Top 5 most-read stories December 2022: Unilever SPF patent, Weleda R&D future, biotech promise and fragrance mapping

A round-up of CosmeticsDesign-Europe’s most-read news from December 2022 shows interest in Unilever’s patent on a two-step SPF method, a deep-dive interview with Weleda’s R&D chief and insight on biotech promise in collagen.

Innovation, innovation, innovation​

International personal care major Unilever developed a two-step method offering high SPF and UVA protection via a wash-off cleanser and leave-on cream that could be offered to consumers in a kit. The team said there was a clear benefit to total UVAPF when combining these two steps.

Continuing on the innovation theme, Weleda’s R&D chief discussed the company’s future focus for innovation and product development in the coming years. Highlighting an internal startup-style team established in 2022, he said the goal was to speed up product development and market testing for the organic and natural Swiss beauty brand.

Biotech and smarter beauty​

The VP of R&D at US biofabrication specialist Modern Meadow outlined the company’s recombinant protein made from yeast, inspired by Collagen type III, noting that it offered beauty companies a more sustainable alternative to traditional animal-sourced collagens. She said the proprietary recombinant protein had demonstrated biostimulation of an array of genes so far, including Collagen type III in human skin cells.

A look back at the patents of 2022 demonstrated key innovation and research priorities amongst beauty industry heavyweights Unilever, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Beiersdorf, Coty and Shiseido. All companies had filed important patents around smarter sun care, next-generation hair care and various digital devices and methods to improve beauty offerings.

Neurosciences and fragrance​

An associate professor at the University of Portugal outlined ongoing research that aimed to build a database of brain responses to individual fragrances, quantifying emotional responses. He said the goal was to ultimately help industry better predict how consumers would respond to perfumes or scented beauty products – an area where there was still so much to be learned.

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