The Beauty Cluster held the eighth edition of Beauty Innovation Days in Barcelona on 21 and 22 February. The auditorium where the event took place had exclusive spaces dedicated to networking and an exhibitors' area where the sponsors of the Beauty Cluster were able to meet with their LipoTrue, Inquiaroma, Dermaclaim, Merck, Special Chemicals, Amitahc, Eurofragance and Envaselia could showcase their innovations to those present at the event. More than 65% of the Innovation Days attendees were from leading brands in the cosmetics industry.
As part of the Beauty Innovation Days, the second edition of the Beauty Innovation Awards was also held, which rewards and promotes innovation in companies in the sector in six categories. The innovation event was attended by members of the UK Cosmetics Cluster, the Italian Cosmetics Cluster and Cosmetics Valley.
The 21st of February began with the institutional welcome by Elena Grau, Board Member and Founder of Beauty Cluster, who underlined the importance of this type of event within the industry. The event was directed and presented by Marisa Ferré, Innovation Specialist of Beauty Cluster, and gave way to the first presentation, by Patricia Gisbert, Innovation Manager of Beauty Cluster, who explained and approached the attendees the latest innovations and scientific advances in the beauty industry. After Patricia Gisbert's presentation, the sponsors of the Innovation Days presented to the public the advances and innovations that they were presenting during this congress. First, Lipotrue, followed by Inquiaroma, Dermaclaim, Eurofragance, Amitahc, and finally, Merck. Before the Coffee Break, Dr. Katerina Steventon, Research, Innovation & Enterprise at Skin Health & Aging, presented the new concept of Well-Aging, a new healthy ageing and its relevance within the beauty and personal care industry. During her half-hour presentation, she called for collaborative innovation to achieve ethical and sustainable beauty and spoke about the need for a proactive and holistic approach to healthy ageing.
After the coffee break, Lehvoss, Bicosome, Vytrus, Rahn and Symrise talked about their cosmetic assets and how they have incorporated innovation and what role it has played in their development and manufacturing. Rosalia Di Gesu, Associate Director Beauty & Personal Care at Mintel, explained what the main beauty and personal care trends will be in 2024. In her presentation, she uncovered the future of beauty and introduced the audience to "Silent Beauty", the importance of wellness through psychodermatology and the revolution in the sector thanks to artificial intelligence. Susana Arranz, Innovation & International Director of Stanpa, explained to the attendees the importance of achieving a more sustainable industry and how innovation can help to achieve sustainability goals. Prior to the Networking Lunch, in which attendees took the opportunity to connect, Circe, Kao, ADP, Croda and Indermal also presented their innovations in their latest assets.
Afterwards, Joan Campderà, from Aktiva's design agency, gave the first talk of the afternoon, in which the content revolved around the importance of packaging innovation. Before the end of the first day of the event, Quadpack, Pujolasos, Envaselia and Molpack explained the main innovations in their cosmetic packaging products and also explained how innovation and sustainability have become fundamental pillars when creating and developing.
The second day of the event began thirty minutes after nine o'clock, with a presentation by Fernanda Cantú, Marketing & Sales Manager for Spain and Latin America at Beauty Streams. Cantú spoke about 'Soul Care' and how new consumers are looking for pleasure, security and feeling good when it comes to their beauty routines and how beauty is changing in meaning and increasingly revolves around mental health, self-care and general wellbeing. After Fernanda Cantú's speech, the final product and beauty tech brands (Germaine de Capuccini, Foreo, Naos, Montibello, Glo and Microcaya) explained to the attendees of this second day how innovation had influenced their particular cases. After the coffee break, AINIA presented Digital Twins, and the digital twins project, a technology that is gaining presence and gaining momentum in various sectors, including now in the pharmaceutical sector that helps to improve capacity and monetize strategic investments, on this occasion, applied to the cosmetics industry. Afterwards, Cosmo International Fragrances, Kemchain and Intellico also had their turn to explain their latest developments and how they have innovated their products.
To close the event, the second edition of the Beauty Innovation Awards was held, an opportunity to recognise companies in the sector for their great innovations and to continue promoting a disruptive, revolutionary and pioneering industry. In this edition, six winners were chosen for the six corresponding categories.
Marisa Ferré, Innovation Specialist of the Beauty Cluster, invited the attendees to attend the next edition to be held next February 2025.