By Melissa Hago, VP of Beauty & Wellness, Fashion Snoops
and Mallory Huron, Beauty Strategist, Fashion Snoops
As clean beauty has swept the market we see the evolution of the natural beauty movement, shifting from earth-based products to take a more scientific approach. While natural ingredients have been trending for years, brands and consumers alike are increasingly recognizing that taking from the environment isn’t always the most sustainable solution, resulting in a wave of lab-based biotech advancements that generate better solutions for our skin and the Earth.
Biotech is working to bring together the best of scientific innovation with natural ingredients and allow brands to innovate without damaging or taking from the environment, literally merging the words “biology” and “technology” to encompass an industry of packaging, formulation, and technology innovations that merge nature and science. As society grapples with the mounting climate crisis, lab-driven solutions like plant-based cell cultures revolutionize beauty and wellness. Biotech has the potential to not only ramp up production capabilities, but also create experimental new techniques like novel extraction and 3D printing. Brands like Tiny Associates are working to expand consumer awareness and industry adoption of biotech solutions, with a skincare range that uses biotechnologically made, nature-identical molecules that spare resources that are safer and more potent than nature-derived equivalents.
We’re seeing the rise of biotechnology because consumers are increasingly demanding products that combine the best of plant-based ingredients with synthetic alternatives and chemical innovation. Biotech ingredients help to safeguard nature through lab-based innovation, with options like synthetic palm-oil alternatives and plant-based squalene. Biossance, for example, uses plant-based squalene instead of shark-derived squalane to protect ocean biodiversity, while skincare brand Seaspire Skincare centers itself around a mantra of “inspired by nature, backed by science,” that is inspired by marine biodiversity through a new class of safe, biotech compounds. These labs grown compounds are paving the way for plant and animal ingredient alternatives that not only spare precious resources and conserve biodiversity, but also generate solutions at a faster and more efficient rate than other sourcing methods.
Italian-based brand Comfort Zone & Davines is leading by example with their approach to sustainable immersion and product development through their revolutionary, sustainable Davines campus that allows for real-time experimentation with sustainable plants. Technology also helps to bridge the gap between humanity and nature, finding time-saving solutions that benefit the consumer and the Earth alike. Companies like Elavo Mundi Solutions are helping innovative brands create clean and sustainable beauty, with clear solutions that increase consumer confidence in clean beauty claims, while we also see The Good Face Project helps brands design transparent, sustainable, and compliant beauty products based on the best science and real-time regulatory resources available, powered by AI and data science. Companies like Elavo Mundi Solutions and The Good Face Project are key to widening the adoption of biotech solutions within the beauty industry, as they’re helping brands demystify this new area of innovation.
Ultimately, this dynamic area of innovation has great potential for beauty, consumers, and the environment, and we expect to see more brands experiment with and embrace its possibilities. That said, several barriers still exist, including demystifying what biotech entails to consumers, and fighting the consumer perception that natural or nature sourced is always best. We anticipate that education, transparency, and consumer engagement will be key factors in ensuring the staying power of the biotech revolution.
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For more information on this movement, please visit fashionsnoops.com or email Melissa Hago at mhago@fashionsnoops.com.
ABOUT FASHION SNOOPS
Fashion Snoops Inc. is a global trend forecasting agency, servicing brands, retailers, and manufacturers in fashion, accessories, home decor, beauty, media, marketing and other consumer facing industries, empowering them to act on future trends. For 20 years, Fashion Snoops has researched macro trends and cultural shifts with the help of 150 editors and global contributors. We provide clear understandings of the importance of trends, informing actual product direction from start to finish. Our transparency in trend forecasting allows you full visibility into our conclusion making process with our analysis of nine key creative markets. For more information, visit fashionsnoops.com
Categorized in: Trends/Insights