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Kacey Culliney is a multimedia journalist, editor and moderator with 12+ years experience in global B2B publishing and events. She is passionate about the future of beauty business, cutting-edge science and the people behind today's trailblazing brands.

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Beauty Matter •

Regulatory Shifts Set to Morph China's Beauty Market

China is enforcing stricter cosmetic safety and risk regulations this year as part of a phased approach towards market standardization, and it's a move set to shake up business significantly, said an expert.China's beauty market had already faced “growing pains” in the wake of the Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation (CSAR), issued on January 1, 2021, as “the first comprehensive and systematic overarching law in the Chinese cosmetics industry in over 30 years,” said Chris Wang, Sen...
Cosmetics & Toiletries •

'Breakthrough' Bacteria Boost: L'Oréal Files Patent on Crystallized Live Probiotic Anti-aging Skin Care Formula

International beauty giant L'Oréal has developed a topical skin care formulation containing a crystallized live probiotic to reverse signs of skin aging via microbiome modulation – an exciting and notable advancement in skin care, experts say.Recently published, the international patent was initially filed just eight months after L'Oréal's 2023 acquisition of Denmark-based probiotic and microbiome research firm Lactobio.L'Oréal wrote in the patent that the formulation incorporating live probioti...
Vitafoods Insights •

Eyes on beauty: European hair, skin, and nail supplements experience ‘remarkable’ growth

Over the past five years, European product launches in hair, skin, and nail supplements grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%, making it the fastest-growing supplement subcategory* in the region – just behind women's specialty supplements, according to Innova.And “skin health” placed fourth in the top five supplement positionings across Europe, ahead of bone health and behind immune health, brain-mood health, and energy and stamina.Solène Limongi, market analyst at Innova, describe...
Vitafoods Insights •

Menopause product claims ‘must stay evidence-based and ethical’

An estimated 13 million women in the UK – one-third of the region’s female population – are currently perimenopausal or menopausal, according to the charity Wellbeing of Women.Despite regulations in place for nutrition and/or health claims and clear legislation around food information to consumers, the UK remains awash with questionable product and marketing claims relating to menopause across functional foods, beverages and supplements, according to Claire Baseley, a freelance industry nutritio...
Vitafoods Insights •

Eggshell membrane: A safe, sustainable nutraceutical for skincare?

Eggshell membrane has been “gaining recognition as a promising functional ingredient in the field of skin health” for some time, according to a team based in the Republic of Korea. But while animal studies have produced promising results, human trials have largely focused on hair, nails, and basic skin hydration.They decided to conduct a human trial investigating the effects of oral supplementation with eggshell membrane on skin health, publishing findings in the Journal of Functional Foods.The...
Premium Beauty News •

Trends in the USA: A spotlight on the world's biggest fragrance market

This year, the worldwide fragrance market was set to generate revenues of EUR 54.6 billion (USD 62.11 billion), according to Statista, with a 3.31% CAGR growth predicted over the next five years (2025-2030). The US held the lion’s share of the global fragrance market, forecast to pull in revenues of EUR 7.9 billion (USD 9 billion) in 2025.
So, what trends were shaping the world’s biggest fragrance market? And how were brands tapping into opportunities in this space?
Jennifer Stansbury, co-founde...
Vitafoods Insights •

Plant power: Could polyphenols offer oral photoprotection?

A Cochrane review investigated the potential role for dietary supplements, mainly polyphenols and vitamins in oral bioactive form, in the prevention and/or treatment of field cancerisation and actinic keratoses – chronic, recurrent precancerous lesions primarily induced by long-term sun exposure.The researchers, based in Spain and Italy, concluded that polyphenols held promise for photoprotection.“We conclude that the reviewed studies support the potential efficacy profile of polyphenols in the...
Premium Beauty News •

'Complete reshuffle': Beauty ingredients competition fierce in 2025

According to market research firm Kline + Company, the global beauty ingredients market – made up of commodities, specialty ingredients and active ingredients – was now worth just over EUR 26 billion or just under USD 30 billion. Specialties still made up the bulk of beauty ingredients, at around EUR 18.5 billion (USD 21 billion), according to the firm, with commodities representing 20-30% and actives 10%.
But it was a market that had evolved significantly over the past five years, according to...
Beauty Matter •

