Record international presence at Beyond Beauty Paris

Visitor numbers were up 18 per cent as 19,565 beauty professionals passed through the trade show doors from 1 to 4 October at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Convention and Exhibition Centre. At the fifth annual Beyond Beauty show, 700 exhibitors at the Ingredients, Creative and SPA & Institut sections presented their latest innovations to an increasingly international audience. The number of visitors from abroad increased 22 per cent compared to 2006 with 36 per cent of attendees coming from outside France. In particular, the event organisers observed a two-fold increase in visitors from the all important markets of North and South America. Contributing to this increase was the presence of Brazil among the five new countries to present its cosmetics industry highlights from a foreign pavilion. The Brazilian Toiletry, Perfumery and Cosmetics Association (Abihpec) made its first appearance at Beyond Beauty showcasing the work of nine Brazil-based companies. Not only has Brazil's sales volume doubled over the last three years, taking total beauty exports to $294 in 2006, but the country is now the third largest cosmetics consumer market in the world, according to Abiphpec. Along with exhibitors from around the world Beyond Beauty pulled in buyers from major companies such as L'Oreal, LVMH and Estee Lauder, who were able to take advantage of the Cosmeeting buying centre at the show. The show also boasted a wide ranging conferencing programme covering major trends, with 72 talks split into seven categories including Food and Beauty and Cosm'Ethics. One of the highlights for the conference attendees was the announcement of the launch of the Union for Ethical Biotrade, which aims to bring together private companies, NGOs and other interested organisations to work towards protecting the world's natural biodiversity​. Rodolphe Balz the president of Cosmobio, the French professional association for natural and organic cosmetics, also gave a talk explaining the moves being made towards European regulatory harmonization. He told attendees that the specifications for a European wide system would be released in June 2008. Nurturing future innovations was the Beauty Challenger Awards, which rewarded innovative and creative niche brands with prizes going to YesforLov, Juliette has a Gun, Erborian and Officina. Another noteworthy feature of the show was the Beyond Beauty Lab, which allowed cosmetic professionals to discuss future innovations. Time and beauty was the theme for this year's trade show. Next year's Beyond Beauty Paris will be held on 5 to 8 October, but in the meantime Beyond Beauty Paris and Organic Monitor are putting on the Natural Beauty Summit on 29 November to 1 December. It is a three day conference on natural cosmetics and sustainable development covering areas such as formulation, marketing, regulation and sector investments.