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Trend Colors for the Cosmetics Industry

Interviewee

Andrea Wolfring
Trend & Color Specialist, ECKART GmbH

Published

25.06.2020

Paloma Moya del Valle, Global Head of Cosmetics, and Andrea Wolfring, Trend and Color Specialist, are experts in color and cosmetics. Every year they use their expertise to interpret the new color trends for the industry on the basis of the SYNCRYSTAL, MIRAGE, and VISIONAIRE pigments from ECKART. In this interview they explain the added value offered by ECKART Color Trends Cosmetics.

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"Cosmetics is a fast-moving industry, and yet you’re always looking two years ahead when it comes to developing trends. Why is that?"

It makes the processes easier for our customers. Very few players in the industry produce everything themselves. Most work with contract manufacturers who, in many cases, also take on some of the product development work. With our color trends for spring/summer and fall/winter, we can support the creative process of the contract manufacturers as well as that of the brand manufacturers themselves. Furthermore, our trends include suggestions for the formulations, enabling our customers to implement the respective color concepts with our effect pigments straight away if they want to. Together with our color expertise, we therefore provide a valuable service – resulting in real added value for our customers!

"Why are there two trend concepts per year?"

The seasons vary significantly in many countries because of the sunlight. In spring and summer when nature is full of light, women want cosmetics in bold and warm colors – this is the season for the SYNCRYSTAL pigments with their pearl luster and coverage. In the darker times of the year, they want more muted colors and effects for day-to-day looks, but sparkle and glitter for parties and celebrations – that’s when the interference effects of SYNCRYSTAL and the sparkle of the MIRAGE pigments come into their own.

"There are three color concepts per trend – why is that?"

We want to offer our customers options for their product lines, taking the mood boards on which our color concepts are based as the starting point. This also allows us to take into account regional differences with regard to aesthetics and fashion.

"How do you develop your color trends?"

The development of our color trends is a multistage process. We tap into all kinds of different sources, collect inspiration, and select the color shades that we think consumers around the world will be excited about in two years’ time. Part of that is observing how fashion is developing and how influencers are talking about it. We also stay in contact with trend researchers, of course. And last but not least, we keep an eye on more general developments in society and respond accordingly. For example, overarching trends such as the longing for comfort and security – summed up by the term “hygge” – as well as growing climate awareness were reflected in our color trends for 2019 and 2020. And it turned out that we were completely right.

"So do your customers implement your suggestions?"

Of course! Sometimes our customers use the new trends as inspiration for a limited edition that they are working on. Often they adopt our color concept in its entirety for the relevant season – including the formulation and therefore obviously our effect pigments as well. Only recently an internationally renowned influencer integrated the complete color concept that we developed in 2017 for the 2019 winter season into her cosmetic line for 2019. Decisions like these make us incredibly happy because they validate not only our creative approaches but also our business strategies.

"Where do you showcase the ECKART color trends?"

We generally present the fall/winter trends at the annual in-cosmetics show in April – that’s the leading trade fair for our industry. The spring/summer colors are showcased at in-cosmetics Asia in the fall. At these trade fairs, visitors have the chance to try out prototypes based on our different formulations. This means that they can get an idea of the touch and feel of the textures as well as see the color effects. We also present other applications such as “Foundations for Diversity” concepts or the “Asian Beauty Secrets.” These applications show customers how our additives support the quality of our formulations.

"What advantages do these additives and fillers offer?"

Additives allow us to produce sprayable, creamy, and mousse-style products, which are very much in demand at the moment. The SYNAFIL fillers or our new product ECOFIL B110 can enhance color intensity in formulations, improve the feeling on the skin, or serve as a matting agent. In addition, ECOFIL B110 is based on renewable raw materials – that is a very important trend right now!

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