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AI proliferates through Asia beauty market with robotics and personalization

Various companies in Asia are ramping up investment in AI by leveraging the tech in the development of ingredients, tools, robots, and formulation software.Late last week, Chinese surgical robotics and medical aesthetics company Puncture Robotic launched a hair transplant robot to integrate AI into the process of hair loss diagnostics and transplant treatment. 
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Biotech ushers in new class of personal care ingredients
Biotechnology is transforming ingredient development across personal care, enabling targeted, sustainable, and high-performance vegan solutions — all of which consumers are demanding. Innova Market Insights says that new product launches are combining biotechnology with high-efficacy formulations to address hydration, firmness, skin renewal, and healthy aging. These solutions are using ingredients ranging from biotech collagen and neuropeptides to microbiome-supporting actives and marine-derived ones. 
Face mapping
dsm-firmenich 3D facial microbiome mapping poised to transform common skin conditions
dsm-firmenich’s latest 3D facial skin microbiome analysis tackles some of the longest-standing limitations in microbiome research. While traditional approaches rely on relative abundance data from a limited number of sampling points, dsm-firmenich’s concept introduces absolute quantification of 26 bacterial and fungal species across 24 facial sites with AI models.
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Automating sleeved bottle packaging without compromising pack design
This article highlights the automation of sleeved bottle packaging, transforming a manual process into a high-speed solution while preserving brand identity and ensuring compatibility with both automated and manual operations.

This Technical Paper is brought to you by Cama Group.
 Paulo Teixeira, Melt&Marble
Melt&Marble: Accelerating commercial readiness for personal care products with INCI milestone

Melt&Marble is a Swedish biotech company that uses precision fermentation to produce designer lipids in food and personal care products. The company has secured its first personal care ingredient INCI.  Paulo Teixeira, head of product at Melt&Marble, tells Personal Care Insights more about this regulatory milestone.

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NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026 review: Multifunctional actives and sustainable beauty shine
At NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026 in New York, US, personal care innovation focused on sustainability, multifunctionality, and biotech-driven actives. Companies highlighted natural, upcycled, and bio-based ingredients. AI-assisted formulation tools and high-performance solutions for skin, hair, and scalp health also took center stage. Key trends included protective and reparative actives, multifunctional polymers, RNA- and peptide-based technologies, and sensory-focused formulations. The presentations reflected the industry’s push toward eco-conscious, consumer-focused innovation. We round up the event’s key innovators and what they showcased.

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Estée Lauder scraps sale of Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart to chase indie...
A phone reading corporate information in front of Estee Lauder website.
Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has decided not to sell Too Faced, Smashbox, and Dr. Jart, according to an internal document. Instead, the global multinational beauty conglomerate has opted to restructure the brands. ELC’s chief executive, Stéphane de La Faverie, wrote: “As we looked ahead, one thing became clear: our brands have different strengths. consumer positioning, competitive dynamics, and growth opportunities, requiring tailored business models to help them accelerate innovation, strengthen consumer connections, and unlock long-term growth.” 
Industry experts weigh aesthetics against accountability in beauty packaging
paper packaging format small cosmetics
Sustainability that doesn’t compromise aesthetics is no longer negotiable in personal care packaging. Ahead of London Packaging Week 2026 (September 16–17), its organizer, Easyfairs, has highlighted the industry’s move from sustainability as a design feature to a regulatory requirement.Perspectives from WRAP, Gentlebrand, and Beyondly underline that regulation, circularity, and changing consumer expectations dictate that brands must balance ecological responsibility while maintaining aesthetic appeal.
Cynosure Lutronic debuts XERF in EMEA as non-invasive treatment demand spikes
A woman with her eyes closed and a hair band on while hands touch her face.
XERF, the dual-frequency skin tightening technology for aesthetics practices, is now available across EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). The device arrives as its creator, Cynosure Lutronic, notes new consumer research revealing a spike in demand for non-invasive rejuvenation. According to the company,  67% of patients want non-invasive treatments with no needles. XERF, short for eXperience Exponential RF, delivers two radio frequencies (RFs) in a single shot for deep and comfortable skin results. 
Kensing on how “responsible beauty” will take over clean beauty
A woman with beakers and plants in front of her.
Clean beauty has historically been defined by an absence of chemical ingredients, restricting the sector to what a product isn’t, rather than what it is. That foundation is phasing into a new trajectory: communicating the total environmental impact across a product’s lifecycle. Denis Bendejacq, SVP of Research & Innovation at Kensing, tells Personal Care Insights that the next phase of clean beauty is “responsible beauty.” This narrative furthers the category to depict how feedstocks are sourced, how ingredients are manufactured, and what carbon and resource costs they carry. These shifts, in combination with regulatory adjustments, leads Bendejacq to call greenwashing “clearly a thing of the past.”
Kao targets Asia hair dyeing boom with repair ingredient after discovering...
Kao Liese promo picture of woman with shiny hair
Kao Corporation’s Hair Beauty Research division has confirmed for “the first time” that structural protein damage inside hair can continue to progress for seven days after coloring. The effects are especially felt by people with melanin-rich hair, common across Asia.Leveraging the finding, Kao has developed H-Linx Tech, a technology incorporated into its hair color brand Liese to enable coloring while repairing damage. H-Linx Tech, featured in Liese formulations, helps repair damage caused by hair coloring, such as preventing split ends, breakage, and frizz.
Personalization shifts active nutrition industry from performance to health and...
Cyclist eating protein bar in the mountains

