Markets

As far as markets are concerned, Organic Monitor noted that natural and organic cosmetic brands tend to open their own shops to enter in Asia. This topic will be developed further during the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit that will be held in Hong Kong on 12 and 13 November 2012. Also concerning the natural cosmetics segment, the 2012 edition of the Natural Cosmetics Conference will focus on the desires and expectations of European consumers. This latter event is organized in Berlin (September 25 & 26, 2012) by Elfriede Dambacher, Director of publishing company Naturkosmetik Verlag, in cooperation with NürnbergMesse,

Emerging markets continue to attract investments. Gattefossé has announced the opening of a subsidiary in Brazil, while Symrise announced the strengthening of its presence with the opening of new premises. French brand L’Occitane, which is listed at the Hong Kong stock exchange, has focused its attention on Asia, with the acquisition of French-Korean brand Erborian. Korea is also in the focus of Coty, which is cooperating with LG to tap into this market. French group Yves Rocher oriented its development towards the growing markets surrounding Western Europe (Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe) and acquired a majority stake in Turkish cosmetics maker Flormar.

The London Olympics games in London were a major highlight during this summer, and were marked by the efforts of brands operating in the UK to take advantage of this opportunity to boost rather dull sales.

MakeUp in New York and Beyond Beauty Paris, the two main shows in September, enjoy good perspectives. The organizers of MakeUp in New York, in particular, welcomed a strong increase in the number of exhibitors (+40%) compared to the previous edition. Among new exhibitors, U.S. supplier of disposable accessories and packaging Qosmedix announced that he would showcase several new products on this occasion.

New products

Among the innovations launched during the summer, let’s note the new 3D rendering service offered by Quadpack as well as the airless ampoules proposed by Yonwoo. Actually airless packs have confirmed their position as the important market drivers, in particular with the solutions presented by Lumson and Mega Airless. Regarding ingredients and formulations, Ashland has presented a series of sample formulations for makeup.

Companies

Also worth to note are several financial transactions, including Burberry’s buy back of its perfumes and cosmetics license, the acquisition of HCP, a specialist of prestige cosmetic packaging, by a U.S. private equity fund, as well as Cosfibel’s acquisition of Solvpack, a company specializing in the manufacture of luxury boxes. As per Californian brand of masstige skin care and beauty products Physicians Formula is passed into the hands of Swander Pace Capital, a private equity firm specializing in the acquisition of companies with high growth potential.

Laws & regulations

Regarding regulations, New Zealand has adopted the European requirement for the labelling of nanoparticles contained in cosmetic products, ISO has published two new standards for cosmetics, one on microbial protection and the other on the evaluation of UVA protection.

Appointments

Eventually, some new appointments to remember: Laure Mounier, as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Soupletube group, a leading European manufacturer of flexible laminated tubes, and Raoul Chaves and Florie Schawller respectively appointed Marketing Innovation Director and Sales Manager France at Cosmogen.