Valerie George, Simply Formulas12.01.23
Dear Valerie: Are there any ingredients or ingredient trends we chemists need to be on the lookout for as we head into the new year?
—Crystal Ball
Dear Crystal:
I’m never sure how trends are decided—when Pantone says Rooibos Tea is the color of the year—is that because consumer trends are pushing colors in that direction, or do we simply beeline for anything Rooibos tea colored because Pantone says so? I’m not sure these ingredients will be trending, but I think they’re worth noting.
Glycolipids: Or rhamnolipids or sophorolipids—whichever you want to call them. In the January 2023 issue of Happi magazine, Bio Bob asked what I thought about biosurfactants. This past year, we’ve seen launches from several players in this space—Evonik, BioRenuva and Dow to name a few. If you haven’t had a chance to play with them for skin or hair, you should order some samples to experiment with. While not true replacements for conventional surfactants, they are extremely gentle, generally non-irritating and have microbiome-balancing data associated with them. They’ll continue to have a presence in 2024, whether it be through new suppliers getting into the space, or new data presented by existing suppliers to demonstrate the value glycolipids have.
Mineral-based Ingredients: The days of using plain old vitamins in your formulations, such as C, D, E, B3, B5, A aren’t over yet, but we will start to brands advertising minerals. While you don’t necessarily want divalent ions like magnesium, calcium or zinc in your hair (unless you like how hard water leaves your hair looking), these ions do confer valuable benefits to skin. (And by skin, I also mean your scalp. You won’t ever find me separately discussing skinification of scalp!)
We’ve long known the value of Epsom salts in a hot bath to soothe sore, achy muscles or overall malaise of the limbs. And, likely for equally as long, brands have peddled the power of magnesium lotions or sprays or whatever else to do the same. I’m heavily involved in the DIY creator community and have seen an increase in magnesium cream formulation questions—what goes around, comes around, and I would comfortably say I think interest is renewed!
Calcium is another interesting mineral for skin; it is not only essential in cellular turnover (most calcium is found in the epidermis), it also helps improve the skin’s barrier function.
Zinc has long been beneficial for the scalp, helping balance the microbiome and regulate sebum production.
These minerals aren’t always effectively or efficiently delivered into skin, and—with all skin actives—transepidermal delivery is crucial for efficacy. In fact, some suppliers have focused on delivery of these oligoelements into skin as an advantage over using plain ol’ minerals in your formulations. Mibelle’s EpiCalsome employs phospholipids to effectively transport calcium ions into your outer layers of skin. Oriel has a “hydrosphere” technology that encapsulates unbound magnesium in water, making it highly available to skin. Solabia’s Zincidone has coupled zinc with PCA, increasing the bioavailability of zinc due to the PCA moiety. Point being, don’t just look for the mineral, look at how the mineral is expected to be delivered.
Food for Thought: Pun intended. Consumers are looking for a less-is-more approach that includes employing every day food items in their products. They want their products to be so good for them, they could eat them! If this sounds familiar, it is. About 10-15 years ago, there was a plethora of food-based ingredients going into our products, such as bananas and yogurt and avocado and vinegar. Now, Tik Tok has demanded this come back in fashion. Except now, Tik Tok literally wants you using food as products.
Of course, we know it’s not practical to use an egg as a shampoo (I tried it, don’t do it), but the good news is, with the upcycling trend that has been transpiring over the last couple of years, you can find food-based ingredients that can be destined for your bottles instead of the landfill.
Tallow: A few years ago, I was strolling the streets of Fredericksburg, TX, and noticed a cosmetics boutique. I convinced Mr. Cosmetic Chemist, my husband, that I needed to go in and check it out. Of course, he stayed right on my heels to get me in and out of the store (a tactic he has employed for quite some time, which is quite effective). In the short handful of moments I was perusing the busy shop, I noticed that all the creams and cleaners were hand-crafted and produced using beef tallow.
A fellow chemist of mine once formulated a shampoo with a surfactant that was tallow derived. I was assigned the task of informing the sales rep for the material that we couldn’t use it because it wasn’t vegan, to which he asked if the owner of our company or any of the employees ate steak.
After stammering yes, he surmised that we didn’t want to use the rest of the cow, to which I think he had a point. At a conference, I once called the use of tallow the original version of upcycling, a comment not met with popularity. Well, popular it will be in 2024 as consumers look for chemistries that appear to be more natural or less wasteful in origin.