Nutrition Insight

Active nutrition is no longer reserved for athletes but is expanding its consumer pool to all consumers. As focus shifts away from sports performance and building muscle, consumers seek products targeting longevity that support them in living an active life for longer, through personalized nutrition. Nutrition Insights speaks with experts from Saanroo, Lonza, Tirlan, Bioiberica, and Layn Natural Ingredients about how the industry is shifting from a one-size-fits-all approach to customized products targeting different health aspects.
Highlighted features
A badger in a cage.
Health and Beauty
Beauty retailers pressured to drop badger hair brushes...
A PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) exposé depicting the brutalization of badgers in Chinese farms has spurred some retailers supplying makeup and shaving brushes with badger hair to remove the products. In June 2026, an eyewitness reported attending eight farms in China, the world’s leading exporter of badger fur. 
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Health and Beauty
Walmart mercury skin cream settlement pressures e-commerce...
A legal settlement between Walmart and the Mercury Policy Project (MPP) is reigniting debates over the responsibility of online retailers in selling unsafe cosmetics. Under the terms of Proposition 65 in California, US, Walmart has agreed to remove mercury-laced skin-lightening creams from its online store. The retailer has now committed to proactively requiring certain third-party sellers to test their merchandise for mercury before it is offered for sale. 
A girl holding a magazine with a Gucci advertisement.
Business News
L’Oréal lands Gucci Beauty early as Coty cashes out for...
One year ahead of schedule, L’Oréal has secured the 50-year exclusive global license agreement for Gucci Beauty. Gucci and Coty have decided to bring forward the redemption date of their existing beauty license agreement, previously due to expire on June 30, 2028. Consequently, the Gucci Beauty license will return to Kering — its beauty unit recently acquired by L’Oréal — for a consideration of approximately US$400 million. 

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Women’s wellness trendsJul2026

Innova Market Insights presented the Top Personal Care Trends 2026 with “Tailored Touchpoints” taking the top spot, followed by “New-age Longevity,” and “Crunch Over Fluff.” These trends are reshaping...

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Biotech beauty breakthroughs Jul 2026

Biotechnology is redefining beauty innovation, enabling brands to deliver targeted, science-backed performance across skin and hair care. From biotech collagen and neuropeptides to microbiome-supporting actives and marine-derived ingredients, new product launches are combining advanced technologies with high-efficacy formulations to address hydration, firmness, skin renewal, and healthy aging.

Trend analysis

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Natural claims for personal careJul 2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates growth in natural claims, with 32% CAGR from April 2021 to March 2026 in product launches. This is underpinned by consumers increasingly seeking more natural ingredients when shopping for their beauty products. Skin care and hair care had the largest share of natural launches, while body care grew the fastest.

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 Paulo Teixeira, Melt&Marble
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Melt&Marble: Accelerating commercial readiness for personal care products with INCI milestone

Melt&Marble is a Swedish biotech company that uses precision fermentation to produce designer lipids in food and personal care products. The company has secured its first personal care ingredient INCI.  Paulo Teixeira, head of product at Melt&Marble, tells Personal Care...

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
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NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026: Givaudan highlights PrimalHyal 300 for skin repair
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NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026: Nouryon explores AI and biobased chemistry
Karen Chun, Symrise
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NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026: Symrise talks skin barrier, sensoriality and sustainability
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