In the quest for more natural based but potent beauty formulations; ingredients like bird's nest, cordyceps, ganoderma, snail slime, sea cucumber and most recently, horse oil are making their way into cosmetics formulations.
According to our expert on beauty trends in the Asia Pacific region, Florence Bernardin, major brands like L’Oreal's Yue Sai in China, Watsons and numerous Korean players are scrambling to introduce ranges comprised of traditional infused ingredients right now.
New lines of cleansers and day creams feature mineral, sparkling and glacier water formulations as well as dead sea salt which is claimed to retain water and enhance skin barrier function.
"Not only are these ingredients rare and precious; but ones like 'cordyceps' have many health related properties, 'bird's nest', is famous for being a beauty secret of the imperial court while prized material - snail slime is highly regarded as far as South America," she informs CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com.
Innovative formulas visibly infused with natural ingredients
Labs all over the AP region are now starting to create products that promote natural in a more 'visible way' as they are able to inject a large variety of petals for example, into formulations in their natural state in a way that keeps them fresh and vibrant for a longer period of time.
Florence reports that foaming cleansers and make-up removing oils are appearing on the market enriched with almond seeds, rice and blueberries such as Neogen Code9 Real Fresh Foam and the Saem Marseille Olive Cleansing Oil.
"Osmantus Flower petals are now floating around in many skin lotions from China to Korea, promoting revitalizing, brightening, soothing and moisturizing power," the trends analyst tells this publication.
Additionally, she says that natural ingredients can be expressed in various colourful formulas in very optical and dynamic ways like charcoal based cleansing masks and Spirulina based green detoxifying cleansers.
Asia in Focus - bringing you all the latest from the region
Asia in Focus is a series that hones in on the segments offering the most opportunities for the cosmetics industry on the AP region, honing in on specific consumer trends and behavioral patterns with our experts on the ground.
Florence Bernardin is the CEO of 'Information & Inspiration', an agency that specialises in all that is the cosmetics industry in Asia, and will be back on the region next month reporting on what matters.