Pomegranate and botanical extract bottles promoting natural plant CO₂ extracts by FLAVEX, with SEPAWA Congress 2026 booth details.
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K-beauty boom draws Musinsa into South Korea’s beauty retail race

K-beauty’s seemingly insatiable global demand and sustained growth momentum are attracting competition for the South Korean cosmetic retail front-runner, Olive Young. South Korean retailer Musinsa may be making moves to carve out its space in the booming industry against Olive Young’s established market dominance.Musinsa inaugurated its first standalone multi-brand beauty flagship this month. The South Korean fashion retailer’s beauty venture arrives Musinsa is pursuing an initial public offering at a targeted valuation of more than ₩10 trillion (US$7.2 billion). 
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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Indonesia backs cosmetics SMEs as beauty exports rise 13.7%
Indonesian woman applying face cream.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry is strengthening support for small and medium-sized cosmetics manufacturers (SMEs) as it seeks to improve their competitiveness and expand access to international markets.
Dow and Univar strengthen North American home care ingredients partnership
people folding laundry
Through its Ingredients + Specialties division, Univar Solutions has entered an expanded agreement with Dow for home care ingredient distribution across North America. The deal amplifies the global ingredient distributor’s access to Dow’s SupraCare polymers and specialty additives collection. The enhanced access is said to provide formulators with high-performance, multi-functional cleaning ingredients, enabling formulation flexibility, and aligning with transforming market demands.
Lubrizol spots holistic shift toward proactive beauty and healthy aging in APAC...
older asian woman
Lubrizol has released a white paper showing that women in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, particularly China, increasingly see beauty as something to maintain proactively rather than react to once problems appear. The demographic is also increasingly associating beauty with internal health, contributing to a growing beauty-from-within space.In the white paper titled Women’s Health & Beauty Needs Across Life Stages in APAC, Lubrizol outlines the emerging industry opportunities as women’s health and beauty needs evolve across life stages. 
Neutrogena taps BEMT, bets on skinified sun care for daily SPF use
woman in sunglasses
Neutrogena has launched a sunscreen technology called Cloud-Tech, centering on the first new sunscreen filter the US FDA approved in over 25 years: bemotrizinol, or BEMT. The new ingredient touts stronger UVA protection than older filters while offering a lighter skin feel. Neutrogena has tapped the newly FDA-approved UV filter in two sunscreen launches. The Kenvue-owned brand built Cloud-Tech to address the sensory concerns people cite when using sun-protection formulations. According to the brand, consumers want strong sun protection, but high-SPF sunscreens often feel heavy and uncomfortable, which leads some people to either use too little or skip the skin care step completely. 
Seppic launches vegan squalane polymer for clean beauty formulations
woman stands in sea, holding mirror in front of face
Seppic has launched Sepilife Neos, a patented liquid polymer based on natural-origin, which is traditionally sourced from shark liver oil. The vegan squalane expands the company’s Sepilife hybrid polymer range and is part of a larger industry move away from animal-derived ingredients.The provider of cosmetic rheology modifiers underlines the struggles of balancing cosmetic efficacy with increasingly stringent clean beauty demands.
CPHI Milan 2026: Fuji Chemical to present astaxanthin for children’s digital...
Indian boy sitting on desk with books, studying online using laptop.

Nutrition Insight

At CPHI Milan next month, Fuji Chemical Industries is going to be presenting new clinical evidence on digital eye strain in children. It will spotlight natural astaxanthin from AstaReal, the company’s subsidiary, as a solution to this concern, along with health span applications.Digital eye strain is increasingly becoming relevant as screen use now starts from a young age, Yumiko Kajiwara, the company’s manager for Marketing G and Life Science Sales G, International Sales & Marketing, tells Nutrition Insight.
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Health and Beauty
GLP-1 beauty side effects expose nutricosmetic niche as...
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.
young women applying makeup
Tech & Innovation
dsm-firmenich and Estée Lauder advance AI-driven beauty...
Beauty companies are increasingly shifting AI strategies from operational efficiency toward discovery and personalization. dsm-firmenich is applying AI to ingredient discovery through its partnership with Boltz, while The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) is using AI-powered insights through Profound to optimize brand visibility across generative search platforms.dsm-firmenich’s partnership with Boltz will leverage the biomolecular modeling AI start-up’s proprietary foundation models in the global flavors and fragrances company’s ingredient-discovery process and will use them to develop scent molecules.
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Business News
L’Oréal leans into K-beauty with Cosmax development...
L’Oréal and South Korean cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), partnering to develop novel K-beauty-inspired cosmetics, ingredients, and sensorial formulations for global audiences. Under the partnership, L’Oréal offers its global brand portfolio and consumer knowledge, while Cosmax brings science-backed product development and agile R&D.

Personal care focus

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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

Product innovation

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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
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Consumer Reports: States urged to regulate braiding hair amid federal silence
 Paulo Teixeira, Melt&Marble
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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
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NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026: Givaudan highlights PrimalHyal 300 for skin repair
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