The winners of the 5th edition of "The Cosmetics Victories", an innovation competition sponsored by Cosmetic Valley and ESSEC endowment fund, have been revealed.

The awards honour innovative projects in fragrances and cosmetics from students, researchers, start-ups and SMEs within two categories: Academy and Industry.

Chaired by Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the Cosmetic Valley competitiveness cluster, the jury [1] awarded its 2020 prizes to two of the six finalists selected among mor than 30 entries, from Europe, Asia and the United States.

The Industry Prize was awarded to ColorForge, a US-based start-up which developed and ingenious custom manufacturing and packaging system for make-up products, and the Academic Prize was awarded to Michel Grisel, professor and researcher at Le Havre Normandy University, France, for a new model of synthetic skin.

The Cosmetic Victories 2020 - Winners

Michel Grisel

Academic Prize: Michel Grisel, Le Havre Normandy University (France), for the “Non-biological skin mode” project, a new synthetic skin model for testing and claim substantiation.

“The presented non-biological surface was developed with the aim of faithfully reproducing the topological and physico-chemical characteristics of the surface of human skin This synthetic skin model was analysed and validated by comparison with in vivo and ex vivo skin measurements. It proved to be a perfect model for studying the interactions and properties of raw materials and cosmetic products on human skin. With it, we can easily assess moistness, adherence, spreading, residual film properties, etc. with a high degree of precision and at low cost,” explained Michel Grisel.

John LaHood

Industry Prize: John LaHood, President of ColorForge (United States), for the project “Additive Manufacturing for Custom Cosmetics”, a new 3D printing and additive manufacturing technology.

“ColorForge Custom Cosmetics is a sustainable additive manufacturing process. It is the first patented 3D printing process that manufactures custom color cosmetics and product casing simultaneously, sustainably and with scale. No minimums or waste. This technology also makes it possible to manufacture powder-based beauty products in a variety of product categories and in various shapes and sizes. The ColorForge manufacturing process delivers a virtually limitless range of vibrant colours, as well as the option of customising the product and creating unique patterns and gradients,” said LaHood.

Created in 2015 by the Cosmetic Valley The Cosmetic Victories competition is open to young researchers, academics, university students, as well as people in charge of innovative projects (from start-ups and SMEs) in the perfume and cosmetics field.

Each winner will receive a cash prize of EUR 10,000 and might be supported by Cosmetic Valley to develop their project,and facilitating collaborations.