Cosmoprof North America is the country’s leading B2B beauty exhibition. This massive event serves as a networking hub and innovation hotbed, where companies across the entire personal care spectrum, from brands to buyers and everyone in between, come together to forge strategic relationships. Every year, the Twincraft team makes the pilgrimage from Vermont to Las Vegas excited to debut our latest product concepts and get some valuable face-time with partners and customers. After several days of walking the show and attending discussion panels with the industry’s foremost experts, we’re reviewing some of the biggest trends and breakout categories defining beauty today. 

Biome Beauty

The role that our external microbiome plays in overall skin health continues to dominate conversations regarding the future of skincare. It’s been well established that a poorly functioning barrier can result in a litany of skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, dermatitis and numerous others. Much like the beneficial bacteria in our gut, which is a crucial building block for health and immunity, the surface of our skin is home to billions of bugs that protect us from environmental stressors like UV rays, pollution, and even viruses. There are several approaches to developing a “biome-based” skincare product. Namely, using prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics. Prebiotics like inulin, a polysaccharide sugar, provide nutrition for bacteria to proliferate and thrive. Probiotics constitute the actual bacteria, which can be living and nonliving. Examples of nonliving probiotics in skincare are Lysates, or fragments of fermented bacteria, as well as para-probiotics like Lactobacillus. Postbiotics are the byproducts created by fermented bacteria, which produce peptides and short-chain fatty acids. As science and technology advance, we can expect to see an influx of skincare solutions that address imbalances in superficial bacteria and help your flora flourish. 

Sustainability

In the face of climate change and dwindling natural resources, there is an ever-present demand for eco-conscious beauty. Both inside and outside the box (or, skipping the box altogether), brands big and small are taking steps to become more sustainable. One particular challenge is reducing the accumulation of packaging waste. Choosing post-consumer resin, PET, ocean waste plastic, paper, aluminum, glass, and organic, biodegradable materials like sugarcane and mushroom are some of the packaging and virgin plastic-alternatives used by brands to offset their footprint. Other ways companies are approaching sustainable skincare include refillable components, utilizing upcycled ingredients, and opting for lab-made actives instead of natural sources. 

Bundled Benefits 

Consumers are looking to simplify their skincare routines by paring down the number of personal care products being used. Despite this desire to move away from the multi-step system, there is heightened interest in multi-functional formulas that offer the user more benefits in a single product. According to Cosmotalks, “consumers are seeking solutions and treatments for an ever increasing array of skin concerns, the relic of pandemic stress, and at the same time they are looking to streamline their beauty routines. Enter supercharged serums, multitasking formulation wonders that are loaded with highly concentrated active ingredients, from natural extracts to lab-engineered molecules, that pack a punch, one precious drop at a time.”