Enhancing sensory effects naturally

COSSMA: What are the most important trends currently in perso­nal care?

Jens Müller, Global Marketing Manager Personal Care, Nouryon: Consumers as well as formulators have learnt to fully trust synthetic ingredients over the past decades. However, these ingredients, often based on polyacrylates, silicones or mineral oil, are under scrutiny from NGOs and the media for their persistence in the environment and arguable sustainability. These groups are not entirely differentiating between “the good and the bad” and tend to sensationalise the microplastic discussion rather than promote good science. Due to this confusion in the market, consumers are demanding cleaner INCI labelling of their skin care, hair care and styling products, which led many brands to introduce their own labels claiming non-persistent and microplastic-free ingredients.

What is the situation currently concerning microplastics in personal care?

We see uncertainty in the market. There are several recommendations, opinions, definitions and guidelines readily available, yet a strict guidance is missing. Microplastic labels are flooding the market, with many only referring to the INCI description rather than the actual technology. This leaves many grey areas for inaccurate interpretation. Safe and non-persistent technologies are being condemned, despite those decisions lacking sound scientific back-up.

What are the most striking trends currently in the field of natural cosmetics?

While there is a need to constantly innovate, the natural market, allowing formulators to create new claims in skin and hair care, we see a strong trend towards replacing synthetically-derived industry standards by more natural product solutions. In addition to increased naturalness, reduced aquatic toxicity, and non-persistence in the environment are becoming key requirements rather than ‘nice to haves.’

What are the main challenges in formulating natural cosmetics?

Synthetic ingredients are also perceived as being the work horses of a formulation. There is a perception that when using partially- and fully-natural ingredients it is often a challenge to achieve the same luxurious sensory of a cosmetic formulation. This is not true. In fact, most formulators know how to use polyacrylates as they have worked with them for years and have used them as a crucial technology to meet consumer demand for performance. 

With manufacturers starting to use starch-based technologies more broadly, existing production routines need to be adjusted and optimised. It is a field where further education in formulating is required. As an expert in bio-polymers we support formulators with application science and product literature; with our biopolymer masterclass, we offer training courses to our customers to show them how to use biopolymers in the most efficient way in order to achieve desired textures and skin feels.

What products does your company offer in this field and how do they perform?

Our company offers a range of biopolymers comprised of brands such as Dry-Flo, Amaze and Structure. These vary from native starches for the most natural labelling to chemically modified starches for optimised performance, stability and product safety. In addition to the wide variety of consumer perceived benefits (such as mildness and aesthetics) these products can offer to formulations, they are also valuable because of their ability to be readily biodegradable. With our catalogue of products, we cover a range of functionalities, including film formation, rheology modification and sensory enhancement. 

Consumers require personal care products with a pleasant sensory effect and intriguing new textures. What solutions do you offer in this field?

With our Formulation Triangle we introduced a methodology that helps consumers navigate through the entire sensory spectrum, by using only three of our natural rheology modifiers: Amaze XT (Dehydroxanthan Gum), Structure XL (Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate) and Structure Solanace (Potato Starch Modified). Starting from a simple base formulation, the set comprises nine formulations and demonstrates the effects of using rheology modifiers at different levels or in combinations. It is a great guideline to achieve new textures or closely mimic the particular skin feel of polyacrylates.

Once the formulation has been created, the skin feel can further be altered by adding the right sensory enhancer. With e.g. Nylon and PMMA being banned in several countries, starches are great alternatives to fill this gap. Chemically modified starches such as Dry-Flo PC and Dry-Flo TS are capable of providing an outstanding skin feel as they significantly reduce the oiliness and greasiness of formulations due to their hydrophobic surface treatment. If no chemical modification is desired, our range of native starches around Tapioca Pure and Purity 21C offer additional choices for particularly clean INCI labelling.

What solutions does your company offer that help companies formulate natural cosmetics pro­ducts?

In addition to our wide-ranging portfolio of rheology modifiers and sensory enhancers, we have recently introduced Amaze SP. This novel styling polymer provides a touchable, lightweight hold. Rather than trying to copy synthetic solutions, the polymer opens a completely new field of application possibilities and claims, such as decreased drying time versus traditional polymers, invisible styling and hair manageability, while being 100% naturally derived.

What are the challenges involved in sourcing ingredients using renewable raw materials?

For rheology modification in particular, formulators expect batch-to-batch consistency in production. While native starches may pose a risk of slight variations, the effects can be masked by low degrees of chemical modifications. Looking particularly at Structure XL, hydroxypropylation increases performance and consistency significantly, without losing much of the naturalness of the product. Different modifications will provide a variety of textures and benefits, such as increased shear-thinning, foam sensory improvement, low pH efficacy and viscosity build-up. Hence, biopolymers may not only be used in traditional skin care but also all kinds of hair care, shower, make-up and hair bleaching applications.