Cosmetic Business 2025: Natural ingredients and longevity shape new skin care

Longevity has made its way into the vocabulary of everyone in the personal care industry, with businesses increasingly viewing healthy aging through a holistic lens underscored by natural ingredients and biotechnology.

Last week, at Cosmetic Business 2025 in Munich, Germany, healthy skin aging using sustainable ingredients was widely presented. Personal Care Insights spoke to industry experts from Seppic, Barentz, Vytrus Biotech, and IOI Oleo about how consumers are demanding solutions that cater to their specific skin care needs and align with their moral beliefs.

“We see longevity as a good way to describe the trends in the cosmetic industry because it relates to health span — to living longer but also better. Longevity is not a new word, but it reflects what we see is happening right now,” says Daniel Robustillo, sales director at Vytrus Biotech.

Longevity and biotech converge

Barentz showcased a new concept kit at the trade show, focused on timeless defense. It contains four products designed to protect and extend a healthy skin lifestyle.

“The concept is linked to the longevity trend, photoaging, and the consequences of exposure. And for me, they are two of the most exciting and rapidly interesting trends on the market today,” Karine Bonnet, technical marketing director for EMEA at Barentz, tells Personal Care Insights.

Regarding how the industry will evolve, Bonnet expects hyper-personalization, AI, and skinification to grow. She also flags that formulations focusing on the microbiome and biotech ingredients will increase in popularity.

Vytrus Biotech’s Robustillo spoke to us about its new ingredient, Clarivine, inspired by biology.

“We always take inspiration from the plant and biology and try to translate that to our active ingredients. So, in this case, we treated grape plants in a way that we force the production of molecules related to fasting,” says Robustillo.

“We activate fasting processes in the skin. We have a high concentration of peptides, secondary metabolites, and polyphenols. We also have exosomes and even analyze what is inside the exosomes. We see that all that cocktail causes an effect on the skin, boosting that fasting-like effect.”

Vytrus Biotech’s Robustillo spoke to us about its new ingredient, Clarivine, inspired by biology.Clarivine activates specific detoxification processes in the skin that are translated microscopically into “glass skin.”

“When we talk about ‘glass skin,’ we talk about the skin that reflects light, that it’s luminous, that doesn’t have imperfections, that has an even tone. We see that this is a concept now that relates to healthy skin, lifespan, and skin health span,” explains Robustillo.

“We don’t think that trend is going to change. It can evolve with different names, but the core concept of ‘glass skin’ is going to stay.”

Naturalness takeover

Seppic presented a new formation kit called Natural Inspiration. All the formulas in the collection are based on the company’s natural polymer range, Solagum.

Solagum AX is an entirely natural, non-microplastic polymer with thickening and stabilizing properties. It is water-soluble and dissolves quickly without a stringy or sticky feel. It is obtained from a manufacturing process where the Acacia Gum coats the Xanthan Gum.

Two formulas in the Natural Inspiration kit were exclusively created for Cosmetic Business 2025. The first is a two-phase leave-on product.

“In the water phase, you find our moisturizer with very good skin barrier properties and our natural preservative, which also has purifying properties. The oil phase is based on our natural silicone alternative and includes two natural active ingredients,” says Bettina Barlog, senior business development manager at Seppic.

Seppic provides silicone alternatives as silicone usage is declining in the personal care industry. This trend can be partly attributed to the fact that silicone is persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. However, their presence in cosmetic formulations provides sensory benefits, so companies seek alternatives.Seppic presented a new formation kit called Natural Inspiration.

“Silicones are famous for their good skin feel. However, they also have some drawbacks, such as limited biodegradability,” says Barlog.

“Here, our Emogreen range is used, which are natural alkanes based on sunflower oil, giving a very good sensory alternative. It is biodegradable and has a similar skin feel but 100% naturality.”

The other ingredient Seppic designed for the show was its Soft and Shine Shampoo.

“It’s a sulfate-free shampoo, thickened and texturized thanks to Solagum AX. It also includes Emogreen L15, our natural silicone alternative.”

Emogreen reduces carbon footprint by up to 115% compared to silicone oils. The patented production process enables the creation of high-purity products based on sustainable vegetable biomass. 

Transparency and sustainability

Marlies Schultz, sales manager of EMEA at IOI Oleo, underscores the presence of sustainability in the personal care industry.

IOI Oleo highlighted its Softisan 650, a vegan multifunctional film-former.“We can see a lot of sustainability and more conscious cosmetics. We always try to figure out trends by asking our customers to get insights into what they are working on and which products are not yet on the market,” she says.

IOI Oleo highlighted its Softisan 650, a vegan multifunctional film-former for cosmetic applications that is water-resistant, moisturizing, long-lasting, and barrier-protecting.

The company specializes in natural esters — natural fatty acids formed when organic acids come in contact with glycerin or alcohol — naturally found in the skin. We spoke to Schultz about what she thought were the most prominent themes at Cosmetic Business 2025. 

“At the show, we are seeing many people discussing transparency, which is being asked for by the consumer so that they know what is inside the product. They want to know what ingredients are good for them and the product’s benefits.”

“The trends are also going to multiple product formats, such as two-in-one solutions and waterless beauty, which aligns with the sustainability movement.”