When I moved apartments last year, I decided to treat myself to a scalp treatment at a new head spa on the west side of Chicago. It sounded like the perfect way to relax after a stressful weekend of boxes and moving vans. The treatment started with a consultation, including scans of my scalp and an overall assessment of my scalp’s health. Based on those scans, the esthetician came up with a treatment plan and we moved on to the actual service, which included a scalp massage, gua sha stimulation, deep cleansing and hydration. I think I may have briefly fallen asleep; that’s how relaxed I was.
This was the first time I’d really been exposed to “scalp care” as its own category with its own set of issues and nuances. Watching the esthetician analyze images of my own scalp (a very strange experience), I learned about the impact of inflammation on oil control and the difference between hair density and hair thickness. I left the spa not only relaxed, but fully educated on a whole new area of beauty.
The October issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries is focused on scalp care in cosmetics, a category that is quickly growing. Dr. Florian Genrich and his colleagues from Symrise contributed a technical article on scalp odor and new methods to address the specific causes. Consultant Peter Bailey writes about advances in scalp health and care, from new technologies to biological actives and helps frame the future of these treatments. Marc Eeman of Dow Silicone focuses on sensitive scalp care with the combination of mild cleansing and supportive hydration in his research piece. These articles cover so many different topics and nuances within scalp care, and I think we’ve only scratched the surface. This category is only going to continue to boom.
This month’s issue also covers innovation in color cosmetics. The category itself is large and encompasses so many different types of products, from lipstick to eyeshadow to foundation to mascara. Our Expert Opinions column features our industry partners and where they see the next wave of innovation in color, highlighting multi-functional products and the continued “skinification” of cosmetics. In Industry Insights, I spoke to Claude Saliou, key research and innovation leader at The Estée Lauder Companies, and professor Kaida Xiao at the University of Leeds about their research on color perception in relation to shade matching. This research is truly one of a kind, and I’m predicting it will have a massive impact on the industry.
I think both of these topics are microcosms of the larger shifts occurring in our industry: consumers are learning more about their own health and wellbeing, and as a result they want more out of their products. After I went to the head spa, I started doing my own research on products to help reduce scalp inflammation and stimulate the follicles. Isn’t that the goal, to empower consumers to make choices that help them feel good?
