Having spent a year on maternity leave I am really excited to be back at Oat Cosmetics and am enjoying working in the marketing team again! With a fresh new outlook on the industry I thought it would be interesting to share the latest hot topics that I have picked up on since being back:
Free From
It seems the ‘free from’ list has doubled in the last year with more and more brands using the lack of certain chemicals or molecules as a key marketing focus on their cosmetic product launches. The trend has grown so much in the past year that 2016 brings the first FreeFrom Skincare Awards run by Skins Matter as well as an free from focused exhibition and conference ‘Free From Cosmetics’ this summer in Amsterdam. This growing trend has not gone unnoticed in the industry with many experts claiming the trend is based on fear and not science.
This trend is very well established in the food industry with supermarket aisles packed full of free from products. Consumers choose to eat these products for a number of reasons but the outcome is to try and live a more comfortable and healthier lifestyle, if consumers are so careful to choose what chemicals and products they put in their body then it only follows that they should care what they put on their body too.
The oat itself is well know as a free from food source and here at Oat Cosmetics we are proud to offer a number of free from products to the cosmetics market too. We are the number one supplier of oat oil in the world; our gluten free Oat Lipid e is a ceramide rich, replenishing oil which adds a luxuious and smooth feel to any cosmetic product. Additionally we have a number of unique free from formulationcontaining our versatile oat ingredients Oat COM, Oat SILK and Oat Lipid including our ground breaking natural and silicone free serum which was featured at the In Cosmetics 2015 Innovation zone.
Natural Microbeads
This is fast growing trend driven by the recent ban (Dec 2015) on the tiny bits of plastic found in many cosmetic products, particularly exfoliants called microbeads.
Research has shown that and estimated 8 trillion plastic balls are getting through water treatment plants filtration devices and slipping into the worlds water ways and end up being consumed by marine animals. This is not only polluting and killing wildlife but the beads are also ending up in the food chain and could be a potential risk to humans.
The ban is being rapidly pushed through and is due to come into force as quickly as 2017 and this is driving a huge trend of natural and safe alternatives. Some of my favourite include; apricot shells, jojoba beans, poppy seeds, volcanic minerals, cocoa beans, and Oats… watch this space.
