From Ansa.it
Neurocosmetics, skincare now focuses on “feeling good”
The macro-trend at Cosmoprof, more than anti-ageing, people are looking for longevity and health in creams
We no longer speak of anti-ageing cream, which fights ageing, but of longevity cream that improves the appearance of skin that inexorably matures (unless we resort to cosmetic surgery but that is another story), we no longer seek the perfect body but the healthy body in the real world while on the digital world, of social networks, filters of all kinds bounce around about us.
Everything is talked about, everything is integrated and therefore the ingredients, the actives that are sought must go in this dual internal-external direction.
It is the aspirational era of wellbeing, of feeling good before any other achievement, and cosmetics too are adapting. The main point of observation for the entire sector on an international level, from cosmetics to aesthetics, from nails to machinery, from hair to formulation and even packaging proposals, is Cosmoprof, the trade fair that is a format of Italian excellence in the world that closed its 55th edition on 24 March at the Bologna Exhibition Centre with 69 countries present and an uninterrupted flow of professional visitors. And it highlighted this macro-trend as well as many other novelties presented in previews that ANSA was able to see.
The change is taking place to the point of calling it a new “neurocosmetic” market into which psychodermatology is also entering. The aim is to stop oxidative stress in the skin, but also the emotional stress that hurts us, and on the packaging of creams and serums it says “calm and protect”, “sleep well” “replenish and boost” almost like pharmacy supplements. The creams also measure their effectiveness in application: it is not just a matter of texture but of relaxing gymnastics in use and that too contributes to the de-stress objective. Restoring the microbiome, the flora of good bacteria, is also a task of new skin care formulations such as those with patented dermoscosmetics by Jonzac, the Latvian Gmt with blue lotus, and the Apulian excellence N & B, whose self-regenerating cream, a slow ageing treatment, was awarded a prize on 22 March.
Sustainability is a market demand of a demanding and aware consumer, but also a production necessity to remain at the forefront in a sector that is increasingly green globally. This also brings to the forefront Italian companies that are recognised the world over, both for being in business and therefore known to all, and for being, as they say in the jargon, subcontractors, i.e. they carry out the entire process for others who then affix their brand name (this is why some names are not familiar to us, but are very famous in the sector) or sell only on their e-commerce: B-certified companies that think about sourcing ingredients in their own regenerative agriculture cultivation, pioneering companies in the world such as the Parma-based Davines chaired by Davide Bollati that has an agri-voltaic project of industrial plant engineering “that we want to put forward for approval as a Fai good” and such as the Salento-based Natural is better of Domenico Scordari, the aloe guru, also here in a regenerative agriculture field and with a territory including luxury resorts. Also in the Cosmetica Italia umbrella is the Bari-based Pdt Physio Natura of professional natural beauty treatments, and then again the Bergamo-based Albogroup, which has turned sharply towards solid soap, presenting at Bologna Solid.O an entire range with 93% natural ingredients, from make-up remover to intimate hygiene to shaving foam.
Denmark’s LastObject took home three Oscars with its sustainable inventions: a kind of cotton bud that can be washed indefinitely, cleaning pads made of natural materials that remove make-up and even nail polish with water and are reusable, and micellar water that can be made at home by combining powder with plain drinking water.
The sun care macro-trend has also exploded, much more than sun cream. The protection factor is everywhere, with real treatments to be applied 15 days before exposure and continued from the 16th day to limit spots and even out the tan (such as the winning Revital summer longevity by Rhea of Lombardy). At Lepo, 50+ is in the niacinamide and rice starch Bb cream with sea-friendly filters, or in the make-up that is also beauty care by the South Korean Elroel, directed by the famous make-up artist Yanghee Yoo, one of the most innovative of K-beauty, beauty made in Korea, thanks to products that are always special and act as a beacon (at Cosmoprof, it also presented its debut in skin care with a line with marine collagen and hyaluronic acid and another with niacinamide in trend with the glass skin, i.e. hydrated, transparent, almost shiny skin) and plans to land in Italy after an event at Milan Fashion Week.
Textile cosmetics, on the wave of Asian fabric masks imbued with active ingredients, is not limited to the face. The Bergamo-based B-Selfie entered among the trendy innovations at Cosmotrend with a black jumpsuit that is worn at night as a containment for a cream based on allantoin, a soya extract, capable of mimicking an endurance workout, defining the body while sleeping and toning cellular fibres.
Author: Alessandra Magliaro