Key takeaways from NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2024’s Inspiration Zone

At this year’s NYSCC Suppliers’ Day show, global beauty trend insight platform BEAUTYSTREAMS curated a selection of innovative ingredients which were showcases in the exhibition’s Inspiration Zone. Designed to reflect the Beauty Movements outlined in Eleonora Mazzilli, Trend Localization & Business Development Director, North America at BEAUTYSTREAMS presentation and panel discussion during the event, the selected ingredients were chosen by the organization’s senior trend analysts and forecasters based on their Level of Innovation, Environmental Impact / Certifications, Concept, and Scientific Backup as criteria.

As detailed in Mazzilli’s presentation, the 2024-27 beauty movements identified by the BEAUTYSTREAMS team “apply to different positionings from luxury to mass-market and are set to drive the industry in the upcoming years,” taking root “in current societal trends and are expected to scale up as consumer needs and demands evolve.”

Mazzilli explained that “in today's fast-paced world, where technology and societal shifts are driving change, consumer expectations are evolving rapidly,” and “factors like longer lifespans, economic pressures, and AI advancements are reshaping what people want.” She further added that “as AI becomes more integrated into our lives, there's excitement about its potential but also concerns about its impact, and as a result, “this mix of feelings will heavily influence how consumers behave, calling for a balance between innovation, ethics, and personal well-being.”

The movements as outlined by Mazzilli’s discussion, which were reflected in the NYSCC Suppliers’ Day Inspiration Zone, included: Health-Span Beauty, which is about longevity powered by lifestyle and innovation; Value for All, which emphasizes the growing focus on products’ price-to- performance ratio; Finger-Printing, which focuses on unique and individual approaches, and hyper-personalization; and Synergistic effect, which leans into the cumulative impact of multi-sensorial stimuli.

Natural skin ingredients

As Mazzilli explained, this category is aligned with the Health-Span Beauty trend. Ingredients featured in this category included Actera Ingredients’ Radiance Gel Cream, BASF’s Epispot, and Vantage Personal Care’s CURAZELIC 44.

“An even skin tone is highly desirable with the natural or “clean girl look” trending across runways and social media platforms, making ingredients and products that promise clear skin very attractive,” said Mazzilli, and these ingredients reflect the foundation of this trend. “Actera is doing so via a smart delivery form of tranexamic acid, which is popular among consumers,” she explained, and “BASF proposes a preservative-free and 100% natural solution, which is important for sensitive skin, while Vantage bets on azelaic acid, another consumer favorite, but with improved bioavailability.”

Bio luxe ingredients

The Bio luxe ingredients category aligned with the Synergistic Effect trend “thanks to their ability to create immersive and multi-sensory product experiences,” Mazzilli said. The ingredients featured in this category included Cargill’s CocoaDesign, a sustainably sourced and biodegradable emollient, Micro Powders Inc.’s Naturecel 750, a natural and biodegradable ultrafine microcrystalline cellulose powder, and Seppic’s SOLAGUM, a natural thickening and moisturizing gum.

“These three ingredients offer luxuriously sensorial textures yet are biodegradable,” Mazzilli shared, “which is on trend with the beauty industry’s goal of replacing functional ingredients of synthetic origin with more natural options.”

Next-gen retinols

The Next-gen retinols category is aligned with the Health-Span Beauty trend as well. The ingredients included in this category were Clariant’s CycloRetin, which is derived from TCM favorite prince ginseng, and Laboratory Skin Care’s Hydroxysomes Retinaldehyde, which stabilizes retinol for use in topical formulations.

“Here are two examples of next-gen retinols,” Mazzilli said. “Retinol remains a highly coveted ingredient,” she added, “yet is notoriously difficult to formulate with.” Therefore, these two ingredients stood out as innovative options in their category.

Plant-friendly ingredients

In alignment with the Health-Span Beauty trend, this category included dsm-firmenich’s Eterwell Youth, Expanscience’s GAÏALINE, Geltor’s Caviance, and Hydrosome Labs’ Hydrosome H2O.

About the selections for this category, Mazzilli explained that “Eterwell Youth ticks many boxes” because “it is on trend with growing longevity and health-span claims.” Further, she added, “it is also inclusive, as it caters to all ethnicities. Plus, we appreciate that the ingredient goes beyond the usual eco credentials, and stems from regenerative farming.”

Additionally, she shared, “as a double-duty concept, Expanscience’s GAÏALINE originates from regenerative farming: the ingredient regenerates both soil and skin in one coup,” and “Geltor’s Caviance is on trend with consumer demands for traceable, clean, ‘vegan collagen.’ We are intrigued by the use of biotechnology in this case,” she said, “and applaud its intentions of protecting the sturgeon species.”

Finally, “while waterless beauty is on the rise,” she said, “we appreciate Hydrosome Labs’ approach to bolstering the performance of water in a formulation, which still makes up most of the formulas across beauty categories.”

Inclusivity ingredients

The Inclusivity ingredients category is aligned with the Finger-Printing movement and featured Givaudan’s Illuminyl 388 skin-illuminating prebiotic and Rahn’s Illumiscin-Glow, which is designed to address redness by reducing irritation and improving skin brightness.

“These two ingredients cover the need for more inclusivity on a base level,” said Mazzilli. “It’s rare to see ingredients developed for a range of different skin tones and ethnicities,” she explained, adding that “moreover, both ingredients tap into consumers’ desire for a healthy glow, which also coincides with the natural, ‘clean-girl’ aesthetic.”

Efficient and clean ingredients

The final category of Efficient and clean ingredients aligned with the Synergistic Effect movement, and included Sharon Personal Care’s Sharon Aquavita, a multifunctional preservative billed as the first and only vitamin-based multifunctional preservation system and Uviva Technologies’ Eclipse Z1, which offers the ability to achieve higher SPFs while reducing unwanted white cast from zinc and titanium oxide ingredients in sunscreen formulations.

“We see a growing need for clean preservatives (hypoallergenic, third-party-certified microbiome-friendly, and biodegradable),” shared Mazzilli, “and appreciate the additional twist of making them multitasking, as with these two ingredients.” Therefore, “all-mineral, natural sunscreens that are both aesthetically appealing as well as high-performing remain a rare success,” she said.