The Competition of Future Technology Development of Skincare Products

Xu Wenjun

Jinhua Jumei Network Technology Co.,Ltd.,China

Recently,two forces have permanently altered the technology landscape of China’s skincare sector and directly influenced its direction.The first is the biotechnology represented by life science,synthetic biology and gene technology in life science,affecting the innovation and development of cosmetics at the source in the field of biosynthesis of active ingredients and so on.The other is the skin science symbolized by evidence-based medicine and dermatologist.It exerts influence on the screening of efficacy raw material,clinical data and efficacy claim as well as new brand establishment.

In 1986,path I:“regular” fine chemical industry.China defined the product size and identified the positioning of fine chemical industry,daily chemical products and cosmetics.Path II:in 2003,skin care featuring “bioactivity” efficacy.The “biosynthesis”was officially defined by the international scientific community.In 2011,China publishedThe 12th Five-Year Plan for Biotechnology Development.Bioengineering gene technology quickly penetrated into the cosmetics industry.In 2020,path III:the subsidiary path of cosmetic medicine and light cosmetic medicine.The self-created brand of dermatologist has become a trend in China,and the logic of repairing skin care after medical beauty and light cosmetic medicine has begun to rise.These three paths and forces influence each other with overlapping,further enriching the product and technical logic of the cosmetics industry.Meanwhile,this also makes the Chinese cosmetics industry share technical schools and routes of contention,and different schools will inevitably meet conflict and competition.Here,we can take a glimpse of the trend and development of skin care technology in the Chinese cosmetics industry.

1 The “regular” path of cosmetics:concealer-based fine chemicals

Cosmetics are based on fine chemicals in the field of daily necessities.On March 6th,1986,the chemical industry department unified the caliber of fine chemical products with 11 product categories.Chemical medicines (bulk drugs) and daily chemicals produced by chemical system are listed in the 10th item.Since then,cosmetics enjoyed the official industrial belonging:daily chemical category of fine chemical industry.Plenty of insiders divide the industry into large and small daily chemical industry.Namely,they include washing powder and cleaning products which meet the basic needs of the general public and also the skin care and cosmetics which satisfy the needs of the “small portion”.As China enters into the era of “common prosperity”,cosmetics have become the most common daily necessity.

The general care products which are small daily chemicals based on fine chemical category have become the basic care products.They focus more on the fundamental functions such as concealing,decorating and moisturizing.Besides,the technology is based on the continuous upgrading of the formula and the combination of skin feeling and fragrance.This is the general picture of the skin care industry.So far,among the registered cosmetics products in China,moisturizing,moisture retention and hydrating are the three categories with the largest number.According to the definition of hygienic standard cosmetics released in November,1999,cosmetics are the products applied to any part of the surface of the human body (skin,hair,nail,lips and oral mucosa,etc.) by spraying or other similar methods to achieve the purpose of cleaning and eliminating bad odor,skin care,cosmetics and decoration.This concept is the authoritative one recognized by the cosmetics production and application industry in China.

Against such backgrounds,“regular” cosmetic engineers held that cosmetics should not have too many efficacies and they remained alert for those keen on ingredients.Some founders of classic brands and cosmetic factories with history deem that cosmetics should be a kind of basic care product.They believed it is “worthless” and even “mad” to pursue efficacy.It was because skin problems cannot be solved by cosmetics.Rather,they should go to hospital.Many ingredients haven’t been studied for a long time.On the other hand,we have no idea about the possible risks by using those products for one or two decades.Therefore,we dare not rush in this area.In the eyes of these engineers,our country’s blow to medical cosmetics and its strong supervision on products with the name of “special” claiming to have great efficacy is regarded as the support to this group.“It is key to guard the boundary of skin care”.

In recent years,with the emergence of ingredient craze and skin care with efficacy,an increasing number of insiders have begun to seek better efficacy.The boundary between skin care products and medicines becomes blurred.In terms of cosmetics and skin care,it is rare to find skin disease,not including AD atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.The regular moisturizing function has been under use since early 1980s and 1990s.Such basic skin care products have been sufficient in China.Therefore,the cream fine chemical engineers only pursue the skin feeling and stability as they regard cosmetics should not be absorbed but smeared.Apart from that,they suppose safety is the high priority as cosmetics themselves are a kind of decoration product.Safety is the most important.They even hope everything is the simplest.

However,as a matter of fact,lots of consumers suffer from problematic skin (not skin disease) due to environment and pressure,skin condition as well as improper operation and care now.The proportion of such group is quite high.Sensitive muscle and acne are commonly seen today,which should be solved continuously.Medicine cannot solve it,nor does common fine chemical.From the viewpoint of science and skin demand,skin care with efficacy and transdermal absorption promoted by brands and part of dermatologists can help solve the issue.Also,it improves the core competitiveness,differentiation and relative differentiation of products.

2 Skin care with efficacy:bioactive ingredients become the stars

In recent years,those skin care products with better efficacy have been emerging,which affects the traditional fine chemicals.In 2003,the international scientific community officially defined “biosynthesis”.At the same time,with the rapid development of bioengineering and genetic technology,the pharmaceutical industry has been revolutionized,and then cosmetics.