Unlocking the Potential of Marine Ingredients for Sustainable Cosmetics

New multistakeholder value chains must be established if beauty wants to bolster successful and large-scale advances in marine cosmetics—an exciting area for innovation, efficacy, and sustainability.The EU blue economy is vast, generating a turnover of $682 billion (€624 billion) in 2021, up 21% from 2020, with $83.4 billion (€76.4 billion) registered as gross profit, according to Eurostat data. And the sector, encompassing all economic activities based on or related to the ocean, seas, and coas...
Premium Beauty News •

The dermocosmetics boom: Misinformation still a 'big issue' for industry

Addressing attendees at this year’s in-cosmetics 2025 tradeshow in Amsterdam earlier this month, a panel of medicine, dermatology and science experts sat down to brainstorm dermocosmetics. And one of the biggest focuses, according to the panel, was the need to invest more heavily in science and education.
“You see a lot of misinformation, and that’s a big issue, especially in the aesthetic cosmetic industry,” said Carine Blondin, head of dermocosmetics at Swiss aesthetic medicine specialist Teox...
Vitafoods Insights •

Shatavari shows promise for muscle strength in post-menopausal women

Daily supplementation of 1g shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) enhanced muscle strength, improved contractility of muscle fibres, and enhanced training load in post-menopausal women during eight weeks of resistance training, according to a clinical trial.“These novel observations strongly support the notion that shatavari supplementation promotes neuromuscular fatigue resistance,” the UK-based researchers wrote in the journal Frontiers.Speaking to Vitafoods Insights, Dr Vivien Rolfe, herbal science...
Vitafoods Insights •

AI could have 'transformative role' in collagen valorisation

Writing in Green Analytical Chemistry, a team of scientists from Malaysia and India investigated how AI could be used to improve collagen processing, considering efficiency, sustainability, and innovation.Their review specifically explored how AI could be used to optimise collagen extraction – notably from waste streams – by enhancing efficiency, yield, and quality, while reducing energy consumption and waste generation.“While AI has transformed many industries, its application in collagen extra...
Premium Beauty News •

Fresh but familiar: 'Renovation' still key for beauty in 2025

Last year, the global beauty and personal care market hit EUR 523 billion (USD 593 billion) – up 7% on the previous year in real terms and up 2.9% with inflation stripped away, according to Euromonitor International. Within this, Western Europe generated EUR 105 billion (USD 119 billion), up 6% on 2023, with the top five markets Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain generating 73% of total sales for the region.
Looking ahead, the market research firm said CAGR [1] growth between 2024-2029 for glo...
Vitafoods Insights •

Dietary phytochemicals for skin ageing ‘promising’ but research gaps remain

A scientific review published in Experimental Gerontology by researchers from across the APAC region investigated the potential of dietary phytochemicals in targeting premature skin ageing.Scanning data and literature from 1995 to 2024, the review looked at the significance of phytochemicals found in fruits, vegetables, and plant-based meals in neutralising free radicals and reducing inflammatory mediators linked to premature ageing of skin.According to their findings, cartenoids, flavonoids, po...
Beauty Matter •

Unilever on Closing Beauty's Regulatory Science Gap

Personal care brand Unilever has restructured its science and regulatory teams—merging expertise under one group—to help foster more relevant and market-ready innovation.In January of this year, Unilever unveiled its newly formed Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Science (SERS) capability group, formally merging teams from safety, environmental assurance, and regulatory affairs after 18 months of transition. Led by Julia Fentem MBE, Fellow of the British Toxicology Society and EVP for Safety, E...
Beauty Matter •

The Next-Generation of Sleep Optimization

Neurotechnology start-up Elemind is tackling sleep as its first category in a wider push to advance health and well-being innovation around what it calls “electronic medicine.”Founded in 2019, US-based Elemind has developed a smart headband that is able to read and respond to an individual's electroencephalogram (EEG) brainwaves in real time and deliver precise acoustic stimulation to influence a person's brain state. The start-up says it is “building the future of electric medicine,”—developing...
Beauty Matter •

