Nutricosmetics targets skin-whitening market

Liki von Oppen-Bezalel, VP Business Developing and Marketing for IBR, told CosmeticsDesign​ that "IBR's PhytoflORAL, a tomato powder rich in colourless carotenoids called phytoene and phytofluene, contains the properties that allow for the skin whitening process to take effect. And because it can be taken orally it is a perfect ingredient for nutricosmetics products".​

Nutricosmetic products have, until now, mainly targeted the anti-ageing and hair care industries, with L'Oreal and Nestle joining together to create the products Imedeen, a skin care supplement, and Inneov, a skin care and hair care supplement.

However, the development of the oral skin-whitening ingredient targets a huge trend in Asia, which industry experts such as von Oppen-Bezalel believe is now set to become big in Europe, as the brightening effects of such products are said to make users' skin appear younger..

The Asian association that a lighter complexion is more beautiful means that skin whiteners are leading the pack in the cosmetics market, with conditioning polymers, skin whitening agents and emollients said to demonstrate the continued highest growth rate, at more than 12 per cent each, which actually outpaces the overall growth for the Chinese cosmetics industry.

A new trend that is also developing is ingredients that can be used for both topical and oral cosmetics, with IBR marketing colourless caroteniods as targeting the 'inside and out', with them recently launching the PhytofLORAL ingredient this September at the Beyond Beauty expo.

Von Oppen-Bezalel suggested that it is currently mainly leading cosmetic giants - Christian Dior and Procter and Gamble - that are creating product lines using the ingredients for both oral and topical applications.

When discussing the industry demand for nutricosmetic ingredients, von Oppen-Bezalel stated that: "So far IBR is meeting the needs of its customers, and I feel confident that with good planning we do not anticipate any shortfalls on the production of our products. However, if we did have any manufacturing shortages it would represent an exceedingly high demand for our nutricosmetic ingredients."​

This indicates that the demand for these ingredients has not yet reached its peak, and is still a fast developing market. However, she also stated that: "We are certain the current markets will continue to grow, and we are looking forward to growing with them",​ von Oppen-Bezalel indicated.

A recent study by Klein & Company found that the global nutricosmetics market was valued at $1bn, a figure the company says is set to double over the next five-year period.

Carrie Mellage from Klein and Company told that many large companies, such as L'Oreal and Shiseido are taking on fast-growing market and developing product lines to target the oral beauty market.