Get yourself to in cosmetics in Barcelona next year if you're in Europe. If you're not in Europe. Well, even if you're not in Europe, you can still get to Barcelona. Possibly. But if you're not, then go to one of the other events that they host worldwide because it is worthwhile attending just to go and see what everyone's talking about. And if you're not there, then you're missing out. So hope to see you all in Barcelona next year because we'll be walking around again as usual and hopefully reporting back afterwards.

Yeah, no, but seriously, I was a bit, not nervous, but a bit, oof, what can I expect? And it was a great surprise and I made great connections, I had good chats and I learned a lot. So you just have to go and see it for yourself. And I never forget Lorraine was told me that it doesn't matter it's synthetic or not the best, the devil you know. So you always pick up something new or it just gives you inspiration.

Absolutely. Thank you both for being wonderful guests and for joining me to talk all about this. And yeah, I hope everyone enjoys it. Bye, everyone.

Bye.

Thank you much so so much for joining us on this podcast. As usual, I hope you found it entertaining and useful to you. If you want to connect with Formula Botanica in any way, then you can head over to our website, formulabotanica.com you can also find us on social media, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Formula Botanica and if you wish to join in the global green beauty conversation, then please head over to our free Facebook group, the Skincare Entrepreneur Mastermind. Have a great day. Thanks for listening.