Most exciting brands, ingredients and innovations leading in anti-pollution & probiotic-inspired skin care

We caught up with Coronado ahead of her presentation on the topic at the upcoming  in-cosmetics Global​ industry event, set to take place in Amsterdam, 17 - 19 April. Find part one of this interview here​.

Can you give an overview of some of the which ​manufacturers​ and brands are leading the way in anti-pollution and probiotic-inspired personal care?​

While new launches of products with anti-pollution ingredients are expected across more beauty categories, perhaps the most interesting opportunities in the anti-pollution field will rely on cutting-edge technological innovations that enable consumers to fully control at real-time the levels of protection.

Another dynamic area under the anti-pollution umbrella is the standardization of clinical trials to assess the effectiveness of the ingredients. Several companies are currently performing research to develop protocols to test anti-pollution efficacy.

In the probiotic arena, it is not a secret that a handful of startups, Mother Dirt in the US, Esse Skincare in South Africa and Yun Probiotherapy in Europe, have shaken up the skincare industry by formulating the first beauty products with living bacteria.

However, while probiotic-based beauty is an emerging and very promising area, developing products containing these ingredients is costly due to technical challenges in formulation and packaging.

This obviously limits the probiotic’s opportunity to the premium market with very niche offering in terms of product proposition and distribution.

Over the last year, the trend has naturally evolved from these first products with living probiotics to less challenging solutions that respect the skin microbiome and even help to boost and strengthen the skin natural defence.

Microbiome-derived and microbiome friendly products with natural and milder ingredients are entering the market opening up further opportunities.

For instance, Mother Dirt, the company that developed AO Mist, a product containing alive ammonium oxidizing bacteria, is now offering a biome-friendly moisturizer with ingredients that mimic the skin barrier.

Ingredients manufacturers are also engrossing its portfolio with new launches. For instance, CODIF has recently launched Actibiome, a combination of microbiome friendly ingredients that claim to reverses the skin microbiota imbalance.