Uncovering clean beauty solutions with industry experts via biotech, green chemistry and digital services

30 Sep 2022 --- As the clean beauty market proliferates, PersonalCareInsights speaks with industry experts from BASF, Clariant, Evolva and Givaudan, who give insight into the use of biotechnology and green chemistry, including details regarding the consumer demand for multi-use and minimalist products as well as regulations and the future outlook. 

BASF details that the effects of so-called clean beauty contribute strongly to the ideas of natural and sustainable personal care products.

“Consumers tend to no longer make a strong distinction between sustainable and ‘clean’ ingredients,” says Olga Hog, manager of media relations and site reputation at BASF.

According to Evolva, relying on clean and nature-based processes, biotechnology and the associated so-called biobased ingredients align with today’s consumer demand for pure, safe and sustainable ingredients.

“In addition, considering that today’s consumers believe that technological innovations will offer new opportunities within the beauty as well as the health and wellness markets, biobased ingredients made from advanced biotech processes are also meeting growing consumers’ trust in technology,” says Géraldine Blanc, head of marketing at Evolva.

Biotechnology: Fermentation and bacteria
Givaudan underscores that biotechnology enables a switch from petrochemical origin or non-sustainable natural origin ingredients to more sustainable and natural origin ingredients.

BASF notes that in recent years, the focus of discussion on clean beauty has shifted from “free-from” labels to sustainable design alternatives. “Instead of using carbon from fossil origins, or exploiting natural resources which are rare and take decades to grow and develop, biotechnology can use natural resources available abundantly,” highlights Mathias Fleury, head of the actives category at Givaudan.

“These resources can be transformed into any ingredients, through the action of living organisms like bacteria with the fermentation process, for instance.”

Lowering use of raw resources
Clariant details that biotechnologies allow for manufacturing beauty ingredients and products by reducing the number of raw resources required to produce them. 

“For example, the use of plant stem cells makes it possible to produce active molecules in large quantities with only a few cells at the beginning of the process. Biotechnologies also give access to rare molecules while preserving natural resources,” says Amandine Werle, marketing specialist at Clariant.

BASF asserts that the field of biotechnology is constantly growing. “Biotechnologically produced ingredients will gain importance in many areas in the future, including the clean beauty sector,” says Hog. 

“While biotechnology is one key emerging innovation, there are other factors to consider when developing sustainable beauty products. In addition to the performance of a product, the focus is always on the social and environmental impacts, regardless of whether a product is naturally sourced, synthetic or biotechnologically produced.” 

A case of white biotech
Active within the white biotech space, Evolva applies technology and science to produce a variety of high-performing functional ingredients.

Clariant details that biotechnologies allow for manufacturing beauty ingredients and products by reducing the number of raw resources required to produce them.“For example, Veri-te resveratrol, a generation of trans-resveratrol made from precision fermentation, is available as an ingredient for the cosmetic (Veri-te Cosmetic), as well as for the industries food supplements (Veri-te Nutra),” says Blanc. 

Veri-te resveratrol is free from harmful additives and solvents, hydrocarbons and contaminants found in other resveratrol sources, such as emodin and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Using renewable feedstock as starting material has a low environmental footprint. 

“These strong arguments make Veri-te biobased resveratrol a key ingredient for a clean beauty space that is becoming multigenerational.”

Green chemistry: A new standard?
Green chemistry is another way of producing molecules while reducing water and energy consumption and lowering the environmental impact of chemicals, Werle explains.

“As water and energy are becoming sensitive resources that need to be used smartly, green chemistry will become a new standard to produce ingredients for the beauty industry in the future.”

“However, as new technologies are used to make green chemistry processes, the consequence impacts the price of clean beauty products that can be more expensive than those obtained by standard chemistry. Therefore, for green chemistry to become the future of beauty, efforts will have to be done to optimize the processes and associated costs,” Werle continues.

“In the green fractionation, we have the solution to use alternative solvents that have less impact on the environment (like water subcritical or carbon dioxide extraction),” says Melanie Duprat, category manager and sustainability representative at Givaudan.

Fleury adds that “most of the processes we use nowadays strictly follow the rules for Green Chemistry (12 principles shared by the whole industry), to produce ingredients most respectfully and sustainably.”

