This year’s show confirmed the interest in ecoresponsible ingredients and new gourmand notes: these two rooted trends still have bright days ahead. And yet, the event was also marked by other highlights. Here’s Premium Beauty News’s top 5 key points.
More environmentally friendly ingredients
Supercritical CO2 extraction, upcycling, biotechnologies... These more ecoresponsible processes are gradually becoming the norm. Supercritical CO2 extraction, which is cleaner than hexane extraction, is getting more and more common. A pioneer of this technique since 1992, dsm-firmenich leveraged it to create more vibrant and mineral incense.
Robertet highlighted its expertise in sustainability – supercritical CO₂, Clean R Scent, and upcycling – in a range of six ingredients, including a mugwort extract obtained from the upcycling of residues from the manufacturing of malaria vaccines. Other examples include an eau de vie extraction with supercritical CO₂ based on the deposits of cognac casks with ambrette, fruity, liquorous accents: a first in the perfumers’ palette – and it is much in line with olfactory trends.
Takasago keeps capitalising on its Nobel Prize obtained in 2001 in Ryoji Noyori for its work on catalysed reactions by chirality. The company uses white and green chemistry to create 100% biodegradable and renewable ingredients of natural origin, including Biomuguet, Biocyclamol, I-citronnellol, and Hedirosa, four fresh floral notes unveiled at the show. Biocyclamol and Biomuguet are obtained from sugar cane, while the other two are derived from pine oil.
Cross-functional materials for more projection
‘Blooming’, ‘verticality’: these terms were everywhere at the show. They convey the quest for intensity and striking trails. To this aim, perfume manufacturers rework on base notes to obtain more amplitude, as can be seen with the beautiful Haitian vetiver in Givaudan’s Signature Collection. As its heavy, earthy facets are lightened with molecular distillation, it reveals fresher and weightless, structuring the fragrance from top to base.
Amber woods are still very present, which confirmed this trend. For example, Ambrostar is a dry woody molecule recently marketed by Symrise, whose power can be perceived as soon as the perfume blooms in the air. Carving an intense trail also requires amplifying the gushing effect of top notes. Robertet has renewed the palette of citrus fruit with kaffir lime essential oil which lingers in the middle notes.
Takasago’s Biomuguet and Biocyclamol provide lily of the valley with vibrant, linear ozonic freshness – an ideal duo to boost the volume and longevity of floral accords. Hedirosa elevates the brightness of top notes (citrus, flowery notes) for enhanced diffusion.
Mane’s rum Jungle Essence and Sublimolide musk perfectly illustrate this trend in how they upgrade the trailing and longevity of perfumes.
Towards more writing realism
Naturalness is in bloom. Perfume manufacturers are shifting the olfactory palette towards a more natural feel: Robertet’s fresh ginger fraction obtained from molecular distillation followed by extraction cœur, a specific extraction technique used to obtain highly refined core notes from ingredients, obliterates the soapy effect of the note and restores the sensation of the freshly cut spice.
This requirement is also visible in Takasago’s biotechnological progress. The synergy of ingredients like Biomuguet and Biocyclamol provides ozonic floral notes with more transparency. As for I-citronellol, it saturates floral accords with a rosy burst of bright purity.
Mane’s Antillone, a molecule with pear and pineapple accents derived from biotechnology, embraces the trend of tropical fruit with a juicy, plump rendering. It is also perfect with floral accords, which it adorns with a plant edge. The E-Pure Jungle Essence obtained from enfleurage and CO2 extraction make it possible to get as close as possible to a flower’s natural state, without traditional solvent artefacts. Unveiled at the show, the E-Pure Jungle Essence Red Champaca smells less animal-like than a standard absolute.
New captive molecules available
The success of amber woods, Oud and, on the other end of the olfactory spectrum, fruity florals, urges perfume manufacturers to release captive molecules in line with these trends.
Previously exclusive to Symrise, Ambrostar offers a striking alternative to other amber woods. This stable ingredient with a woody-dry rendering and mineral, animal-like hints is the perfect combination with gourmand and woody notes.
Designed in the early 2000s by Mane, Antillone is now released. This choice is related to the wave of floral and fruity accords, which this molecule adorns with a realistic rendering. Derived from biotechnology, Antillone also makes it possible for brands to claim natural formulas.
Towards new gourmand horizons
Capua 1880 caused a sensation with a beautiful hazelnut of natural origin. Already known for its citrus fruit, the Italian manufacturer unveiled the NatInfuse collection (hazelnut, iris, jasmine, coffee...) derived from an innovative technology which consists of prolonged infusion under pressure in ethanol to capture the aromatic molecules. This cleaner process at a lower cost both offers a much realistic rendering and renews the natural palette: until now, hazelnut could only be obtained by synthesis.
Independent company Biolandes, which celebrates its 45th anniversary this year, set up its model based on a particular distillation process initially developed to recover Canadian pine by-products. Since then, it has been applied to a wide range of raw materials. A discreet, though constant upcycling pioneer, Biolandes keeps studying previously unexplored paths, as can be seen with two made-in-France ingredients: a button mushroom extract and the sweet clover absolute. The former is derived from dry mushrooms cultivated in the mountainous Southwest region of France. Its gourmand, salted facets with a foie gras effect are pretty surprising. Resulting from a new liquid-liquid double extraction process, its appetizing texture can soften a leathery note, for example. The sweet clover absolute is obtained from the extraction of a common garden plant cultivated near the city of Lyon. It unfolds a mouthwatering signature with gingerbread tones and coumarin variations.
