CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com’s Top 5 stories of 2011

Skin care and sun care were both key areas this year, particularly for CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com as we launched the industry’s first ever virtual event, SkinCareIngredients2011. As we gear towards the next one in 2012, it seems some of the key issues such as nanotechnology and sun care will be explored further by the industry.

And the nominees are…​

As for 2011, one of our biggest hitting stories was at the start of the summer when French parliament backed a ban on the use of phthalate chemicals used in plastics and paraben preservatives​ in cosmetic manufacturing.

The French National Assembly claimed the vote to ban phthalate chemicals was based on their endocrine disrupting properties, and faced opposition by President Sarkozy’s UMP and the government, with a final decision expected in 2012.

At the start of the year, skin care giant Beiersdorf launched its Pearlfinder Initiative, and CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com spoke to the head of R&D at Beiersdorf​, Klaus-Peter Witteran to discuss the open innovation platform which aimed to drive growth by capturing new ideas from external players.

Around the same time, France’s health authority (Afsapps) had been busy, warning consumers and hairdressers against the use of hair straightening treatments that contain high levels of formaldehyde​, and removed a number of products from the market.

Hot topics​

Formaldehyde continued to be a hot topic throughout 2011, following investigations undertaken by authorities in Canada, North America and Ireland, regarding similar products that are claimed to contain free formaldehyde at levels higher than the current regulation allows.

The next entry is a novel nutricosmetic in the form of a candy introduced to the European market which claims to incorporate body fragrance, thanks to rose oil components contained in the confectionery being emitted from the skin.

The story picked up a lot of attention due to its novel idea, and we spoke exclusively with Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics (PLA) director​ to discuss this product and others like it.

And what top 5 round up would be complete without a look at sustainability. Sustainable beauty was the theme of 2011’s in-focus event at the in-cosmetics trade show held in Milan this year, and we put together a photo gallery of the show’s in-focus event​.

Almost made it​

Other top stories of the year, that didn’t quite make the list included Sephora brand Make Up For Ever launching the first advert that had not been digitally retouched​, growing speculation over a Reckitt Benckiser buy appearing to rest on anti-trust laws​, as well as scientists in the US identifying fatty skin cells as a reason for baldness​.

Completing the top ten was a story from Symrise claiming to have launched a child-safe skin care ingredient​ and finally, a study from Spain that found that emotion drives cosmetic purchases over the utility of the product​.