Packaging reduction and digital services
Regarding other clean beauty solutions, Duprat says that Givaudan has seen “the reduction of packaging and big sizes (refill formats) and the rise of waterless products.”

“The primary purpose is to reduce the impact, mainly well-being. The other thing is all the upcycling products, under the concept of circular beauty, instead of linear consumption of beauty.”

Active within the white biotech space, Evolva applies technology and science to produce a variety of high-performing functional ingredients.BASF notes that in recent years, the focus of discussion on clean beauty has shifted from “free-from” labels to sustainable design alternatives. 

“There is also an increasing use of digital services that enable consumers to screen cosmetics labels and to learn ingredients safeness for their purchase decisions,” says Hog. “Environmental sustainability benefits such as naturality, vegan and ethical claims play an increasingly important role in influencing consumers’ choices on top of the scientifically proven skin benefits.”

BASF shares that it recently launched Emollient Maestro, a digital service based on scientific prediction modeling allowing formulators to accelerate prototypes aimed at solutions with clear sustainability benefits.

Multiuse and minimalist
Clean beauty is merging with other trends such as minimalism and multi-use, notes Clariant.

“Minimalism consists in using a limited number of products for beauty routines to reduce our impact on the planet. It can also correspond to the use of beauty products with a limited number of ingredients inside them, for the same reason to limit our impact on the planet by using fewer resources,” Werle explains.

“However, as consumers are also looking for efficacy, linked to the minimalist trend, the multi-use became trendy, with beauty products that simultaneously answer multiple beauty needs such as moisturizing, protecting and anti-aging.”

Plant-based ingredients and tech
According to BASF, concern over biodegradation and microplastics in Europe has triggered a high demand for biopolymers to replace more traditional synthetic polymers.

“In 2022, we launched a new line of biopolymers under Verdessence. All the products are 100% derived from natural, renewable feedstocks, readily biodegradable according to method OECD 301 and non-GMO sourced and processed. The launch of Verdessence biopolymers continues BASF’s aim of sustainable beauty innovations,” explains Hog. 

Within clean beauty, Givaudan has observed a reduction in packaging and waterless products.Regarding emerging ingredients within plant-based beauty NPD, Werle at Clariant says, “galactinol advanced is made from biocatalysis, an environmental-friendly process based on white biotechnology that allows producing compounds from agricultural byproducts and avoids the use of toxic reagents and solvents. Bioinspired by resurrection plants, it boosts skin resilience to better resist climate change’s effects.”

Challenges: Authenticity and bio-alternatives
According to Clariant, clean beauty has become a strong trend, leading to economic impacts for manufacturing companies. The risk is “greenwashing,” saying everything a company does is clean and environmentally sustainable without proving it. 

“To justify claims on clean beauty, the main point is to be transparent and ensure the sourcing and processes traceability. To do so, the industry is setting controls at every step of the manufacturing process and is looking forward to markers that will emphasize the naturality of an ingredient or a product,” says Werle.

Looking at the clean beauty movement in Europe, the challenge remains to offer natural and biodegradable alternatives to synthetic ingredients without compromising on the performance consumers have come to depend on, details BASF.

“The concept of clean beauty will continue to grow and we continue to strive to be market leaders for environmentally sustainable chemistry in the personal care sector,” says Hog.

“To support customers and thus consumers in sharpening their ideals of a personal care product, a mere list of ingredients is no longer sufficient. With our digital tools found in our D’lite online platform, including Ingredient Finder and Emollient Maestro, we offer our customers increasing transparency and support for joint forward-looking development.”

Regulations motivate
Regulatory bodies, particularly in Europe, have been influenced positively by consumers’ desire for transparency and responsibility toward the environment, explains Hog from BASF.

“The search for natural alternatives to traditional ingredients has a high priority. Customers do not want to make any losses in sensory feeling and performance. We believe the concept of clean beauty will evolve into an even more inclusive understanding of many fundamentals consumers perceive to be important for living safely and sustainably,” she says. 

“In the future, additional sustainability components such as carbon footprint, naturality and sustainable sourcing, for example, will become fundamentals to the concept and a stronger reliance on scientific support.”

By Nicole Kerr