Diversity, performance, happiness and more: COSSMA

Photo: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock.com

Even though beauty brands are more occupied than ever with providing safety, transparency and assurance to the consumer, there are far more topics that drive tomorrow’s product trends.

AUTHOR:

Asita Morgan,
Head of Innovation Lab
Cosnova,
Sulzbach, Germany

www.cosnova.com

COSSMA: What are the most relevant trends currently in the field of colour cosmetics?

Asita Morgan, Head of Innovation Lab, Cosnova: One of the most relevant trends in colour cosmetics these days is clean beauty. This striking movement is driven by the consumers being far more aware and concerned about incomprehensible ingredient lists, brand noise, and environmental and ethical scandals. No wonder that beauty brands are more than ever occupied with providing safety, transparency and assurance to the consumer. It is important for consumers to know that whatever they use on themselves neither harms the planet, nor animals, nor people. Working on sustainable alternatives for raw materials and ingredients and on initiatives that reduce waste, support biodiversity and fairness – these are the issues that are currently at the top of our agenda.

Other trends which are definitely on our radar right now: Diversity, performance and happiness.

Diversity talks about a demand for personalised and individual offers. Performance refers to our consumers’ expectation of receiving high-performing, long-lasting products. Happiness deals with topics such as sensoriality as well as more holistic themes such as wellness and inner beauty. To name some specific trends we see for 2020: The 90s fun is coming back. Youthful 1990s-inspired looks include double-space-buns, glittery eyes and 90s pink lips. This is assisted by trends coming from different categories such as chroma cheeks or tie-dye nails being the new marble ones or colourful brushstroke eye looks.

Engaging consumers for personalised products in the product development process. photo: Essence

Would you be able to point out some major regional differences?

There are indeed major regional differences. We usually look to the Asian and American market for inspiration and compare the observations we make to our market. First, the speed at which certain trends are adapted vary greatly in each region. In Asia, people tend to be more experimental and prone to jump on trends fast. The trends then tend to arrive in the US before they finally enter our market.

Another interesting phenomenon is that some trends are far more relevant in the Western world than they are in Asia. For instance, sustainability is a much bigger priority to American and European consumers. Interestingly, protection against pollution and UV is something Asian consumers are more concerned about.

Another major difference lies in the style of make-up people prefer in each region. To describe it very generally: In Asia, the girls have always loved a youthful, cute look. With bold blush on the cheeks, thick and straight brows, glittery eyes and the gradient lip in reds and pinks. All that paired with a fair, clear, glowy complexion.

In the US and here in Europe, you see arched brows, a smoky look on the eyes, matte lips with a sharp contour paired with a perfectly covered matte complexion.

Even though these stereotypical looks are still around, we noticed that the borders between beauty ideals are starting to break down. Trends from the US are also popular in Asia and vice versa.

In what category in colour cosmetics do you see the most potential for innovation and why?

I believe every category in colour cosmetics has potential, especially if you think about personalisation and transparency.

Personalisation can have many facets: you can engage consumers in the product development process, as we did with our Essence Maker Shop for instance.

Consumers are more demanding and are very well informed when it comes to the products they use. They are looking for products that cater to their specific needs. Also, there is still a large group of consumers who traditionally have not been catered to in the past. Personalisation appeals to an increasingly eco-conscious consumer, which leaves us with many opportunities and innovative concepts such as vegan-based and water-less formulations as well as a “less is more” approach when it comes to formulations and packaging.

What have been some recent major innovations created by your innovation department?

Innovation needs inspiration but this is a process that often takes its time. We are currently working on different projects to turn our ideas and beliefs into reality but they are not yet ready to be publicly talked about.

We create new concepts based on megatrends, such as the ones mentioned earlier, trend forecasts and consumer insights. These are trends which may deeply shape our society, behaviour and everyday life in the future.

We use Design Thinking as a method to never lose sight of the consumer.

Different tools and methods help us check back in with our consumers in order to ideate and prototype different solutions. We learn, understand and sometimes fail, we adjust and rework to minimise risk. We need to translate the right trends at the right time into the right products and services to be successful and relevant for our consumers in the future.

How is your innovation centre structured and how does it work?

Our Innovation and New Business Hub was founded in the beginning of 2019 and consists of around 30 people who are divided in different teams.

The Trends and Consumer Insights team helps us understand consumers and their needs and problems better. They validate insights and are the base for taking trend and consumer centred decisions.

My team in the Innovation Lab finds new ideas that work towards solving consumer needs and problems. We create out-of-the box solutions to challenges which can result in devising new or alternative business models.

Our Incubator Team turns new brands or promising business models into scalable and profitable business.