Today,it is very convenient,just like building blocks,to organize various amino acids and monosaccharides into peptides,polysaccharides.Besides,the composition of this compound can be modified to enhance its biological activity,reduce side effects,and improve the skin condition at the cellular level.This is a successful case that a type of technology has changed human body and the industry.On the basis of life engineering and genetic technology,the logic of biopharmaceutical development has brought two key changes to the cosmetics industry:first,new raw materials and bioactive ingredients.They have led to the popularity of effective skin care which becomes prevalent in the cosmetics industry;second,the complete concept of “active ingredients + transdermal + high-end preparation” has become the new logic of effective skin care by using medicines for smearing.

The high priority is efficacy.Comparing to the basic care featuring “safety with little efficacy”,efficacy emerges as the key to consumption upgrading.The majority of cosmetics are those containing fundamental materials.Many of the traditional recipes are still available and still enjoy popularity in the market.But the insiders are aimed at introducing products with great efficacy.Consumers will only buy them when more value is added along with better efficacy.If you just stick to simple moisturizing,businesses cannot gain much profit through selling.Effective skin care is a general direction of future development since the country launched this law at present.

In the past,selling cosmetics equaled to selling shoes in Africa as people rarely used them.They only needed the basic skin care functions such as moisturizing.Today,it is not only about selling shoes but the efficiency of it.Some are selling sneakers while others are selling casual shoes.So,we need to give products more functions such as skin whitening,moisturizing,wrinkle removal and soothing.These are different functions which relate to active ingredients such as peptide,proteins,sugar and their composite scheme.From a scientific point of view,peptide targets are very clear,and even with a specific structure and sequence.Specific sequences can bind to specific receptors or specific pathways in the skin.So,it enjoys specific functions like whitening and anti-aging.Therefore,such raw material of peptide will definitely be used more and more in the future,and the price will be lower and lower.As a result,it degrades from a noble raw material into the ordinary raw material,and each enterprise can afford a raw material.At present,some patented peptide raw materials are mostly composed of several peptides according to their different target effects,which belong to composition patents and enjoy a relatively high premium.

An ideal bioactive material is equipped with a relatively clear targeting mechanism.For example,it could play role by combining with specific receptors,passages or target spots.And it has the transdermal characteristic.Oligopeptide,oligosaccharides and even nucleic acids in raw materials derived from natural inspiration is in large quantity.At present,among the popular skin care ingredients,Pro-Xylane and glycosylglycerol belong to the monosaccharide derivatives.Yet ectoin and erythrothioneine belong to amino acid derivatives,which are bioactive active ingredients.

There are three types of the raw materials used in cosmetics.First,basic material.It is the cornerstone of the pyramid.As the staple product,it is the most consumable with relatively low added value.It mainly stands out by scale production and capacity.Second,functional material lying in the middle of the pyramid with special functions.Yet these functions don’t refer to bioactivity but physicochemical properties such as coverage,thickening,infiltration promotion and oil and water dispersion.The third category is the so-called active ingredients,which are at the top of the pyramid and are expensive but available in small quantities.

The first two types of raw materials are used in almost all cosmetic products.The basic cream could determine the skin feeling and system of the product.The third type of active matters is the icing on the cake which is endowed with premium concept attributes such as culture and art beyond efficacy.Certainly,products of specific molecular structures can span different levels of the pyramid.Take amino acids and peptides as the examples,the raw materials of amino acid surfactant belong to the second category of functional raw materials.However,some cosmetic active peptides belong to the third category of active ingredients.

With the development of the industry,real bioactive ingredients appear in the efficacy and definition of cosmetics,which offers an opportunity for the further development of the industry.Active substances are not necessarily just needed but now attracting more attention,which is a reflection of the consumption upgrading concerning domestic cosmetics industry.We can find that developed countries like Europe,America and Japan started from the simplest concealing and moisturizing to other functions.From the perspective of brand owners,their positioning will become more and more clear while the targeted users are becoming more and more accurate.From the perspective of raw materials,products will be more recognizable with better data,clearer mechanism verification and scientific data and greater efficacy,which is in line with such an industrial trend.

Bioactive ingredients are drawing broader attention in the industry,and dermatologists are beginning to pay attention to effective skin care.Several years ago,the majority of Chinese dermatologists called for the reduction of ingredients used by people.In other words,they favored face without makeup as they held that the basic ingredients of traditional skin care products only added to the burden.After medication,they always said “you need to stop using cosmetics for a while”.But people now have reached consensus that some skin problems are not that serious.And many consumers still suffer from the mild symptoms but they cannot keep taking medicines.So,it is a must to use effective skin care products to stabilize skin for improvement.The “combination of medicine and efficacy”is the optimal choice.

Although dermatologists agree with the idea that drugs work together,a large ratio of doctors still hold reservations about the efficacy of bioactive substances such as peptides.The key reason is that comparing with such ingredients and medicines,the efficacy is limited;the other reason is that the research and data are not that solid.

