Click through to read this week's top articles.
Life on earth likely started with algae, and biotech company Purissima is using it as the powerhouse behind new cosmetic ingredients.
The company, based out of San Francisco, has used microalgae to produce more than 70 ingredients so far.
Rob Evans, co-founder of Purissima, told CosmeticsDesign that the algae-fermentation technology is highly scalable and could be a way for the cosmetics industry to leverage the benefits of rare plants without having to harm natural habitats.
“Instead of getting some rare root from Southeast Asia, we can focus on what the compound is in that root that actually delivers the benefit, and then focus on developing a commercial process to produce it so that it can be more accessible to people around the world,” Evans said.
Q&A
Contract manufacturer Voyant has launched a new division intended to identify the most promising indie brands and partner with them up until acquisition.
CosmeticsDesign spoke with Lorne Lucree, Chief Innovation Officer at Voyant, about the new division and what it means in the broader landscape of indie brands.
Tell me a little bit about what this division is going to do.
The service model has entirely been built out for fast growth independent beauty brands with qualified funding. The idea is that, based on the level of funding, we're able to assess whether they will be a good partner for us and we will then partner with them, and then help them from a contract manufacturing standpoint.
Q&A
The fragrance market was projected to be worth over $30 billion globally in 2021, and more small perfume and cologne brands are entering the fray everyday.
Dynamic Blending, a contract manufacturer out of Utah, is well-positioned to work with small fragrance brands, with low minimum order quantities and in-house R&D and design services. CosmeticsDesign spoke with co-founders of the company, Jordan Erskine and Gavin Collier, about what they see happening in the indie fragrance market and what trends to keep an eye on.
What do you see as things that fragrance brands need to know to be successful in the indie fragrance space right now?
Jordan Erskine: A lot of it just has to do with who are they actually marketing to. Depending on who they're actually targeting, that really dictates what types of fragrances they're going to use or methods to provide fragrances to the various perfume formulations that they're going to be developing.
Creating an inclusive beauty industry requires filling in gaps in skin health research for consumers with darker skin tones.
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health recently released new research on sun protection and acne for consumers with darker skin tones.
JJCH Science Engagement Director for skin health Menas Kizoulis told CosmeticsDesign the company was aiming to better understand skin health issues for consumers of color and educate the general public about skin needs and solutions.
“(Our dermatological advisory boards) believe that in many cases the BIPOC consumer (is) a little misinformed, sometimes by some of the information that might exist out there,” Kizoulis said. “There's a whole host of opportunities to really better educate consumers of color on their skin and their skincare routine.”
Proctor and Gamble recently released its quarter-one financial results, indicating a turbulent market and the company’s philosophy on surviving the economy.
While P&G saw a slight increase in net sales compared to 2021, roughly $274 million, the company overall had a 4% decrease in net earnings.
Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said on the earnings call that several factors are contributing to that result, including:
- High commodity and transportation costs
- Inflation in the upstream supply chain
- Inflation in P&G’s operation costs
- Accelerating headwinds from foreign exchange
- Geopolitical issues
- COVID disruptions impacting consumer confidence
- Historically high inflation impacting consumer budgets
- Lower shipments in Russia
- Greater China sales down due to COVID-19 lockdowns and lower consumer confidence
