Consumer centricity: a strategy that is paying off
Put forward at MakeUp in Paris, the new Nail + Lips Night Balm 2in1: "It’s a multifunctional vegan nail care and lip care; it acts like a comfort mask for the nails, and forms a protective film on the lips at night, thus preventing them from drying out," explained Aurélie Ignaccolo, Product Strategy & Marketing Director at IL Cosmetics. "It’s a no-gender, versatile, easy to use product, suiting all-ages that also adopts all the codes of clean beauty through its anti-waste side (i.e. a single pack for 2 functions). But for us, it is also an iconic product, because it draws on all our skills: those of International Lacquers for nails, and of Luxcos for make-up".
The formula won over to the jury members of the Innovation Tree at MakeUp in Paris, who selected it in the best full-service innovation category, especially for the audacity of its dual purpose and its adequacy to consumer expectations in terms of ease of use, product benefits and ethics.
Spotlight on mascara
The strong point of Luxcos is undoubtedly mascara. "At the Group level, it is the most important category after nail polish and as such is granted important R&D resources," underlined Juanita Parra, Marketing Manager, Makeup Division for IL Cosmetics. Once again, Luxcos has put the consumer at the centre of its innovation drive.
"Mascaras follow the same underlying trends as other cosmetic products: the need for more practical formulas that are easy to use and remove. Mascaras users are also looking for both eco-friendly solutions and vegan formulas, a growing trend particularly in the United States and Europe," highlighted Juanita Parra.
To meet these new expectations, Luxcos has been working on ways of replacing beeswax, an animal-based, key ingredient in many mascara formulas. The challenge being to preserve the make-up performance of the formula using carefully selected vegetable waxes.
"We are able to offer vegan alternatives whatever the texture: cream, waterproof, easy-removal or lash-care while guaranteeing make-up results."
Among the 100% vegan favourites showcased at MakeUp in Paris:
– Naughty me - a mascara made from vegetable rice waxes enriched with jojoba oil, sweet almond oil and vitamin E - which offers a buildable volume effect.
– The new Life-Proof technology: an anti-smudge formula that can withstand all sorts of challenges: sports, sweat, rain, tears; the formula dissolves easily with warm water and takes the form of small tubes when removed from lashes.
"Consumers today have become much more demanding and are looking for mascaras suiting their lifestyles and therefore expect brands to propose them products with all the pros and no cons," added Juanita Parra.
On the clean beauty side, Luxcos is working on formulas with a high concentration of natural ingredients, which will be presented in the second half of 2019 with on top of it, a recycled packaging.
Consumer expertise
Luxcos benefits from the expertise of the IL Cosmetics Group when it comes to studies and consumer panels. "For mascaras, volume still stands as the most expected and desired parameter and each consumer has a definition of its own. Tastes vary from one market to the other and from one profile to the other. One of the challenges for formulators is to design samples which are representative of this diversity," observed Aurélie Ignaccolo.
Driven by performances, Inspired by You, also seems to be the path of the winning strategy to follow for Luxcos, by only offering technologies in line with consumer expectations.