A senior chief of dermatology mentioned that “the research time of such ingredients is so short.Pitera (SK-II patent composition) and Pro-Xylane belong to SK-II and L’Oreal respectively with limited research published by their own companies.” According to doctors’ perception,the most effective matter is stimulating,and for peptides which are not stimulating,for instance,more data and papers are needed to convince doctors of their efficacy.Take peptide as an example,doctors suppose its efficacy is less than that of VA and VC.Adding VA to a cell,thousands of genes will start to shift,and the peptide doesn’t change the cell that much.Dermatologists,who are in contact with people with skin problems,have a very direct understanding of the effects of various drugs and active ingredients,and have direct feedback from clinical patients on whether they are good or bad.Therefore,what a responsible clinician recommends is most likely a product that works following the patient feedback.But the role of the clinician is to “use”,instead of “production” and “research”.So,there may exist some mismatch.If the industry and research institutes are not aligned with the needs of patients and consumers,dermatologists will be left without any“solution”.This is also a major problem facing the field of domestic skin health.

Doctors are quite familiar with all kinds of drugs and they can provide precise dose control and course guidance according to individual differences.That would be the most effective.However,after all,cosmetics are consumer goods and cannot be standardized.As is often the case,a product needs to be applied by thousands of users.Strong drugs correspond to a strong ratio of irritation to allergy.Consumers need to locate a platform between ineffective and efficient.In terms of the specific path of “medicine and efficacy”,dermatologists and engineers in the cosmetic industry enjoy very different starting points and perspectives.Such difference also creates the third logical path of skin care products,that is,the path of “light medical beauty + medicine + skin care products”.

3 The logic of “light medical beauty +medicine + skin care products” in the eyes of doctors

As the emerging force which greatly affects the development of cosmetics industry,dermatologists are already changing the sector in two ways.First,they are the decisive power behind the efficacy and ingredients involving raw material selection,clinical verification as well as skin problem solution.Since 2020,dermatologists have begun to create their own brands in China,often with skin-care benefits.

In addition,with the prevalence of medical beauty and light medical beauty,post-operative repair and relaxation and other needs are rapidly on the rise,which have brought opportunities in the market.Dermatologists conclude the four skin care basics:clinically based validation data and new raw materials;continuous patient feedback-based formula correction;Making effective products based on the problem-solving logic featuring “I own medicine when you are ill”;scientific content based on dermatology and pathology rehabilitation.

The above four aspects remain the skin care logic of dermatologist.On the other hand,consumers’pursuit of beauty is to have gain more direct effect within a shorter period of time,and high-end users will naturally migrate to medical beauty.In such scenario,skin care products,as the basis and stability guarantee of daily life,are able to keep the skin in a good state and become the foundation before medical beauty and the safeguard after that.What daily skin care products must be equipped with is moisturizing,sunscreen and antioxidant function;in case of acne and acne marks and so on,then the effective skin care products are capable to help you solve the problem.In the end,medical beauty plays the role of the upgrading catalyst with “special effects”.This explains how these three aspects influence each other.

The second skin care logic of dermatologist.According to a senior dermatologist,medical beauty can serve as the foundation and supplement.In speaking of the connection between medical beauty and skin care products,will the stock of Estee Lauder fall after the development of medical beauty?In my opinion,there is no conflict but remains complementary.Based on the effect,70%～80%achievement is brought by medical beauty.But the last 20%-30% gap should be filled by skin care.For some users,possibly speaking,they would go to work after medical beauty every year,every month or even every week.However,it doesn’t mean skin care isn’t needed if medical beauty is conducted.Those who adopt medical beauty pay special attention to skin care.The effect of aesthetic medicine is cyclical.It is short,maybe three years or two years,and then it declines.Therefore,skin care products are required to keep the skin in an excellent condition,which will help improve the skin’s acceptance of medical beauty and post-operative recovery.When your skin is not in a good state,the effect of medical beauty may be greatly reduced.

In terms of these products,creotoxin is under strict regulation.Besides,stem cell broadcasts are banned.Apart from it,Huaxi’s hyaluronic acid,collagen,microneedle and other transdermal technologies enjoy great potential for development.

Each brand needs to find its own technical logic.Today,different roles and starting points have created the three different technological schools in the sector of cosmetics.In fact,such three schools are not in a relationship of mutual conflict and substitution,but they jointly expand the industrial boundary.In addition,they have met the new demand of consumers for higher pursuit of beauty in different perspectives.Believe it or not,today,it is difficult to find skin care products without any claims of efficacy,and medical terms such as pharmacokinetic transdermal penetration are increasingly mentioned in the cosmetics industry.

For the majority of skin care brands,it is no longer feasible to completely take a flow-oriented approach or to follow the trend of ingredients in the market in order to innovate products.

More importantly,brands need to find the technology path which suits their own products,and they need to build a complete scientific communication system and technical logic.Taking Winona as the example,it has established its own complete logic and system based on the specific ingredient from plant in Yuannan by way of the clinical verification data of dermatologists,also with the help of efficacy and scientific communication.Moreover,Bloomage Biotech has also formed its own logic by using biosynthesis technology to significantly curtail costs in mass production and introducing more and better functional ingredients into new brands.

In the new era,only when we use the systematic methods can we gain a foothold in the competitive market.CDC