Future-forward launches: Biotech deodorant, next-gen collagen and metaverse retail

29 Mar 2023 --- Beauty sector developments this week saw the entry of new biotech-enabled deodorant formulation, next-generation collagen ingredient advancements and a shift toward metaverse retail for heightened consumer engagement.

PersonalCareInsights explores these latest future-forward launches across skincare and personal care, which are reflective of larger exponential shifts taking place across the industry landscape.

Photorealistic immersive virtual retail
Clinique has revealed its new digital online retail concept, The Clinique Lab, where consumers can discover, interact, play, learn and shop. The brand aims to redefine traditional online experiences, aligning with an emergent trend among established beauty players boosting consumer engagement through the metaverse.

The Estée Lauder Group-owned skincare brand created an advanced virtual storefront infrastructure sporting a photorealistic 3D environment. The digital shopping experience was built by Journee to create a “live rendered, gamified mass-multiplayer 3D with the power of e-commerce.”

The Clinique Lab has been unveiled as the latest consumer online retail experience in the beauty metaverse.“Inspiration for The Clinique Lab stemmed from the success of our newly renovated brick-and-mortar retail Labs in Shenzhen and New York City, which fuses personalized diagnostics with immersive shopping. The Clinique Lab serves as a digitalized expansion to retail marketing,” says Michelle Freyre, global brand president at Clinique and Origins.

“The launch of our online retail concept now provides customized skincare solutions attainable to consumers globally. The digital Clinique Lab integrates best-in-class consumer experiences with accessible retail.”

The Lab showcases brand, product and ingredient stories. Users can create a custom avatar and explore the world through six unique gamified environments, including product storytelling, personalized engagement with Clinique Consultants, sales offers and immersive on-site shopping.

In line with this launch, Clinique is spotlighting its top performer, Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator and the new “Protect Your Glow” campaign. The concept reveals how Moisture Surge 100H helps skin rebound from daily dehydrators, such as pollution, blue light and extreme weather. 

The Protect Your Glow campaign is brought to life within the digital Clinique Lab via interactive elements and explorative storytelling. Users can research product ingredients, formulation, benefits and application techniques, all on their phone, tablet or computer.

This is not Clinique’s first venture into the metaverse. In its campaign last June, called “Metaverse Like Us,” the brand collaborated with three artists – Tess Daly, Sheika Daley, and Emira D’Spain – to create NFT makeup looks, which were offered to holders of NFT profile pictures (PFPs) from the Non-Fungible People avatar community.

Non-Fungible People consists of 8,888 PFP NFTs that are hyper realistic and portray women and non-binary individuals. Among them, 60% of the NFTs represent people of color, and 20% depict individuals who are facing challenges like hearing loss, mobility issues, Down Syndrome and Vitiligo skin condition.

Biologically masking odors
Meanwhile, Arcaea has released its first ingredient technology, ScentARC, designed to “biologically shift scent” in a natural and precise manner.

Available as a solution for deodorant brands to formulate with and incorporate into their own consumer offerings, ScentARC was developed through a biotech platform that leveraged machine learning, high throughput screening and skin microbiology research.

Arcaea has released its first ingredient technology, ScentARC, designed to “biologically shift scent” in a natural and precise manner in deodorant.ScentARC technology is designed to target specific underarm microbes. It shifts a user’s odor profile by selectively and naturally preventing the production of odorous compounds without antimicrobials or masking smells. 

In a third-party consumer panel, 87% of participants said the technology prevented bad smells from developing throughout the day. Moreover, 100% said they found the product to be gentle and non-irritating.

“Our mission is to make biology the most desired technology in beauty,” remarks Jasmina Aganovic, CEO of Arcaea.

“When it comes to the US$25 billion deodorant category, the underlying science relies on approaches developed in the 1800s: masking smells, killing odor or blocking and absorbing sweat. We saw a better solution through biology using technologies that didn’t exist until recently.”

Arcaea has already garnered sampling interest for this new active product from brands looking to partner on deodorant formulation.

“The value of the ScentARC technology is that it enables formulators to work outside the traditional toolset of approaches and ingredients. It allows for a product to be differentiated and addresses the evolution of consumer expectations around safety and efficacy,” says Jennifer Cookson, senior director of development of Arcaea.

“We had a tremendous response to our soft launch earlier this year,” adds Ro Oteri, chief commercial officer of Arcaea. “This is giving us an incredible amount of momentum going into our official launch at this year’s In-Cosmetics Global trade show.”

Arcaea is focusing its attention on inventing other new solutions that deliver new functionality and performance across skincare, bodycare, haircare and suncare.

Micro-molecular collagen
At the ongoing In-Cosmetics Global 2023 industry event in Barcelona, Spain, biotechnology company Cambrium has launched its first product, NovaColl. It is dubbed the first micro-molecular and 100% skin-identical collagen specifically designed for premium personal care formulations.

Cambrium has launched its first product, NovaColl, dubbed the first micro-molecular and 100% skin-identical collagen.Owing to its structure and small molecular size, NovaColl is designed for better absorption across skin layers. This new class of collagen active is vegan-certified and produced through Cambrium’s precision fermentation process, which the company calls sustainable.

NovaColl states its claims have been scientifically validated in third-party in vitro studies, which demonstrated a broad range of activities working to holistically protect, maintain and enhance native collagen.

Beyond bio-similarity, NovaColl is 100% skin-identical, offering previously inaccessible levels of biocompatibility for personal care applications.

To achieve this, Cambrium’s multi-disciplinary team of scientists and engineers searched through billions of protein sequences for skin-active features and indicators of efficacy. They identified NovaColl, a highly bioactive region of collagen I, as the most prevalent collagen type in our human skin.

Rather than extracting collagen from animals, Cambrium uses yeast cells to grow itstheir micro-molecular collagen in a cruelty-free and sustainable fermentation process, minimizing energy, land, and water use.

In other botanical innovation highlights featured at In-Cosmetics Global 2023, Clariant has unveiled four sustainable and natural cosmeceuticals scoured various geographical sources – from the Amazon forest to the Peruvian Andes.

Meanwhile, Nouryon is highlighting new sun care solutions formulated using its latest polymer solution, SolAmaze. This 100% bio-based film is water resistant and provides high-SPF emulsion in sunscreens.

By Benjamin Ferrer