Modern Product Protection for a Green Future

Modern Product Protection for a Greener Future As trends and priorities shift in the constantly evolving personal care world, so do our standards. Beauty pursuit is undoubtedly endless, and we continue this search both around us and in our minds and bodies. While the desire for a more sustainable future is not new by any means, it has gained greater prominence in recent years. With growing consumer education and deeper understanding of internal commitment and mutual impact, a rising sense of responsibility emerges not only for our own well-being but also for that of our surroundings. Consumers are more conscious about the environmental impact of their products. Natural formulations are perceived as safer, gentler and healthier for the skin, benefiting both consumers and the environment. As evidence of how educated today's consumers have become, nearly 70% know how to define sustainable products and almost 80% are willing to pay more for more sustainable products. [1] [CICS 2018 Cosmetic Ingredients Consumer Research]. Consequently, the global natural cosmetics market is estimated to approach EUR 29 billion by 2027 with annual growth rates exceeding 8%. Due to consumers' increasing environmental awareness, there is a growing sense of responsibility regarding their consumption. By consuming better but less, they value quality over quantity. Consumers increasingly focus on functional, high-performance and results-driven products where fewer ingredients deliver greater value. This inevitably results in shorter ingredient lists on product labels and greater transparency. When skin care products offering multiple benefits in a simplified beauty regimen are preferred, sustainability also gains. Formulators face nearly daily challenges in developing high-quality, functional, attractive and stable products. At the same time, changing consumer expectations create positive pressure on formula manufacturers seeking to meet these demands. What formulators and consumers are looking for is a properly named category of components – "multifunctional ingredients" – which are truly well-designed to provide numerous functions. This product group is increasingly used in cosmetic formulations as part of the "doing more with less" trend. In addition to delivering diverse benefits including both consumer and formulation advantages, they also enhance product protection. 1,2-Alkanediols are the fastest-growing chemical class of multifunctional ingredients and can function as humectants, solvents, wetting agents, emulsion stabilizers and foam stabilizers for many cosmetic formulations, among other beneficial properties. They can reduce formulation complexity, save on formula costs, reduce component inventory and with these potential advantages help reduce negative environmental impact. Since pentylene glycol's initial market introduction in the cosmetics sector, several additional alkanediols have been added, such as caprylyl glycol, 1,2-hexanediol and decylene glycol. As consumer interest has increasingly shifted toward more sustainable and green ingredients in recent years, a bio-based version of pentylene glycol was developed. This was a groundbreaking change, but a green transition that had to be followed by other green diols. More recently, bio-based caprylyl glycol appeared on the market, and the first pure 100% bio-based caprylyl glycol was launched earlier this year. Looking back, it was almost inevitable that such a versatile and popular ingredient would enter the green product category. After all, nearly 9% of all personal care launches in the past 5 years contained caprylyl glycol. [Mintel: launches between 2017 and 2021]. More unexpectedly, another groundbreaking step was achieved with the market introduction in 2021 of 1,2-heptanediol – a chain length previously missing from the alkanediol series, with seven carbons. Its absence from the diol range was partly due to the lack of commercial availability of C7 raw materials. Another reason may have been that expectations for this diol were suppressed and properties were limited to those between 1,2-hexanediol and 1,2-octanediol, based entirely on structure-property relationships. Although alkanediols may appear quite similar from a structural perspective, each has unique properties. Similar structures showing only slight differences in chain length in the homologous series of 1,2-alkanediols do not make the use of green sources trivial at all. In fact, raw materials come from surprisingly different sources. Green pentylene glycol is derived from bagasse, a waste product of the sugarcane industry. Bio-based caprylyl glycol starts as palm kernel oil. Naturally derived 1,2-heptanediol comes from another plant. Olefins with an unequal number of carbon atoms cannot be produced in the Shell Higher Olefin process and therefore the volumes and economics of such synthetic raw materials are quite limiting. It is also known that odd-numbered hydrocarbons are not found in nature. This situation presented sourcing challenges that were ultimately successfully overcome by obtaining the desired raw material from castor oil. The supply of raw material is actually ideal due to the low resource demand of the castor bean plant. The highly flexible castor bean plant can be grown on marginal lands and therefore does not compete with food crops. This highly sustainable plant is the most suitable source for a green cosmetic ingredient. When it comes to multifunctional products, there are still very limited options for environmentally friendly and bio-based ingredients. The three green diols mentioned above offer new possibilities for more sustainable personal care products. 