Hair care gets a kick start from major focus on innovation

Hair care has seemed to stand in the shadows of the skin care category for years, but formulation innovation and enhanced product development is bringing it up to speed, and fast.

From hair care customisation, to BB hair care ranges in the finished goods arena, to multi-functional, anti-aging and food ingredients on the formulation side, hair care seems to be shifting up a gear as brand holders come round to the idea that it is innovation which is the driving force in this highly competitive category.

Although customisation is still very much in the early stages of development, with only a handful of smaller brands currently proving to be the early adopters, many experts believe that this seems to be the way forward for hair care, with highly developed products that focus on very specific hair care issues.

Customisation seems like the way forward

In Cosmetics Design’s forthcoming HairCareIngredients 2013 online event, industry analyst and consultant Imogen Matthews will be giving a presentation that focuses on this highly niche, but promising segment.

The presentation will look at the way the niche has evolved out increasingly targeted hair care products, the types of ingredients that are making these products happen, and the way this category is likely to develop in the future.

HairCareIngredients 2013 will also include a comprehensive state of the market presentation from market research company Mintel, where one of the key points will be to stress how increasingly niche and targeted products are driving growth in the market.

Ingredient development moves up a notch

Besides the trends that are driving product development, there have also been significant progress on the ingredients side, with technologically advanced multi-functional ingredients becoming one of the driving forces behind formulations that are promising consumers more and more.

Such ingredients provide a host of product claims, from anti-ageing and sun protection, to hair thickening and repair, as well as frizz control, various types of repair and colour protection.

But on top of this there is also an increasingly wide array of natural ingredients, feeding demand for natural and organic formulations, and a trend that can throw up many unique challenges, including sourcing reliable supplies that are also sustainable.

The natural ingredient trend has also given way to a number of other trends, including the increasing use of food-based ingredients, that generally focus on fruit, nut and vegetable extracts, often from unusual or exotic sources.

HairCareIngredients 2013 - save the date

The date for HairCareIngredients 2013 is set for September 18th, and the second annual event in the series should be the biggest and most comprehensive to date.

The virtual trade show and conference will kick off at 10am CEST and a full programme of events, both on the show floor and in the conference theatres, will be included until the show closes its doors at 6pm CEST.

Likewise, the show floor will include booths for big name hair care ingredients suppliers such as Solvay Novecare, Evonik, Lubrizol and Vivimed.