Celebrating its 10th anniversary, The Cosmetic Victories competition — sponsored by the Cosmetic Valley-ESSEC endowment fund — continues to champion scientific research and innovation in the perfume and cosmetics industry.
Log in to view the full article
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, The Cosmetic Victories competition — sponsored by the Cosmetic Valley-ESSEC endowment fund — continues to champion scientific research and innovation in the perfume and cosmetics industry.
According to the organizers, this year’s edition reaffirmed its commitment to advancing responsible innovation, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and the future of cosmetics.
94 Entered, 6 Made It
This year (2025), the competition attracted 94 projects from 21 countries, with six finalists selected by an international jury of scientific experts. Per the organizers, these projects reflected transformative advances across the industry’s value chain — from harnessing natural ingredients to optimizing product performance, studies of environmental impacts on skin aging, and exploring sensory and emotional product effects.
Aligned with the Cosmetic 360 fair’s 2025 theme, “AI at the Heart of Innovation,” the finalists included the following.
Industrial Category
- NETRI (France): Uses neurons as biosensors via the NeoBento platform to digitally predict ingredient efficacy through neuronal activity signatures.
- LORETTA (France): Developed a nanometric Digital Skin Twin combining high-speed AFM and AI to revolutionize precision in dermatological and cosmetic analysis worldwide.
- BYOME LABS (France): Offers rapid, point-of-sale skin microbiome analysis with AI-powered personalized beauty recommendations, promoting sustainable and precise skin care.
Academic Finalists
- University of Naples Federico II (Italy): Is investigating Lactobacillus-derived exosomes for antioxidant protection, skin barrier reinforcement and tissue regeneration as natural skin care solutions.
- Stanford University (USA): Is conducting quantitative studies on how sensory neuron activation by cosmetic products modulates perception, combining biomechanical tests and in vivo analysis.
- IBGC CNRS UMR5095 (France): Is exploring natural protein instability as an aging biomarker to assess environmental effects on skin and improve preventive cosmetic strategies.
Winners Take All
The finalists presented their innovations at a prestigious ceremony in Paris on May 20, 2025, where two €10,000 prizes were awarded — one each in academic and industrial categories.
The winners are:
- IBGC CNRS UMR5095 (France) and
- LORETTA (France).
Since its inception in 2015, The Cosmetic Victories mission has been to discover talent, support research and promote the global scientific prestige of the French cosmetics industry, per the organizers.
