Personal care players reinvent classic ingredients for modern beauty demands

Active ingredients in the personal care space are becoming more finetuned, personalized, and efficacious than ever before. With a revolving door of ingredient innovations, classic solutions are maintaining their foothold on beauty shelves by reinventing themselves, combining heritage with modernization.

Household staples such as hyaluronic acid, retinol, and vitamin C are experiencing a makeover as industry players identify and resolve ingredient weaknesses and amplify strong suits.

While consumers want the reliability and familiarity of a classic ingredient, they also seek high-performance actives that assure the same sustainability and ethical sourcing standards as competitive industry newcomers. Aiming to converge the best of both worlds, various companies are honing the classics to offer the trust of time with the elevation of evolution.

Personal Care Insights sits down with Provital, Univar Solutions, and Lucas Meyer Cosmetics to uncover which ingredients are piquing their interest, which ones they expect to see in future spotlights, and how they are reimagining the classics.

“Classic ingredients carry decades of consumer trust and a well-documented mode of action, which is precisely what makes them worth reinventing,” says Philippe Daigle, active ingredients portfolio manager at Lucas Meyer Cosmetics by Clariant.

Modern takes on classics

In modernizing classic ingredients, staying true to the essence of the active while reimagining secondary characteristics like sensoriality, sustainability, and functionality is a key consideration for formulators.

“Consumers are not moving away from familiar ingredients; they are reinterpreting them through the lens of science,” says Siham Bouhrir, global marketing manager at Provital, 

She tells us that the reinvention of classic personal care ingredients is being driven by two major forces: biomimicry and biotechnology.

Classic actives are being reformulated for modern beauty needs.

“Biomimicry allows us to reinterpret nature as an intelligent system that science can understand and emulate, while biotechnology provides the tools to reproduce, optimize, and stabilize actives in a more efficient, traceable, and sustainable way,” she says.

Bouhrir explains that traditional ingredients are “no longer static” and are undergoing an evolution to adapt to functional platforms. According to her, the value of an ingredient is defined by its ability to interact more precisely with skin biology.

According to Lucas Meyer’s Daigle, the reinvention of classic ingredients should preserve the efficacy consumers trust while adding value, such as performance, accessibility, or tolerability, that the original ingredient does not offer.

Daigle tells us that Lucas Meyer is navigating this balance by reinventing the production pathway of the molecule, rather than the molecule itself, unlocking a new performance profile while preserving the recognition consumers already have.

For hyaluronic acid, Lucas Meyer is tackling the all-star active’s pitfalls — such as its susceptibility to enzymatic degradation by hyaluronidase, poor skin penetration for high-molecular-weight fractions, and irritation risks at lower molecular weights — by creating a sulfated polysaccharide, AlgaSurge, inspired by the classic ingredient. Similarly, the ingredient manufacturer has developed a retinol alternative that is said to provide the classic ingredient’s efficacy without the associated irritation risks.

Univar’s Barba states that the classics can be optimized by advancing delivery systems, improving purity, and helping enhance compatibility with modern formulation trends. They are focusing on waterless formats, skin microbiome-friendly systems, and hybrid skin care–makeup products.

“For example, traditional emollients and waxes are being redesigned to provide lighter textures, help improve spreadability, and greater transparency, enabling their use in innovative formats such as clear sticks and high-performance lip applications,” says Barba.

“Similarly, conventional UV filters, humectants, and emulsifiers are being integrated with novel technologies to help enhance efficacy, stability, and sensory attributes while supporting continued regulatory compliance.”

Maintaining authenticity in innovation

Some classic ingredients are reinvented to align with clean beauty standards, such as natural sourcing and traceability. Simplicity that supports efficacy provides an upper hand in how the ingredients are perceived by consumers.

Provital’s Bouhrir observes that consumers demonstrate a “strong preference” for ingredients with heritage, simplicity, and a clear association with well-being. “Aloe vera, centella asiatica, calendula, green tea, and botanical butters remain highly relevant because they combine familiarity, perceived efficacy, and a strong natural narrative,” she says.

