POWER OF LAUGHTER

Laughing makes us feel good, but it also has the power to transform our lives.

supports sustainable supply chains as a means of preventing child labour in India, where most cosmetic mica comes from.” The brand also uses Certified Organic Baobab Oil that pays its harvesters – mostly Zimbabwean women – a fair wage for their work.

Here in Aotearoa, L’Oréal’s Face Your Future programme is entering its 11th year of providing skills training and employment pathways and opportunities to foster careexperienced youth.

Kiwi makeup brand and social enterprise Indigo & Iris, which donates 50 per cent of its mascara sales to the Fred Hollows Foundation to help end avoidable blindness in the Pacific Islands, is expanding, too, with a recently launched lipstick range that is seeing similar proceeds donated to Dress For Success – a charity chosen by the brand’s Instagram followers.

EPIGENETICS

Skincare developments continue to be guided by our understanding of human biology and what causes visible signs of ageing. The field of epigenetics is responsible for what’s being called the ‘skincare gold rush’, as scientists seek to further understand and utilise the extent to which ageing is predetermined by genetics, versus external factors such as lifestyle and the environment – shown to have a much more significant impact on how well our genes can maintain healthy skin than previously thought.

“The premise of epigenetics is that certain active skincare ingredients promote rapid skin cell regeneration at the skin’s basal layer, thereby improving the production of nutrients such as proteins and collagen for increased skin elasticity,” says Emma Hobson. With the ability to mimic certain functions that the skin does naturally, Hobson explains that these active ingredients hold the potential to reverse the signs of ageing.

“What we are seeing hitting the shelves are products specifically aimed at epigenetic intervention and especially focused on the prevention and repair of ageing skin from environmental factors.”

Discovered during seven years of epigenetics research, Estée Lauder’s recently reformulated Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex features a molecule that is said to help signal the skin’s natural repair response. It’s these discoveries that are currently propelling the entire industry forward.

STEM CELL PROTEINS

“Skincare will continue to trend towards research-backed and sciencebased ingredient innovations,” confirms Nick Lang, CCO of Calecim Professional. “Patients want to see real results without compromising the health of their skin.”

Lang also believes that posttreatment skincare will increase in importance. “With non-invasive procedures gaining traction, a skincare range that can minimise downtime and be incorporated into a daily skincare regime will be of value in years to come.”

Calecim Professional features a new type of technology derived from ethically-sourced red deer umbilical cord lining – a patented source of stem cells from which proteins are cultured. Produced in a certified stem cell laboratory, the stem cells secrete a mix of proteins, growth factors and cytokines that work to restore a healthy epidermal cell turnover. Created by Singapore-based biotech company CellResearch Company, Calecim is currently the only skincare to use cord lining stem cells.

BIOTECHNOLOGY & DELIVERY SYSTEMS

When it comes to skincare trends for 2021, founder of Skin Virtue, Nina Gajic says, “I think there will be a shift in focus to skin health, and innovative biotechnological active ingredients and delivery systems will be front and centre for their ability to support the skin’s functionality, and help it to regenerate and repair damage.”

Gajic explains that biotechnological ingredients are found in biological sources (living organisms). These include botanical, animal and microbial sources such as algae, or apple tree stem cells. They are cultured ingredients that are the products of bioengineering to make chemicals and products. She adds that the effect of biotechnological ingredients on the skin “is generally scientifically proven through in-vitro and clinical studies”.

These ingredients rely on delivery systems such as liposomes – small capsules that have a similar structure to skin lipids, allowing them to easily penetrate the skin and carry the encapsulated active ingredient to the desired site of action. Ionosomes are another encapsulation delivery technology. Ionosomes are resistant to surfactants and electrolytes and provide protection to encapsulated active ingredients that would otherwise dissolve in water, assisting in their delivery to the desired site of action. “Both of these delivery systems help to increase the active ingredient’s potency up to tenfold,” says Gajic.

ADVANCED PEELS

“At-home skincare became a necessity in 2020, and as a result we’ve seen a huge uptick of interest in exfoliating acids,” says Daniel Isaacs, director of research at Medik8. Adept at addressing more stubborn skin concerns from advanced signs of ageing to hyperpigmentation, glycolic acid is one of the most popular exfoliating acids for a brighter, more radiant complexion. Often a key ingredient in peels, Isaacs says the problem with glycolic is that when it is overused it can sometimes leave skin sensitised. To enable people to experience the benefits of glycolic acid without the downside, Medik8 has recently launched a new, 12-week peel programme that combines six in-clinic peels tailored to your specific skin type and concerns, with an at-home regime of prescribed products. “We foresee room in the market for a product that unlocks the extensive benefits of glycolic acid, while addressing and preventing the downsides,” says Isaacs.

GAME ON

After years of nodding begrudgingly to the growth of online gaming and virtual spaces beyond social media, beauty brands are making leaps in embracing this captive audience, despite its being seemingly far removed from the physical rituals of applying makeup or skincare.

With much of the real world on pause thanks to the pandemic, companies have cottoned on to the sheer number of eyeballs on hot gaming platforms including PCs, consoles and mobiles, and how they might use these to their advantage. The statistics don’t lie, after all. According to respected games market

“MORE BEAUTY TIE-INS ARE EXPECTED IN THE GAMING SPACE.”

research firm Newzoo, there were 2.7 billion players globally in 2020 and the global games market grew 19.6 per cent to US$174.9bn. Off the back of this pandemic-prompted growth, and despite the arrival of vaccines meaning that we will soon be spending less time at home, the market is still expected to generate US$217.9 billion annually by 2023.

Crucially, too, the gamer demographic has evolved beyond its young, male archetype. Now, nearly half of players are female, their average age 36, with a growing portion aged 50+. As such, 2021 will see more brands leveraging gaming to promote beauty products.

In 2020, early adopters in the corporate fashion and beauty sphere experimented with creating digital ‘add-ons’ for characters within games such as Animal Crossing and Pokémon Go. These add-ons gave players the ability to personalise their avatars with clothing and makeup designed to look like products available in real life. Givenchy was the first luxury beauty brand to create makeup looks for Animal Crossing creatures, based on iconic products including its Prisme Libre powders and Le Rouge lipsticks.

At a time when far fewer northern hemisphere consumers were visiting the beach – the peak season for shaving – Gillette’s Venus razor brand navigated the challenge of summer marketing by sponsoring a download that gave Animal Crossing players greater ability to personalise their avatar skin tones. The upgrade increased the available selection from just a few shades, to 19 different skin types in eight in-game skin tones, resulting in over 250 different options. Also represented for the first time were common skin realities including freckles, acne, hair, cellulite, scars and stretch marks, as well as more unique and underrepresented skin conditions and features such as vitiligo, psoriasis, tattoos and differently-abled bodies.

With MAC, Glossier, Tatcha and Benefit recently offering unique approaches in the gaming space, plenty more are expected to explore real-life tie ins this year.

EMOTIVE FRAGRANCE

With its unrivalled ability to evoke another time or place, or enhance your connection to your current environment, it’s not surprising our fragrance desires have been significantly impacted over the past year, prompting brands to concentrate on seeking out emotive scents.

“Fragrance in 2021 is going to be all about being transported,” explains Mecca’s Marita Burke. “Understandably, people are currently gravitating towards scents that remind them of places they have been or would love to visit, and that they cannot access at the moment. Whether your dream destination is a foreign city, the ski slopes or a tropical island, and whether its scent is a familiar memory or a hope for the future, the right perfume will take you there.”