With in-cosmetics Global 2026 opening in Paris next week, the direction of travel for beauty ingredients is apparent. Here, I take a look at the pre-show ingredient launches that are pointing to the direction for beauty formulation innovation. Across exhibitor listings and pre-show reveals, four clear formulation themes are emerging: • advanced peptides • biotech collagen • fermentation-derived actives • multifunctional ingredients simplifying formulations While many companie

There’s a pattern I see time and again in the ingredients space. Huge investment in R&D. Years of work refining performance, efficacy, and application. Then… a press release that barely scratches the surface of what’s actually been achieved. That gap matters. Because how innovation is explained to the industry is often what determines whether it gets noticed at all. Strong trade media visibility does three things exceptionally well: • It builds scientific credibility in a way

After years on the editorial side of the beauty ingredients industry, one thing is consistently clear. The difference between an ingredient being overlooked and being widely covered rarely comes down to the science alone. It comes down to how that science is framed. As in-cosmetics approaches, journalists will be scanning for stories that go beyond incremental updates and clearly signal relevance, credibility and impact. Here are three of the signals they are actively looking

One of the most common frustrations I hear from ingredient developers is this: the science is strong, the data is compelling, and the innovation is real, yet the trade press rarely covers it. After many years working on the editorial side of the beauty ingredients industry, one thing became clear. Often the issue is not the ingredient itself. It is how the story is positioned. Small shifts in messaging can make a significant difference in whether editors see a compelling stor

To gauge sentiment ahead of the event, I ran a LinkedIn poll asking a simple question: 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫? While the sample size was small, the result was striking. Around 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 pointed to 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 as the most important trend shap

For more than fifteen highly rewarding years, I had the privilege of commissioning and editing hundreds of ingredient stories as the founding editor of the Cosmetics Design titles. During that time, one thing became very clear. Many ingredient innovations struggle to gain editorial traction, not because the science is weak, but because the story is not being told in a way that editors recognise as publishable. When you sit on the editorial side of the desk for long enough, pa

I am a part of the Judging panel for the NutraIngredients USA Awards 2026. The judging team will be honoring the best in the Industry and celebrating the winners in Chicago, July 13. I am greatly looking forward to discovering what is truly innovative in the fast-evolving beauty fron within category. Watch this space for the results.

When trying to figure this one out, the first thing to determine was just what kind of articles are B2B beauty editors most likely to publish. To get to this, I analysed the ingredients and formulation news coverage appearing across the leading English-language B2B beauty industry platforms over the past year in both Europe and North America. It is titles such as CosmeticsDesign, Cosmetics & Toiletries, Personal Care Global, Premium Beauty News, Global Cosmetic Industry, an

As the Founding Editor of Cosmetics Design, I spent more than a decade leading the publication. Over that time, one thing became very clear. Ingredient innovation alone rarely guarantees editorial coverage. Some fascinating technologies never make it into the trade press. Meanwhile. other ingredients gain widespread visibility across the industry. The difference is usually not the science. It is the story. Editors are looking for narratives that connect scientific innovation

I’ve walked the aisles at in-cosmetics Global for more years than I care to count. And if there’s one thing experience teaches you, it’s that formulation science trumps glossy branding. Paris, April 14–16, won’t just be another ingredients showcase. It will be a temperature check on where growth is genuinely heading for beauty and personal care. And my sense? The fundamentals look strong. Global beauty continues to expand, and that momentum is flowing directly into the specia

First, in order to shine a light on the future, let’s look at the past. Last year in Amsterdam, in-cosmetics Global felt less like a trade show and more like a live demonstration of where formulation science is heading: higher performance, more proof, and smarter sustainability. The conversation wasn’t “natural vs synthetic” anymore — it was what works, what lasts, and what stands up to scrutiny. 𝐀𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐦 2025: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 The overriding mo

They fail, not because the science isn’t strong. Not because the innovation isn’t real. But because the story isn’t ready in time. For every in-cosmetics Global, editors are flooded with: – Last-minute press releases – Generic claims of “innovation” – Data with no clear relevance – Companies chasing attention far too late The suppliers who get meaningful coverage don’t shout louder — they prepare earlier. They know: • what problem their ingredient actually solves • why

Supporting innovation where it really counts, across the cosmetics supply chain. Pleased to be part of the judging panel for the Cosmetics Business Innovation Awards judging X category. This is the very first award of its kind, dedicated to the hard work that suppliers to the beauty and personal care industry put in to keep the wheels of innovation well and truly rolling. This award is particularly poignant, as the efforts of suppliers are often over-looked, so it is wonderfu

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