Beauty Science 2025 Trends and innovations in AI, Data, and Biomimicry

Digitalization of devices, supply chains, and laboratories will define innovation in beauty this year, with Artificial Intelligence (AI), biotech, and data feedback carving out significant change, say experts.As beauty kickstarts 2025, industry enters a new tech era—one set to empower innovators and creators like never before. Think analytical smart mirrors and wearables, AI-backed data and supply chains, and biotech-led skin models and ingredients, many showcasing at CES (The Consumer Electroni...
Beauty Matter •

How the Exposome Contributes to Cumulative Hair Damage

Future haircare research and innovation should focus on mitigating the cumulative effects of external and internal environmental exposures known to negatively impact hair health, say scientists.Writing in Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia, the official publication of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology, researchers from Italy and Spain outline how the exposome—the totality of external and internal environmental factors that can influence human health–critically influences hair health and hair a...
Beauty Matter •

L'Oréal on Beauty and Tech Trends in 2025 Highlighting Proactive Beauty

Beauty consumers today crave deeper knowledge and predictive insight on skin care needs and expect effective tools and products with a proactive approach, says Guive Balooch, L'Oréal's Head of Open Innovation.In January, this year, French beauty titan L'Oréal Group unveiled a flurry of tech innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show [CES] in Las Vegas, including its Cell BioPrint—a tabletop hardware device providing personalized skin analysis in minutes, including skin's biological age and ing...
Beauty Matter •

Plant Metabolites Science for Cosmetics and Personalized Skincare

Specialized plant metabolites have the potential to revolutionize cosmeceuticals if used to develop targeted formulas for skin health, but scientific research and sustainable development must deepen, say scientists.Writing in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, researchers from Morocco, France, and India outlined the plethora of opportunities in advancing cosmeceutical applications of specialized plant metabolites (SPMs) for skin benefits in a scientific review.“SPMs hold great potenti...
Beauty Matter •

EU Cosmetics Regulation Updates in 2025 Need Discussions on Essential Cosmetics and Competition in Industry

Beauty and personal care companies must push product essentiality and industry competitiveness in 2025 as the European Union braces for regulatory changes set to impact the sector, says John Chave, Director-General of Cosmetics Europe.The European Union (EU) kickstarted a new five-year regulatory cycle last year, with the formation of a new European Parliament in June 2024 and a new European Commission taking office in December 2024 —both set to run until 2029. So, as industries and citizens acr...
Premium Beauty News •

UK beauty retail to see ’notable growth and transformation’ in 2025

Competition across UK beauty retail continues to ramp up, as brands work to enter new spaces and stores push to draw in new custom. But where exactly is the market headed in 2025?
Last year, the UK health and beauty market continued to grow despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, hitting EUR 53.6 billion (about GBP 45.4bn) after three years of consistent growth, according to data analytics firm GlobalData. Within this, beauty was forecast to continue growth at 3% CAGR between 2023 and 2028, l...
Vitafoods Insights •

‘Women are not a monolith’: Experts call on industry to close data gaps in women’s nutrition

Speaking last month during a Women in Nutraceuticals (WIN) webinar entitled Trends and Innovations in Developing Nutraceuticals for Women, a panel of industry experts brainstormed the opportunities and challenges in this category. All agreed there is a clear need to go back and build out the science for women from the ground up.“Women are not a monolith,” said Devon Gholam PhD, vice-president of science and innovation at the consultancy Step Change Innovations. “We are all at different phases of...
Beauty Independent •

Feel-Good Fragrance Startup The Heart Company Ready To Scale Globally

Launched in 2020, it has a line of vegan perfumes, including Happiness, Kindness, Positivity and Me Time. Housed in heart-shaped bottles, the perfumes were developed fragrance ingredient supplier Givaudan to spread good cheer. Available on Amazon, TikTok Shop, 1-800-Flowers, Walmart’s website and the brand’s own site, the perfumes retail at $57 for 2.5-oz. bottles.
“Our brand is completely ready to scale,” says Kristina Rasmussen, founder and CEO of The Heart Company. “We did a lot of A/B testin...
Premium Beauty News •