She underlines that these ingredients stand out in a competitive market due to their capacity to be scientifically reinterpreted.

Beauty brands are balancing heritage with scientific innovation.

“Today, authenticity is no longer defined solely by origin, but by the coherence between heritage, evidence, and transparency. Biomimicry strengthens this bridge by helping explain why these ingredients work, linking traditional knowledge to specific biological mechanisms such as skin barrier repair, microbiome modulation, or antioxidant response,” she says.

Barba echoes Bouhrir’s observation that plant oils, butters, and natural waxes perform well with modern consumers. She adds glycerin, vitamins, and mineral-based UV filters to the list, stating that they are valued for their familiarity, efficacy, and natural origin.

“Authenticity is maintained through responsible sourcing, traceability, and minimal processing, preserving their core identity. Innovation is introduced through refinement, such as improved purity, optimized forms, or advanced delivery systems. It’s all about helping enhance performance and sensoriality while remaining true to the ingredient’s origin,” says Barba.

Daigle highlights the regional perspective to the discussion on consumer preferences in heritage ingredients: “In China, traditional Chinese medicine ingredients remain a reference, while in African markets, argan and baobab oils carry strong recognition.” He states that, beyond the regional icons, hero ingredients like hyaluronic acid, retinol, and vitamin C “enjoy near-universal recognition.” 

Similar to Barba, Daigle tells us that authenticity in innovation relies on traceability and sustainability. He adds that science allows manufacturers to identify where innovation can elevate the ingredients without compromising identity by mapping their precise cellular and molecular mechanisms.

Reimagining classics ethically

Sustainability and ethical practices have become a prerequisite for the industry, necessitating that formulations assure transparency and traceability to remain competitive and align with consumer demands.

Bouhrir says that in mature markets, consumers actively review ingredient origin and environmental impact before purchasing, reinforcing the need for responsible and verifiable supply chains.

“Ensuring ethical sourcing requires full traceability, close collaboration with local communities, and active protection of biodiversity,” she says. “In addition, regenerative agriculture models, upcycling of by-products, and process optimization are gaining relevance as ways to reduce environmental impact while creating added value.”

She explains that biotechnology and biomimicry can also assist in ensuring sustainability as they enable the reproduction or optimization of certain compounds without relying exclusively on intensive natural extraction.

Where Provital focuses its sustainability efforts by providing regenerative alternatives via biotechnology and biomimicry, Lucas Meyer is following a route of structural designators, external quantifiers, and sustainability analyses to corroborate its eco-friendliness.

Daigle says: “We rely on life cycle analysis to quantify environmental impact across the value chain, and we work with the Union for Ethical BioTrade to ensure a 360-degree assessment of raw materials, from biodiversity impact to social equity. Nagoya Protocol compliance is systematically validated.”

Who keeps the spotlight?

Consumers are seeking trusted ingredients with stronger performance.

Provital’s Bouhrir believes that the future of classic ingredients will be rooted in scientific reinterpretation rather than discovery.

“Botanical ingredients associated with well-being, skin resilience, and longevity will continue to lead innovation, especially those with complex, multifunctional profiles. We are seeing strong growth in fermented ingredients, marine-derived actives, and adaptogenic plants, aligned with the convergence between beauty, well-being, and preventive health,” she says.

She states that the “real paradigm shift” will emerge from the marriage of biomimicry and consumer awareness, stating that market growth will be reliant on the industry’s ability to translate science into “accessible and meaningful communication.”

According to Univar’s Barba, classic ingredient categories, such as emollients, botanical extracts, vitamins, and biopolymers, remain highly promising, especially when enhanced through advances in green chemistry, biotechnology, and optimized processing techniques.

Daigle sees potential in the reimagining of hyaluronic acid and retinol. Additionally, he states that ingredients with strong, consumer-validated efficacy and high recognition, such as Botox or vitamin C, are the most promising for future innovations.

He also highlights peptides as a broad ingredient class with both natural and green-synthesis production routes. “They offer enormous room for innovation. We expect peptides to be a major area of focus in the coming years,” he concludes.