Cosmet’Agora 2022: Happy Cosmetics as a post-COVID perspective

Nomadic, regressive, fun to use, melting, solid, anhydrous, yet often daring, the formulas presented at Cosmet’Agora, on January 11th and 12th in Paris, tried their best to combine ecology and ethics with sensoriality and pleasure, without which there would be no cosmetic industry.

On-the-go formulas, reflecting a strong desire for escapism

For stress-free travels and light luggage, many single-dose formats, with different technologies, were on display.

In the form of multicoloured beads, IMCD’s Hand Cream to Share (NOI of 99.2% [1]) combines 40% water with a duo of waxes (sunflower for the shape and candelilla for the sensoriality), in a W/O emulsion.

At Gattefossé, the combination of Geleol MB and Emulium Kappa MB allows obtaining the black pebbles of Magma Mask (NOI of 98%). Mixed in the palm of the hand with either the Everything Balm or warm water, each pebble delivers the desired amount of product. Another remarkable formula in the Escapism collection is the Slide n’Foam (NOI of 92%), a cube offering a new face cleansing gesture. Unlike soap, it can be applied directly to dry skin, to start melting just enough thanks to Lipocire A SG. Activated with water, the film turns into a foam, boosted by Acticire MB, before being rinsed off.

DIY fans will be able to travel from home thanks to the ritual proposed by Lavolée: "5 days, 5 Pearls of the World". The products (100% natural and water-dispersible), after being crushed in a mortar will deliver a moisturising face and body cream. Each day/pearl is associated with a colour and an active ingredient coming from a different continent, represented by a dream beach. After the Zanzibar pearls, the Venice Beach pearls, the Maya Bay pearls and the Palombaggia pearls, the Copacabana pearl will surprise its user with a two-step ritual. After opening it in two, the user will collect a face and body scrub before preparing his or her skin moisturiser.

For trips to sunny destinations, Stéarinerie Dubois has concocted Smile Protect, a solid SPF30 O/W sun emulsion (in vitro measured). The association of the self-emulsifying base DUB Base Expert + and the waxy ester DUB Cire H1 adds smoothness and comfort to the application, while the dispersing base DUB Helioptima allows reducing the number of UV filters, without compromising on the SPF.

Regressive cosmetics, delicacies and children’s games

Some exhibitors invited their visitors to take a trip back to childhood, such as Azelis, whose Wonderland Paris formula kit celebrated the 30th anniversary of Disneyland Paris. The ultra-melting and fresh Lie l’eau et Stick eye serum is not stearate-based but formulated without soap, thanks to a combination of three hydrocolloids: A carrageenan (Genugel CG-130) and a gellan gum with a low degree of acylation (Kelcogel CG-LA) help to ensure the staying power and transparency, as well as the suspension of flakes, while a lambda grade of carrageenan (Genuvisvo CG 129) delivers the necessary smoothness for application. The Reine des Perles hand cream combines two gellan gums (Kelcogel CG-LA and CG-LA) in a soft and melting solid foam texture. Each pearl includes antibacterial and nourishing agents to meet today’s market expectations.

Back to childhood games again with Anjac, whose modelling pastes (NOI of 99%) offer a double transformation texture. Each modelling gum will serve for 2 or 3 uses: Mixed with water, it forms an exfoliating cream with an adjustable consistency.

And for an indulgent scrub, Lessonia’s Choco Soap bar combines the richness and softness of cocoa butter and powder with the exfoliating properties of coffee grounds. This exfoliating soap (100% of natural origin) for the hands, body and face, proposed in single-dose packages, can be easily slipped in a handbag.

In its solid emulsion Rise and Shine Eye Lotion (NOI of 100%) in the form of a coffee bean, Hallstar combines coffee oil and butter with LOOK Oleoactif and LIFT Oleoactif for global action on the eye contour.

On the side of delicacies, candies have given rise to many interpretations. This is the case with Daito Kasei’s Candies Day Cream, to rehydrate before application, with each colour corresponding to a care routine to select according to the mood of the day. Cargill’s Solid Cleansing Jellies, formulated with carrageenans, can also be chosen according to one’s early morning mood, and envelop the skin with a sweet gourmand fragrance, even after rinsing.

Taking the concept to the extreme, Greentech created Mask’ambar CBD, a bar with an ultra-regressive chocolate-caramel scent. Once rehydrated and applied as a mask, it only takes a fun gesture to remove the formula after spraying the peel-off solution. Each bar contains soothing CBD Isolate 1 and Circalys 2, which are believed to work on the brain-skin axis to reduce signs of fatigue and negative emotions.

Without water, cosmetics are wilder

Beyond solid formulas, many of the innovations presented offered (more or less) new perspectives regarding water preservation. For example, PolymerExpert presented Heureux Événement, a skincare product (99.5% of natural origin) containing three preservative-free oil jellies packed in a single bottle. This care softens and moisturises the skin of expectant mothers during the last two trimesters of their pregnancy, and restores skin suppleness in the first months after childbirth.

Solabia has also looked into different ways of reducing water consumption in cosmetic formulas: Solid formulas, no-rinse products, or simply by replacing demineralised water with vegetable water with a cosmetic benefit. Its Waterless Beauty Box for instance contains a shower gel in tablet form, a body butter, a restructuring stick for the face, a handmade solid shampoo, but also a two-phase hair care product (95% natural ingredients) with cascara extracts (Oleat Osun Cascara and Cascara Water) rich in polyphenols, in which cascara water replaces part of the demineralised water to increase the cosmetic benefit.

Along the same lines, Quimdis offers Pow’deo, a powder deodorant to dilute in a reusable roll-on pack. The minimalist formula (only 10 ingredients, 96% of which are of natural origin) combines starch powders with bicarbonate and an active ingredient derived from zinc to regulate the skin pH and ensure sweat absorption.

Another formula to rehydrate is Osmosand by Lucas Meyer, a hair care product in powder form to rehydrate before rinsing it off after application. Ecogel, an emulsifying-gelling agent binds the texture and adds creaminess. To make the most of water in its formula, the Osmomist milky mist, another innovation in the Osmosys collection, is formulated with Hamamelis water, stabilised with Heliofeel 22 MB.

Making it very easy to apply, Saci-CFPA’s Milky Sand Radiant Body Serum can be applied directly on the skin after showering, which means it does not need to be rehydrated. On contact with damp skin, this 100% natural powder is activated in a moisturising and illuminating serum for a healthy glow. A formula which received the 1st prize in the formulation contest organised, as every year, on the occasion of the show.