in-cosmetics 2024: BASF drives the transformation of the Personal Care industry towards more sustainable solutions

April 09, 2024

• “Beyond Beauty” campaign unlocks new opportunities in the Personal Care market
• More transparency in Product Carbon Footprints
• Immersive customer journey visualizes potential of bioactives

Paris, France – April 9, 2024 – At in-cosmetics Global held in Paris from April 16 to 18, BASF showcases innovative solutions that accelerate the transition in the Personal Care industry towards sustainable developments. These offers are part of BASF’s Care Chemicals initiative Care 360° – Solutions for Sustainable Life.  “The beauty of tomorrow is an expression of a holistic, responsible approach to consumption and life. Consumers want to be able to make informed decisions, and are seeking knowledge about the origins and sourcing of raw materials as well as a product’s environmental impact,” explains Gisela Pinheiro, Senior Vice President of BASF Personal Care Europe. “Through digital services and innovative solutions, we help our customers unlock new opportunities in a transforming market and increase transparency for consumers.”

BASF shares booth 1J60 with its distribution organization BTC Europe.

 

Beyond Beauty: Unlocking the Future of Personal Care

With “Beyond Beauty”, BASF is showcasing what the beauty of tomorrow will look like: Consumers are seeking health- and eco-conscious personal care products that enhance their well-being, underline authenticity and care for the planet at the same time. For the leading ingredient supplier in the Personal Care industry, this means to deliver beyond “just” ingredients. BASF takes an active role and works hand in hand with partners and customers throughout the value chain to create sustainable, high-performing solutions.

 

Increasing Product Carbon Footprint Transparency

With Care 360° – Solutions for Sustainable Life, the Care Chemicals division is making sustainability a priority.  The integration of Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) into the digital service platform D’lite provides CO2 transparency for the portfolio of cosmetic ingredients. This allows manufacturers to track the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the products they purchase. In addition, BASF invests in green energy, offers certified sustainable feedstocks, and replaces fossil feedstocks with renewable raw materials via the Biomass Balance approach using a third-party verified certification method. This helps customers meet their own sustainability goals.

Dr. Becky Stiles, Head of Applied Sustainability, BASF Care Chemicals, will share details about the initiatives in her presentation “Transparency in Product Carbon Footprints and Levers to Reduce Them” on April 17 at 2:30 pm in the Sustainability Zone Theatre.

 

Formulating the Future with Biopolymers

BASF has built its portfolio of ingredients based on natural and renewable feedstocks for decades, recently with a strong focus on biopolymers under the Verdessence^® brand. The company has so far launched five different ingredients for applications ranging from color cosmetics to hair care. Given their sustainability profile, natural biopolymers stand out as promising rheology modifiers. At the same time, however, their use presents a unique challenge for cosmetic formulators as, to date, there is no one-to-one replacement for conventional synthetic polymers. BASF experts have developed a multi-biopolymer approach to identify the most appropriate combination for each application, including a recommended usage ratio. To this end, they have studied various binary and ternary combinations of the company’s biopolymer portfolio in aqueous systems and emulsions. The vast majority of the suggested formulations comply with the COSMOS standard for natural cosmetics.

 

Visualizing the Potential of Cosmetic Actives

To verify the efficacy of its ingredients, BASF uses advanced 2D and 3D models that closely resemble real skin conditions. Now, the company has expanded its imagery expertise further to reveal previously invisible modes of action. “Imagery” paves the way for new opportunities in bioactive development and surpasses traditional substantiation methods. At in-cosmetics, visitors can experience this expertise on an immersive journey, using VR headsets to explore the application of imagery for specific skin needs. Examples include developing actives for sensitive or atopic skin, validating the efficacy of anti-oily skin ingredients, and revealing the power of plants for anti-aging applications.

 

Exploring the Power of Pearlizers and Opacifiers

The visual appearance of a formulation is an important buying factor for consumers. Visual effects like pearly, luminous or a matte finish can emphasize the character, performance and value of a cleansing product. With a five-step approach, the company shows the various visual appearances that can be achieved with different wax dispersions or combinations in surfactant systems at various concentrations. The concept focuses on the visual assessment of all formulations according to defined monadic and associative parameters as well as color evaluation. The transparent approach offers product developers an insight into the many variations of BASF’s shine portfolio and provides formulation suggestions for shampoos and shower gels with an attractive visual effect.

 

Dimethicone Alternatives by Scientific Modelling

Volatile silicones are on their way out of the cosmetics industry. Cosmetics manufacturers face the challenge of finding alternatives to silicones such as cyclosiloxanes (“D4”, “D5” and “D6”). Instead of replacing them with other synthetic silicone variants such as dimethicones, the switch to biodegradable alternatives empowers manufacturers to meet consumers’ changing expectations for natural and sustainable beauty products. BASF’s holistic approach is built around its digital service Emollient Maestro, an app available in the online platform D’lite, which is based on scientific data and provides users with alternatives to synthetic market benchmarks, including dimethicones. Together with a powerful portfolio of silicone alternatives, and complemented by profound formulation expertise, the company supports its customers in creating and improving new natural and more sustainable cosmetics designs.

These are but a few examples of how BASF’s Care Chemicals Division is addressing future challenges. Sustainability, digitalization, innovation and new approaches to working together are the key cornerstones to Care 360° – Solutions for sustainable life.

 

About the Care Chemicals division at BASF

The BASF division Care Chemicals offers a broad range of ingredients for personal care, home care, industrial & institutional cleaning, and technical applications. We are a leading global supplier for the cosmetics industry as well as the detergents and cleaners industry, and support our customers with innovative and sustainable products, solutions and concepts. The division’s high-performance product portfolio includes surfactants, emulsifiers, polymers, emollients, chelating agents, cosmetic active ingredients and UV filters. We have production and development sites in all regions and are expanding our presence in emerging markets. Further information is available online at www.care-chemicals.basf.com.

 

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €68.9 billion in 2023. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.