As onions, bell peppers and celery are to a Cajun chef, new product development, formulation expertise and product safety/preservation could very well be a cosmetic chemist’s “holy trinity.” All three form the foundation for a successful personal care/cosmetics business, and fittingly, each discussed at the New York Chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists’ February meeting.
 
NYSCC members and guests gathered the Bethwood in Totowa, NJ on Feb. 18 to hear from Mintel’s Sara Jindal, Coty’s Anthony Esposito and Estee Lauder’s Steve Schnittger.
 
Jindal, who is Mintel’s senior innovation and insights analyst, opened the evening’s talks by taking attendees on a “Journey Through the Past 25 Years in Innovation in the Beauty and Personal Care Market.” In a year-by-year review, Jindal highlighted key product launches that marked the start of new trends and charted new territory in the beauty and personal care space.
 
Jindal’s presentation covered an array of products from color cosmetics to fragrance to self-tanners to hair care; each product marked the beginning of a trend or tactic that remains relevant today. For example, her review began in 1990, with the launch of Origins by Estée Lauder, which she described the first mainstream ethical department store brand. Fast forward to 2016, and it is clear that consumer interest continues to grow in how a business conducts its business.
 
Other launches noted in Jindal’s review of beauty game-changers were:
 
• Nuxe Hulle Prodigieuse (1991), one of the first beauty oils. Between 2010 and 2014, there was a 130% increase in facial skin oil launches, according to Mintel.
 
• YSL’s Touche Eclat (1992), one of the first makeup launches that addressed the idea of playing with light—a prelude to today’s strobing and contouring trends.
 
• Chanel’s Vernis Rouge Noir (1994), which was the hottest nail color on the planet; there was even a waiting list for the nail varnish! Fast forward, and the nail segment has been among the fastest growing categories in recent years, with an explosion in mainstream nail art that one could argue was made possible by this über dark, designer shade.
 
• Morrocanoil’s debut (2006), according to Jindal, paved the way for Argan oil as beauty staples and created new growth category within personal care: hair oils.
 
Jindal also provided a quick review of 2015’s most innovative rollouts—from unique packaging as seen in the swan neck of Lancôme’s Grandiose Mascara to the transforming texture of GlamGlow’s PowerMud Dual Cleanser to the first at-home use mousse form hair color in L’Oréal Preference Mousse Absolue to DiorSkin Airflash, an aerosol format spray finish makeup.
 
Following Jindal’s talk was Anthony Esposito, a senior chemist with Coty, who provided insight into technical and formulation expertise needed to develop successful products in his talk “Product Development Science and Art.”
 
To start, Esposito shared his own gage as to how much the beauty, cosmetics and personal care industry has grown during the past 25 years by recalling when he worked at a local ShopRite food store. According to Esposito, back then, the HABA section was half an aisle. “Today, it is aisle upon aisle upon aisle of products that we create,” he said.
 
Esposito covered different aspects of the cosmetic chemist’s job, from ingredients to methodologies, and he dispensed some advice for the vendors in the audience.
 
“When I started in the 1980s, vendors went out of their way to educate young chemists about this stuff. I don’t see that happening today,” he said.
 
In addition, he relayed the importance of understanding ingredients.
 
“There are ingredients that have the same INCI name—but they are all still a bit different. You need to try it all,” he said.
 
Following Esposito was Steve Schnittger, vice president of global microbiology and fermentation in R&D for The Estée Lauder Companies. The focus of his presentation was “Safety and Regulatory Considerations in New Product Development.”
 
What’s the connection between preservation and innovation?
 
“The ammunition left in the preservation tool box is reduced every day,” Schnittger told attendees. “Preservation is part of innovation because we are so restricted.”
 
Schnittger discussed preservatives used by the personal care industry, multifunctional ingredients that can contribute to preservation, the role packaging plays in product protection, and challenges, such as regulatory issues, that are impacting the sector.
 
March Meeting
On March 22, NYSCC will host a joint seminar dinner meeting with the American Society of Perfumers, “Inspired Art & Science—Our Fragrance World Today,” at the Chart House in Weehawken, NJ.
 
More info: www.nyscc.org