After a successful 2022, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna’s highly anticipated beauty trade show returned to its annual March slot. The event featured three shows: CosmoPack, Cosmo Perfumery & Cosmetics and Cosmo Hair & Nail & Beauty Salon. Cosmoprof and Cosmopack Awards accolades were given out to declare the best beauty products and packaging for the upcoming year.
After returning to the fair’s original spring showcase, Cosmoprof has seen an increase in exhibitors post pandemic and a successful year of innovative leaders in the beauty space. BolognaFiere President Gianpiero Calzolari says, “Cosmoprof is once again the reference showcase for the industry in the world. The results of this edition well represent the state of health of the industry.”
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This year’s edition marked its 54th year, featured over 2,984 exhibitors from 64 countries and welcomed over 250,000 visitors from 153 countries around the world. Held on March 16-20, 2023, exhibitors within the beauty supply chain showcased in over 200,000 square meters of space in Bologna’s Fair District.
The CosmoTrends Report, created and curated exclusively by Beautystreams, provides an analysis of the most innovative products on view at the fair. After looking at over 600 submissions before the event was held, the company’s senior vice president creative director Michael Nolte says, “One interesting upcycling packaging innovation that caught our eye is called ‘earth beet denim lipstik’ by Italian company COSMEI.”
As a finalist for the Cosmoprof Awards, “earth beet denim lipstik” is a refillable lipstick based on 70 percent of recycled denim. “In upcycling, you look into other industries — in this case, fashion into materials that are quite harmful to the environment, like denim, and give them a second life,” said Nolte.
At Cosmopack, Dario Ferrari, Intercos Group founder and president, reflected on how its company has been working nonstop despite the challenges of the pandemic. “We have been working the last 3 years, even if COVID was on, we were closed in the lab and offices with no customers.”
The hard work has paid off as the company has made strides in its innovations for powder and lipstick products while homing in on the Asia market. Intercos has moved forward with its plans in Korea for developing an R&D center focused on foundation and skincare. Looking ahead, the cosmetic manufacturers are tapping into the Indian market — they recently bought a plant and are aiming to create unique products for the South Asian subcontinent.
Perfect Corp. Europe Business Development Director, Laurent Bouttier, shared the discovery of many trends, including the importance of personalization. “People are unique and are looking for personalized experiences and products to get radiant skin health and adapt to their skin,” he says. “From a tablet or your iPhone, you can scan your face and get a diagnostic of how the health of your face is and what are the weaknesses of your face — in terms of wrinkles, redness, texture.”
Medical spas and esthetician centers were similarly eager to use skin analysis that consolidates accurate data quickly to provide their customers with further explanation and recommend products to address a client’s concerns.
The company provides technology with AI skin analysis and shade finders which consumers can use to personalize their beauty experience. Bouttier says sustainability for products, packages and formulas is another big trend. The company’s AI technology helps to avoid having wasteful samples in stores.
Bigelow Trading’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Daina Nadler, attended Cosmoprof from a wholesale distributor’s perspective whilst keeping an eye out for intriguing trends that her company’s retail team mentioned. Nadler says she always starts her time at the event by looking at the Extraordinary Gallery — which features new, small and emerging brands.
One of the products that captured Nadler’s attention was mood-enhancing fragrances, which provide beyond just a nose sensory experience. Within the clean product categories, Nadler thinks that the French laundry company, Kerzon, is poised to fill the gap in the market left behind by recent product recalls.
Hybrid beauty products have also been on Nadler’s radar as of late. “I’m really interested in the trend of skincare ingredients in makeup and haircare,” she told WWD. “We started talking about this a few years ago, but we are seeing more prominently. Hydronics, peptides and things like that.”