Valerie George
askvalerie@icloud.com
Valerie George is a cosmetic chemist, science communicator, educator, leader, and avid proponent of transparency in the beauty industry. She works on the latest research in hair color and hair care at her company, Simply Formulas, and is the co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast. You can find her on Instagram at @cosmetic_chemist or showcasing her favorite ingredients to small brands and home formulators at simply-ingredients.com
—Crystal Ball
Dear Crystal:
I’m never sure how trends are decided—when Pantone says Rooibos Tea is the color of the year—is that because consumer trends are pushing colors in that direction, or do we simply beeline for anything Rooibos tea colored because Pantone says so? I’m not sure these ingredients will be trending, but I think they’re worth noting.
Glycolipids: Or rhamnolipids or sophorolipids—whichever you want to call them. In the January 2023 issue of Happi magazine, Bio Bob asked what I thought about biosurfactants. This past year, we’ve seen launches from several players in this space—Evonik, BioRenuva and Dow to name a few. If you haven’t had a chance to play with them for skin or hair, you should order some samples to experiment with. While not true replacements for conventional surfactants, they are extremely gentle, generally non-irritating and have microbiome-balancing data associated with them. They’ll continue to have a presence in 2024, whether it be through new suppliers getting into the space, or new data presented by existing suppliers to demonstrate the value glycolipids have.
Mineral-based Ingredients: The days of using plain old vitamins in your formulations, such as C, D, E, B3, B5, A aren’t over yet, but we will start to brands advertising minerals. While you don’t necessarily want divalent ions like magnesium, calcium or zinc in your hair (unless you like how hard water leaves your hair looking), these ions do confer valuable benefits to skin. (And by skin, I also mean your scalp. You won’t ever find me separately discussing skinification of scalp!)
We’ve long known the value of Epsom salts in a hot bath to soothe sore, achy muscles or overall malaise of the limbs. And, likely for equally as long, brands have peddled the power of magnesium lotions or sprays or whatever else to do the same. I’m heavily involved in the DIY creator community and have seen an increase in magnesium cream formulation questions—what goes around, comes around, and I would comfortably say I think interest is renewed!
Calcium is another interesting mineral for skin; it is not only essential in cellular turnover (most calcium is found in the epidermis), it also helps improve the skin’s barrier function.
Zinc has long been beneficial for the scalp, helping balance the microbiome and regulate sebum production.
These minerals aren’t always effectively or efficiently delivered into skin, and—with all skin actives—transepidermal delivery is crucial for efficacy. In fact, some suppliers have focused on delivery of these oligoelements into skin as an advantage over using plain ol’ minerals in your formulations. Mibelle’s EpiCalsome employs phospholipids to effectively transport calcium ions into your outer layers of skin. Oriel has a “hydrosphere” technology that encapsulates unbound magnesium in water, making it highly available to skin. Solabia’s Zincidone has coupled zinc with PCA, increasing the bioavailability of zinc due to the PCA moiety. Point being, don’t just look for the mineral, look at how the mineral is expected to be delivered.
Food for Thought: Pun intended. Consumers are looking for a less-is-more approach that includes employing every day food items in their products. They want their products to be so good for them, they could eat them! If this sounds familiar, it is. About 10-15 years ago, there was a plethora of food-based ingredients going into our products, such as bananas and yogurt and avocado and vinegar. Now, Tik Tok has demanded this come back in fashion. Except now, Tik Tok literally wants you using food as products.
Of course, we know it’s not practical to use an egg as a shampoo (I tried it, don’t do it), but the good news is, with the upcycling trend that has been transpiring over the last couple of years, you can find food-based ingredients that can be destined for your bottles instead of the landfill.
Tallow: A few years ago, I was strolling the streets of Fredericksburg, TX, and noticed a cosmetics boutique. I convinced Mr. Cosmetic Chemist, my husband, that I needed to go in and check it out. Of course, he stayed right on my heels to get me in and out of the store (a tactic he has employed for quite some time, which is quite effective). In the short handful of moments I was perusing the busy shop, I noticed that all the creams and cleaners were hand-crafted and produced using beef tallow.
A fellow chemist of mine once formulated a shampoo with a surfactant that was tallow derived. I was assigned the task of informing the sales rep for the material that we couldn’t use it because it wasn’t vegan, to which he asked if the owner of our company or any of the employees ate steak.
After stammering yes, he surmised that we didn’t want to use the rest of the cow, to which I think he had a point. At a conference, I once called the use of tallow the original version of upcycling, a comment not met with popularity. Well, popular it will be in 2024 as consumers look for chemistries that appear to be more natural or less wasteful in origin.
Valerie George
askvalerie@icloud.com
Valerie George is a cosmetic chemist, science communicator, educator, leader, and avid proponent of transparency in the beauty industry. She works on the latest research in hair color and hair care at her company, Simply Formulas, and is the co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast. You can find her on Instagram at @cosmetic_chemist or showcasing her favorite ingredients to small brands and home formulators at simply-ingredients.com