Today’s consumers are constantly searching for new ways to be sustainable and protect the environment. Increasingly, they’re looking for options in all aspects of their daily lives, including their beauty regimes. Solid formats within the hair care and cleansing sector are just one way formulators can help consumers to support the planet, and do ‘their bit’ towards a more sustainable world.
This format is extremely prevalent in bath and shower products, a category that has received attention for its environmental impact, given the volume of plastic and water used within this sector due to the frequent use of shower gel and liquid soap (Cosmetics Business, 2021).
Data Behind the Trend
- 53% of German consumers like to see more sustainability innovative ideas from leading beauty brands.
- As interest in waterless cosmetics continues to grow, more solid / stick format products are entering the market across a variety of sectors - not just Personal Care and Cosmetics.
- Solid bars are an alternative for waste-conscious consumers as they significantly reduce the need for plastic packaging.
Good Hair Days
Despite consumer desire to protect the environment, they want to do this in a way that doesn’t intervene with product performance. One key challenge for formulators is to meet consumer expectations by creating sustainable formats that match product performance that consumers have previously been accustomed to. For example, within hair care, consumers are accustomed to optimised conditioning and foaming from liquid products.
Key Benefits
- Solid formats can have a lower cost per usage than traditional water-based formats, particularly in the haircare and bath/shower categories
- These products protect water resources as they contain less water than a liquid product which makes them appealing too for eco-conscious users
- Environmental benefits including minimised carbon footprint and reduced CO2 emissions due to lighter transport.
- Long lasting - less prone to over-usage as a little bit goes a long way
(Mintel, Evonik)
Solid Format Ingredients | Our Picks
- VARISOFT® EQ 100 - A high performance liquid conditioning agent with improved sustainability profile. This speciality, 100% active esterquat provides superior manageability, lubricity and softness to the hair and outperforms leading market standards in both sensorial evaluations and technical measurements.
- TEGOSOFT® OER MB - A highly pure cosmetic ester oil with medium spreadability which is fully based on renewable sources. It imparts a caring and smooth skin feel. The emollient is produced by a unique, eco-efficient enzymatic process fully running on renewable energy leading to an improved impact on global warming by 100% lower CO2 footprint compared to conventional chemical production. Due to its similar properties it can be used as alternative to natural Jojoba Oil.
- STEPANQUAT® Soleil - A modern hair conditioning agent that is better for the hair and the environment thanks to its better ecotoxicity profile compared to BTAC (behentrimonium chloride) and CETAC (cetrimonium chloride). Additionally, STEPANQUAT Soleil is readily biodegradable, GMO-free, and is derived from local renewable/sustainable feedstock. This product smooths each individual hair strand, for super-soft, manageable hair and without any build-up effect.
- TEGO® Betain CK D MB - A surfactant for waterless formulations. TEGO® Betain CK D MB provides pleasant cleaning, foaming and caring properties in skin and hair care formulations.
- LATHANOL LAL COARSE MB - A mild anionic surfactant providing foaming, wetting, and emulsification. It can be used in bubble baths, shampoos, cleansing creams.
- VARISOFT® EQ 65 MB - An ester quat based on high purity stearic acid and is compounded with cetearyl alcohol. It is a readily biodegradable conditioning agent with a high flash point. VARISOFT® EQ 65 MB improves the conditioning properties of the wet and dry hair, and can also act as an emulsifier providing a sensory profile typical of cationic emulsions.
- Corbion AlgaPūr™ HSHO Algae Oil - One of the most stable liquid bio-based oils on the market, delivering versatility in eco-friendly formulations for skin and hair care. AlgaPūr™ HSHO algae oil is a natural ingredient (according to ISO 16128), readily biodegradable, palm-free and fully traceable. It can be combined with or replace typical vegetable oils — and, in some instances, mineral oil.
- TEGO® Remo 95 MB - A natural-based thickener with emollient properties providing efficient thickening and skin conditioning properties at the same time. It is a low viscous, clear and colourless liquid with an active matter of 95%. TEGO® Remo 95 MB is fully based on renewable sources and contributes to the production of certified sustainable palm oil according to the rules set out by RSPO Mass Balance Supply Chain Model.
- ERYLITE® F8030 FINE - A speciality chemical ingredient, produced by microbial fermentation of a carbohydrate substrate. It is the only sugar alcohol that is considered to be natural. It is suitable for a wide variety of Personal Care applications, including; hair care, deodorants, colour cosmetics, oral care, skin care and shower/bath rinse off products.
Water(less) - Solid Bar Formulation
87% of shoppers would like to see more beauty brands develop a waterless product. Here at Surfachem, we’ve taken this onboard to create our ‘Water(less)’ concept, featuring our latest cleansing innovation - ‘All Wash Bar’.