Morrama: Beauty needs to innovate not iterate before refills can truly take off

Last year, UK industrial design agency Morrama unveiled a paper-based refillable packaging range for beauty, developed in collaboration with Chinese manufacturer PPK. The ’Maya’ range offered palettes, lipsticks, pumps and pots in various outer casing materials that could be customised by beauty brands, made with refills from renewable paper pulp. This year, the two companies were launching aluminium casing designs for the range, with the first aluminium lipstick with paper refill unveiled at Ma...
Premium Beauty News •

Element Beauty debuts carbon-captured cosmetics packaging with Caliray

Element Beauty Group partnered with Oco, part of Canadian firm Carbon Upcycling Technologies, to develop the beauty packaging material from captured CO2 and post-consumer recycled material (PCR). Recently launched at Sephora with Californian makeup brand Caliray, the packaging boasted improved strength, durability and recycling potential whilst contributing to a reduction in greenhouse gases because of the captured carbon contained within it.
So, was this merge of waste materials the future for...
Premium Beauty News •

DECIEM plans TikTok Shop, pharmacy and flagship store expansion, says Kilner

Founded in 2013, DECIEM – the parent firm behind skin care brands The Ordinary and NIOD – was acquired in full this year by The Estée Lauder Companies, following accumulative stake investments totaling US$1.7 billion between 2017 and 2024. From small Canadian startup to global beauty behemoth, DECIEM was now on a mission to become the number-one skin care brand in the world. Premium Beauty News sat down with Nicola Kilner, CEO and co-founder of DECIEM, to talk about the company’s rise and its gl...
Beauty Independent •

The Latest Gen Alpha Brand, Your Skin Stuff Aims To Kickstart Healthy Skincare Practices

Directed at 8- to 12-year-olds and their parents, the Dublin-based brand is launching next month with six products—Gentle Daily Cleanser, Daily Foam Cleanser, Hydration Station Serum, Skin Hug Serum, Sunshine Drops Serum and Morning Glow SPF—priced from 19.50 and 24.50 euros or roughly $21 to $26 at the current exchange rate. Dermatologically tested, cruelty-free and vegan, they’re housed in colorful packaging and formulated to contain ingredients like salicylic acid, aloe vera and vitamin C in...
Premium Beauty News •

Nivea launches Q10 Dual Action serum to bring anti-glycation ’to the masses’

Launched under Beiersdorf’s flagship mega brand Nivea, across Europe and select global markets, the Q10 Dual Action serum was the result of 10+ years of in-house and collaborative research. Made from a blend of Beiersdorf’s existing patented active coenzyme Q10, alongside a newly patented ingredient NAHP, trademarked Glycostop by the company, the serum targets sugar-induced skin ageing and wrinkle formation. Specifically, the formula was designed to prevent protein glycation [1] in the dermis sk...
Premium Beauty News •

’Game-changing’: Plant-based microcapsules offer beauty fresh fragrance promise

In January, 2024, Xampla raised US$7 million [EUR6.45 million] enabling it to push ahead with wider development of its next-generation plant-based materials, branded Morro. Made from an array of plant proteins, including pea and potato, the portfolio uses a patented technology to offer natural and fully biodegradable microcapsules, coatings, edible films and soluble films for the beauty, home care, nutrition, food and beverage industries. The microcapsule Morro product, specifically, is designed...
Beauty Independent •

Skincare Brand Reome Marries High Design And Biotechnology

Founded in January 2023 by Joanna Ellner, a beauty journalist and acupuncturist with a degree in traditional Chinese medicine, Reome has two skincare products—serum Active Recovery Broth and cleanser Three Suns Balm—priced at 110 and 75 pounds, respectively, or $140 and $95 for full sizes. A third product, Aerate Face Towel, is 25 pounds or $35. The brand is in the middle of raising a seed funding round for an undisclosed amount to bolster its biotech positioning and drive global expansion.

