All cosmetic product developers and marketers constantly ask: What’ new? The interesting thing is when a new technology is presented, marketers often scratch their head- it’s cool, but how do I position it, how do I sell it? Then, it is the product developers job to help linking the consumer use benefits to the product so the new technology indeed adds value to the daily beauty routine, not just a novelty. It is no different than using your smart phone to text, email, face-booking, tweeting and taking photos/videos besides its primary intended use- to call!
Below is a list of some new technologies available and if you are interested to find out the details to use these for your brand, let’s talk!
1) DreamHair Powder Technology: This is a novel hair powder with natural colorants from clay. It does not absorb moisture overtime and will not bleed. It attaches to hair, not to the skin so there’s no mess. The material is made in USA with seven different shades. It gives very natural hair coverage for bald spots. It also adds a natural fill to your eye brows in addition to lengthening and volumizing your lashes.
2) Raspberry Ketone Glucoside: This ingredient has received buzzes in the world of dieting thanks to Dr. Oz. In beauty, this material actually is 3 x better than Arbutin and also works as an anti-inflammatory and moisturization agent. For brands focusing in skin whiting, this is a new kid on the block! Best yet, it is China approved!
3) Powder to Cream Technology: This is a patented delivery technology where you can incorporate any actives you like for claims. It is a powder but upon application, it turns into a cream. It is superb in skin, color, hair, fragrance application. The most awesome prototype I have seen is actually a lip powder where it’s like the Jello Powder which turns buttery upon application.
4) Clear Stick Technology: Yes, there are clear sticks on the market but there are not too many clear systems that can withstand heat/sweating issues. This clear stick can also be used for inner core two phase system to deliver dual skin benefits or in color, can be used for ombre look in lip/face application.
5) Natural Shine Technology: In science, refractive index is a measure of shine. Recent advances and discoveries actually found natural ingredients have higher refractive index higher than silicone. This opens up a new dimension for hair and body care for the glow that’s natural and healthy.
6) Steam Cream Technology: This is an emulsifiers free emulsion made with a shot of steam and proprietary process to make it stable so the active ingredients are intact in the system without any potential degradation. Just like there are baked color cosmetics, the Steam Skin care products are coming to play.
7) Texture Mapping: All marketers know product “texture” is the key to grab consumers attention. How the product look and feel dictate on whether you will get the consumers “addicted” to use daily, sometimes twice daily. In the past, cosmetic chemists try to reverse engineer a benchmark by using the same set of ingredient lists but with the new advances in sensory science, it is now possible to achieve similar texture with a different technology for some differentiation. This also allows some creativity for chemists to perhaps enhance the already best-selling product texture.
Working in beauty is full of excitement because there are so many cool things to play. Often times marketers are troubled by “finding the hole” on the calendar when they find a new technology. The truth is for risk-takers, the first to market ones are often the ones who succeed as people remember that you are the pioneer in technological advances.
Ginger King is a cosmetic chemist and a consultant in product development and marketing. Ginger has developed over 1000+ products during her close to 20 years of industry experience. For further information, you can contact her at ginger@gracekingdombeauty.com