Sweetch Impact Beauty banner promoting bio-based ingredient technologies, featuring a woman seated among wildflowers.
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K-beauty’s counterfeit economy tests brand and platform controls

The same demand and brand equity driving global growth for K-beauty brands is creating commercial opportunities for counterfeiters, helping fuel a parallel market that is already worth billions. Fake products and unauthorized distributors are increasingly blurring the line between legitimate K-beauty and the black market built around it. South Korean authorities have arrested a broker who imported 100,984 counterfeit K-beauty and wellness products from China, and sold them as genuine on Coupang and Naver, the two largest e-commerce and digital platforms in the country.
Happy woman with products.
Biotechnology, upcycling and new tech drive the next phase of sustainable beauty
Sustainable beauty is moving beyond plant-based claims as brands scrutinize the full lifecycle of ingredients and packaging while tapping into modern-day technology. Brands’ sustainability credentials are helping beauty and personal care consumers make more informed decisions on purchases. This, in turn, supports the development of adaptable systems, products, formats, and routines that can evolve with consumers.
A woman with three dots of cream on her face.
K-beauty fuels ingredient literacy across global beauty, says Kiss New York
South Korean beauty is no longer a separate category as Western brands absorb its textures, actives, and routine logic. Western beauty brands are taking cues from Korean skin care innovation, particularly around textures, ingredient-focused formulations, and products that combine convenience with efficacy. 
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Sustainable beauty solutions
Innova Market Insights data indicates that new personal care launches with sustainable claims grew at a +31% CAGR from July 2021 to June 2026. While cruelty-free remains a key consumer marker of sustainable beauty, innovation is expanding into areas such as sustainable oils, 2-in-1 formats, recycled materials, and reef- and ocean-friendly solutions.
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Performance with purpose: Evaluating fragrance, stain removal, and laundry pod technologies
This technical study from Ingredients + Specialties from Univar Solutions demonstrates how targeted formulation platforms can help address evolving laundry care expectations across freshness, stain removal, and convenient dose-format cleaning. To evaluate these benefit areas, a set of prototype formulations were tested under controlled conditions at their Solution Centre in Europe.

This technical paper is brought to you by Ingredients + Specialties from Univar Solutions.
Vantage body care ad featuring a woman applying a body scrub, with the message “Body care meets faceification. High-performance, head to toe
Body care meets faceification. High-performance, head to toe
Body care is no longer a secondary category. Consumers are demanding active-powered, clinically backed results from neck to toe — and the market is responding fast. Discover the ingredient technologies enabling the next generation of high-performance body care formulations, from body serums to targeted treatments.

This video is brought to you by Vantage.

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US FDA eliminates outdated UV filters as regulatory modernization continues
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is removing aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and trolamine salicylate from its over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreen monograph. The move follows the FDA’s recent addition of bemotrizinol (BEMT) as a permitted sunscreen active ingredient and forms part of a broader modernization of the US sunscreen regulatory framework.On September 10, 2026, the FDA issued a final administrative order, amending an OTC monograph. The amendment formally removes PABA and trolamine salicylate from the sunscreen active ingredients list, determining that sunscreen products containing these two ingredients as sunscreen active ingredients are not generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE).
Symrise completes Floral Concept acquisition to strengthen premium naturals...
fragrance formulation vials
Symrise has completed its acquisition of Floral Concept, acquiring 100% share capital and integrating the French premium natural fragrance ingredients house into its Fragrance division. The acquisition boosts Symrise’s competitiveness in the natural fine fragrance space as demand grows for differentiated, traceable, and sustainably sourced natural ingredients in perfumery.The acquisition arrives as part of the fragrance and cosmetic ingredient supplier’s One Symrise strategy, which focuses on profitable growth, portfolio development, and resilience. 
GLP-1 beauty side effects expose nutricosmetic niche as deficiencies rise
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Expanding research is identifying nutrition as a missing piece in GLP-1-related skin changes, giving rise to a new segment of beauty products built around nutrients that support the skin during GLP-1 use.A recent review, published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal, argues that rapid weight loss from GLP-1 medications pushes the skin into a state of breakdown and repair. However, it occurs at the same time the user loses their appetite, and their food intake declines. The review suggests that the combination of GLP-1-induced skin restructuring and nutritional deficit may aggravate negative skin health symptoms associated with weight-loss drug use.
Colgate-Palmolive reportedly weighs US$1B personal care offload
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Colgate-Palmolive is exploring the sale of several mass-market personal care brands, including Softsoap, Irish Spring, and Speed Stick, according to reports. The consumer goods group is said to be reviewing its portfolio amid intensifying competition in the US.The selected brands could collectively raise over US$1 billion, as cited by Reuters.
dsm-firmenich boosts fragrance capabilities with Jakarta investment
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dsm-firmenich is broadening its fragrance and beauty capabilities in Indonesia with a new Jakarta center featuring creation and application labs, sensory facilities, and air care testing capabilities.
Natural sweeteners rise as GLP-1 users opt for “positive nutrition,” suppliers...
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Nutrition Insight

