Balancing efficacy and aesthetics: COSSMA

From blending volatile and thermosensitive ingredients while preserving their efficacies, to communicating to clued-up consumers in a category covered by stringent regulations, combining colour cosmetics with active skincare is a challenging mix for manufacturers. This article is a close-up on the complexities of makeup and skincare hybrids.

Driven by the pandemic, the ongoing hybrid cosmetics trend has seen the multifunctional makeup product category grow significantly. The trend is predicted to prevail as skincare-savvy consumers continue to demand more from their makeup. We’ve recently seen a sharp rise in the number of products on the market fusing colour cosmetics with advanced compositions infused with active skincare ingredients. Many of these are supposedly ‘supported by science’ and promise to seamlessly add noticeable, visible skincare benefits to existing beauty routines while effortlessly enabling the latest looks. On the surface, it may sound like a simple addition of one skin-centric product to another to combine the best of colour and care, but in reality, the balancing act between efficacy and aesthetics is somewhat finer.

Balancing act:

formulation challenges One of the primary hurdles in manufacturing hybrid cosmetics lies in integrating volatile, chemically sensitive skincare compounds with colour cosmetics in a way that preserves the efficacy of the actives and doesn’t compromise the makeup’s colour, performance, or safety. Unlike traditional skincare formulations, colour cosmetics are often anhydrous, and rely heavily on waxes, oils, pigments, and powders. Each of these has a unique chemical behaviour that needs to be carefully balanced. This delicate balancing act poses a significant challenge when incorporating originally hydro-soluble active skincare ingredients into non-hydrosoluble systems. The quest for compatibility between disparate components requires careful attention to detail in manufacturing and more innovative approaches to formulation. Additionally, the temperature sensitivity of many skincare ingredients, such as vitamins, adds another layer of complexity to the manufacturing process. High temperatures are often necessary to melt down solid emollients and achieve the desired consistency, presenting challenges for thermosensitive formulations. Excessively high temperatures risk breaking down the sensitive chemical structures, potentially rendering them ineffective, altering their colour, or even making them harmful. To mitigate these risks and ensure product stability is preserved, strategies such as introducing the active ingredients during the cooling-down phase or utilising non-thermosensitive, encapsulated, and chemically protected ingredients must be considered. Working with cold processes is another possibility, but this requires even more innovative manufacturing methods, especially for solid formats.

Especially for solid formats, adding active incredients to formulations can provide a challenge.

Proving efficacy and safety

Proving product safety is paramount in all cosmetics categories. However, with hybrid products, it’s essential to confirm that the product is not only safe to use but also that the added active ingredients are in sufficient amounts and in the correct chemical compositions to make them effective in delivering the desired skincare effects promised on the label. Each product claim requires rigorous scientific testing to validate this efficacy. Manufacturers must often utilise consumer panels, in vitro tests, and 3D bioscans to assess product performance, ensuring that claims are substantiated scientifically. This comes in addition to the standard but stringent measures taken to guarantee product safety, including regulatory compliance, toxicity evaluation, and adherence to permissible concentrations of ingredients, all in accordance with global and regional protocols. As well as being a challenge for hybrid products, this is also a test for multipurpose makeup products. These are also gathering market momentum, driven by consumers craving cost-saving and convenience. These multitaskers enable makeup wearers to simplify their beauty and skincare routines by providing multiple application types and benefits from a single product, saving consumers time, money, and space in their makeup bags. But how do manufacturers satisfy performance and safety requirements with a single formulation for a product designed for lips, eyes, or cheeks? What’s perfectly safe and effective on the cheeks may risk irritating the delicate skin around the eyes. The required ingredient concentration to deliver active skincare effects on the cheeks may be unsuitable for the lips if it hasn’t been sufficiently tested to provide toxicity data for ingestion safety. Sometimes adjusting the concentration can be effective and safe, but not always. Research into chemically active molecules with safer skin delivery systems (new generations) is always a good idea. This is where the role of toxicology teams that evaluate and interpret all scientific data to ensure safe and trustworthy products on the market should be strengthened. Preservation presents another significant challenge in hybrid cosmetics manufacturing. As we strive to eliminate harmful bacteria while maintaining product integrity, the choice of preservatives becomes critical. While traditional preservatives like parabens have proven efficacy, exploration of alternative preservation methods, particularly ones with more robust safety data available, is becoming necessary due to consumer preferences, regulatory demands, and safety considerations for some molecules of this preservative group. In hybrid products, preservative requirements extend to not only preserving the product’s shelf life but also the efficacy of the active ingredients and the integrity of the colour.

Navigating market dynamics and demands

The dynamic landscape of the cosmetics market further complicates the manufacturing process and requires manufacturers to focus tightly on their expertise to stay on trend. As consumer preferences evolve and regulatory requirements continue to vary across regions, strategic decision-making becomes essential. Leading manufacturers are expected to offer extensive product ranges that cater to diverse consumer needs. From meticulously curated shade selections to innovative pigment stabilisation techniques, this requires a commitment to delivering products that meet the highest standards of quality, performance, and choice. It’s simply not enough to offer a hybrid product in just a handful of colours; it must be available in a comprehensive range. It must also deliver the desired behaviors to all skin types and tones to truly satisfy a global market. Moreover, making products user-friendly is increasingly essential. Hybrid cosmetics must fit seamlessly into existing beauty routines without complex storage considerations or requirements for complicated application techniques. Consumers expect these products to be used the same way as any other product they apply to their skin as part of their daily beauty regimen, so convenience is critical.

Regulation, legislation, and labelling

As ever, challenges arise from the stringent regulatory standards in the cosmetics industry. The legal requirements and guidelines that govern cosmetic products’ manufacturing, labelling, safety, and quality create additional complexities for hybrid products compared to standard makeup and cosmetics. For example, when communicating about active ingredients and their efficacy concentrations, there’s a fine line between cosmetics-grade and pharmaceutical-grade activity levels. Although they’re designed to deliver active effects, hybrid cosmetics cannot be described in words with medicinal meanings. This requires careful consideration in the marketing and labelling of such products. For example, a concealer may contain active skincare ingredients and be designed to cover and protect against imperfections, increase skin hydration, support cutaneous barrier maintenance, or enhance the skin’s protein production, but it still can’t be claimed to perform any healing or medical level of treatment. This is due to the more stringent regulations concerning pharmaceutical products. For example, in the US, a foundation with sunscreen protection as its main benefit needs to comply with pharma regulations and respective clinical safety protocols. Here, lies a subtle difference that manufacturers must be aware of.

Formulations for the future

Looking ahead, the future of hybrid cosmetics manufacturing holds both promise and challenges. As consumer demand for multifunctional products and sustainable ingredients continues to rise, innovation will be essential. From harnessing the potential of AI-driven formulations to exploring novel delivery systems for active ingredients, the opportunities for advancement are evident.
Finally, a forecast on a significant trend driving the future outlook for hybrid cosmetics. Demand for needle-free and affordable alternatives to cosmetic procedures is taking off in a big way. This is strongly driving innovation in new product development in the makeup and skincare hybrid category. Products delivering instant visible effects look to have the greatest appeal. Whether it’s plumping, filling, lifting, or de-puffing, we can expect to see a wave of product launches capturing the best of colour and care through innovative technologies and ingredients that give tweakment-like results, mimicking professional results without the need for invasive procedures.