1,2-Heptanediol is a very important contribution to the naturally derived multifunctional ingredients group not only because it is derived from a natural raw material, but also because of its unique benefits and performance. While certain properties such as water solubility and physical structure share common benefits specific to other 1,2-alkanediols, 1,2-heptanediol also exhibits a series of unique behaviors. For example, while 1,2-hexanediol has unlimited solubility, caprylyl glycol has a 0.5% solubility limit. The 2.5% solubility of 1,2-heptanediol precisely meets expectations. Most importantly, this is above the use concentration of this ingredient for product protection and other benefits. Its physical form also follows predictability according to its structure. Like shorter-chain alkanediols, 1,2-heptanediol remains liquid at normal temperatures. This, along with cold processability, provides ease for formulators working with this ingredient. However, the predictable properties of 1,2-heptanediol largely end there. Its exceptional performance and benefits rise above expectations, earning its rightful place in the 1,2-alkanediol series where each member has different properties. For example, pentylene glycol possesses unique solubility potential, active performance enhancement and sensory benefits, among others. 1,2-Hexanediol has a positive effect on the sensory properties of formulations while having slightly different solubility characteristics. Caprylyl glycol is a wetting agent that can explain its effect of improving product aesthetics. All are effective product protection enhancers like 1,2-heptanediol. Some of the most interesting benefits of 1,2-heptanediol include antioxidant boosting, odor reduction and helping with sebum modulation. Protection against the effects of free radicals in cosmetic products is of primary importance. Oxidatively unstable components can degrade, resulting in substandard aesthetics and potentially formulation instability. Fortunately, this can be effectively mitigated with antioxidants that scavenge free radicals. It was discovered that 1,2-heptanediol helps antioxidants protect oxidatively unstable components in formulations and is highly effective in preventing end product deterioration. An excellent model of such an unstable substance is sunflower oil. Essentially the OxipressTM chamber, which can provide excessive oxidative conditions, was used to test the stabilizing effect of tocopherol when combined with 1,2-heptanediol. Sunflower oil was subjected to 5 bar O2 at 80°C for 48 hours. The induction period, the delay until oxidation began as detected by the instrument, was used as a measure of antioxidant efficacy. Because tocopherol alone was already quite effective, it extended the onset of oxidation by 7 hours. However, when a low concentration of 1,2-heptanediol was present, this period was extended further. Sensory tests conducted by an untrained panel confirmed the reduced bitterness of sunflower oil in the presence of tocopherol and even more reduced bitterness in the presence of the combination. This demonstrates that 1,2-heptanediol can be widely applicable for protecting unstable cosmetic ingredients against oxidation. Multifunctional ingredients enhance product protection to improve the quality and shelf life of formulations. 1,2-Alkanediols are typically used as part of modern product protection systems. They are effective, reliable, stable and versatile. While use levels depend on chain length, all can contribute to complete protection in smart combinations. With the availability of a range of bio-based 1,2-alkanediols, it is now possible to expand the opportunities for creating more diverse green products, use these robust multifunctional ingredients to improve the protection of green formulations. Even in conventional formulas, they can increase the Natural Origin Content (NOC) of formulations for more sustainable products designed for environmentally conscious consumers. For a product protection-enhancing agent in an antimicrobial product, how it affects skin microbiota might be an obvious question. A 4-week in vivo test with 22 subjects using DNA sequencing to determine any changes in microbiota composition yielded very positive results for all three green diols: results were quite similar after four weeks, and these diols had no significant effect on skin microbiota. Conclusions While the journey of 1,2-alkanediols in cosmetics as multifunctional ingredients began 30 years ago, it has become even more exciting with the increasing sustainability of multifunctional products and the cosmetics market in general. The emergence of green alkanediols not only meets market needs but also leads the green transformation. The recent market introduction of bio-based 1,2-heptanediol and caprylyl glycol has the potential to help formulators confidently respond to consumers' continuously growing demands. In addition to being key components of modern product protection systems, their unique benefits contribute to a sustainable future while appealing to consumers' senses and minds, expanding the possibilities of successful and versatile formulations. References: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-natural-and-organic-cosmetics-industry-2020--2027----key-market-trends-and-drivers-301286622.html Author: Dr. Balint Koroskenyi Global Product Manager, Micro Protection Symrise Compiled by: Özgür Çelen Sales Manager Symrise