Many brands are reformulating products or creating new ones in response to evolving consumer trends, driven by GLP-1 use, label scrutiny, and demand for natural products. In alignment with the clean label movement, the industry is innovating around healthier sweeteners to replace artificial additives so that consumers can enjoy foods without giving up daily eating habits and indulgences.Nutrition Insight discusses emerging trends in natural sweeteners with experts from Ingredion, Phynova, Layn Natural Ingredients, ADM, and Mane. We previously explored what brands are asking for most right now in sugar reduction and what the biggest technical barriers are for optimal efficacy and sensorial appeal.
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Research & Science news
Skin’s internal clock could open opportunities for...
Research has found that the skin operates on an internal 24-hour clock that controls its functions, from DNA repair to permeability and collagen production. The research opens opportunities for cosmetics formulators to develop more targeted morning and evening products that work with the skin’s natural rhythms. Dr. Diala Haykal, a specialist in aesthetic and anti-aging morphology medicine in France, led the research.
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Personal Care Insights News
Rising INCI scrutiny leaves consumers short on ingredient...
Consumers are scrutinizing beauty labels more closely, with many turning to ingredient-scanning apps for help. Although these tools provide rapid access to ingredient information. Lauren Leonard, global market development manager at Eastman, a global specialty materials company, flags that these tools could lack essential context: why those ingredients matter, how they contribute to a product’s performance, or their sustainability profile.
Older woman looking at herself in the mirror.
Personal Care Insights News
GLP-1 and menopause beauty boom outpaces clinical care,...
Women are navigating a much more complex personal care, health, and wellness marketplace than they were a few years ago. GLP-1s, menopause care, supplements, telehealth, and digital wellness tools have created more pathways for consumers to take. However, the influx of options has not produced better care, according to LucyRx chief commercial officer Susan Thomas. LucyRx is an independent pharmacy benefit manager that acts as an intermediary between health plan sponsors, pharmacies, and patients. 

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Home fragrance trendsSep2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates that more than half of global consumers are motivated by scent when purchasing household fresheners. The market is responding with new product launches, with air ...

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Innova Market Insights

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Multifunctional marvels Sep 2026

Beauty brands are embracing multifunctionality by combining makeup, skin care, and anti-aging benefits into single products. Multi-use formats for lips, cheeks, eyes, and face are paired with active ingredients such as peptides, hyaluronic acid, retinol, and vitamin C, delivering hydration, barrier support, brightening, and wrinkle care while simplifying daily beauty routines.

Trend analysis

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Sustainable beauty solutionsSep 2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates that new personal care launches with sustainable claims grew at a +31% CAGR from July 2021 to June 2026. While cruelty-free remains a key consumer marker of sustainable beauty, innovation is expanding into areas such as sustainable oils, 2-in-1 formats, recycled materials, and reef- and ocean-friendly solutions.

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Vantage body care ad featuring a woman applying a body scrub, with the message “Body care meets faceification. High-performance, head to toe
Video12:03
Body care meets faceification. High-performance, head to toe

Body care is no longer a secondary category. Consumers are demanding active-powered, clinically backed results from neck to toe — and the market is responding fast. Discover the ingredient technologies enabling the next generation of high-performance body care formulations, from body serums to...

Consumer Reports video thumbnail: Stylist braiding purple extensions into a client’s long black hair, with a circular professional headshot inset
Video12:12
Consumer Reports: States urged to regulate braiding hair amid federal silence
 Paulo Teixeira, Melt&Marble
Video15:19
Melt&Marble: Accelerating commercial readiness for personal care products with INCI milestone
Kacey Brides, Givaudan, Primalhyal 300, NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026, Skin Care, Active Ingredients, Healthy Aging, Cosmeceuticals, Hyaluronic Acid, Skin Repair, Hydration, Sensitive Skin, Aging Skin, Po
Video03:10
NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026: Givaudan highlights PrimalHyal 300 for skin repair
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