R...
Premium Beauty News •

Seeking to capture a wider audience, luxury fashion brands enter beauty

In October 2023, global luxury titan Kering – the group behind Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, among others – closed its acquisition of luxury fragrance house Creed; a deal considered significant in both fashion and beauty because of its scale and the price-tag attached. And transactions like this follow on from other major acquisitions and mergers in the space, such as Spanish fashion major Puig’s majority stake acquisition in British beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury back...
Beauty Independent •

After Landing Investment On "Dragons' Den," Nini Organics Looks To Retail Partnerships

In an appearance on “Dragons’ Den” earlier this month, the British version of the business pitch competition show “Shark Tank,” the skincare brand scored 50,000 pounds or about $65,000 at the current exchange rate from entrepreneurs and investors Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett in exchange for 20% equity. Now, it’s out to achieve big distribution goals.
Within three to five years, co-founder, CEO and formulator Alex Nicolaou says Nini Organics aspires to secure listings at retailers the likes of...
Premium Beauty News •

The state of UK beauty retail: “We are inundated with brands” – experts

Last November, beauty brands, investors and consultancy firms met at Beauty Independent’s two-day debut Dealmaker Summit EU/UK in London, UK. Amongst the plethora of trends discussed during event, the future of beauty retail was spotlighted.
“For many brands, retail is very, very important,” said Nader Naeymi-Rad, founder and publisher of Beauty Independent. “...For many, retailers are, especially now, that key accelerant to get them to the next level. D2C [direct-to-consumer] is great but it ca...
Beauty Independent •

Leveraging Manuka Oil’s Therapeutic Benefits For Skincare, New Zealand's ManukaRx Plots US Expansion

“We want to grow steadily, but we have big goals further down the line,” says Rebecca Anne Hunter, marketing director for ManukaRx. “The next three years will be about getting the brand to a place turning over NZ$6 or NZ$7 million [roughly $3.7 million to $4.3 million at the current exchange rate]. After that, we’ve got really good foundations in place, and that’s when we think a lot can happen.” In fiscal year 2022, the brand hit about $1.2 million in sales.
ManukaRx offers a range of natural p...
Beauty Independent •

Dermatologist-Founded Dr Sam's Eyes Retail Expansion As Part Of A 3-Year Plan To Reach $25M In Sales

Established in 2018, dermatologist Sam Bunting started Dr Sam’s with a single cleanser as an offshoot to her skincare clinic on London’s Harley Street. Today, its compact product range is designed to bridge the gap between traditional dermatology and beauty, targeting overall skin health, ageing and acne. Available online on Dr Sam’s website, the range includes Flawless Cleanser, Flawless Moisturizer, Flawless Daily Sunscreen SPF 50, Flawless Brightly Serum and Flawless Neutralising Gel, and fea...
cosmeticsdesign-europe.com •

FaceGym founder: ‘We have to give women and men permission to age’

Founded in 2014, FaceGym offered a selection of skin care products and tools alongside its network of 13 global studio locations offering unique face workouts to train, condition and strengthen facial muscles. Working alongside professionals, in the studio or online, consumers had access to signature face workouts based on a variety of exercise techniques.Inge Theron, founder and creative director of FaceGym, said the goal had always been to inspire skin confidence via an effective alternative t...
cosmeticsdesign-europe.com •

Unilever files patent on vitamin C + mineral topical for ‘energising glow’

Writing in its international patent​, Unilever said the leave-on composition combined vitamin C in sodium ascorbyl phosphate form with a mineral extract made from olivine that worked synergistically to improve skin tone, skin brightness and mask visible signs of ageing like wrinkles. The formula could be manufactured into a liquid, lotion, cream, foam or stick form but was ideally offered as a serum or essence, the company said.“The present invention relates to a topical composition that provide...
cosmeticsdesign-europe.com •

The emergence of Industry 5.0: Beauty set to take a ‘sharp turn’

Tech advances made in recent years across the beauty and personal care space had been phenomenal, from the widespread uptake of virtual try-on technologies and smart in-store scanning tools at consumer level to broad use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning in product development phases and production. But as wellbeing and societal concerns were now centre stage, how exactly could tech play into this? And what sort of innovations were on the horizon for beauty as it committed its...

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

Albert Einstein