The agenda will spotlight biotech formulation challenges and consumer trends

in-cosmetics Asia, the leading event in Asia Pacific for personal care ingredients, is poised to deliver its biggest and most dynamic show to date as it returns to BITEC, Bangkok from 4-6 November 2025.

This year’s event will play host to 80% of the world’s top 10 ingredient suppliers, including industry giants like BASF, Croda, Clariant, and Evonik. It is also expected to welcome 90% of the world’s top 10 cosmetic manufacturers, from L’Oréal and P&G to Kenvue and Unilever.

Now in its 16th year, in-cosmetics Asia has tripled in size since its launch, reflecting the growing demand among R&D professionals and formulators for ingredient solutions in the region.

The 2025 edition will feature over 700 exhibitors and welcome thousands of cosmetic scientists, manufacturers, brand owners, and product developers from across Asia Pacific and further afield. Based on the registration alert requests, overall demand for the show is already tracking 273% higher than at this stage in 2024.

Amid market volatility and regulatory shifts in the US, EU and China, global cosmetic brands are increasingly turning to Asia Pacific, with in-cosmetics Asia website traffic from the US, Russia and China up by 105%, 69% and 22%, respectively.

Up to 100 new exhibitors will be joining the event, with traffic to the website’s Exhibitor Directory up by 151% compared to last year; a clear sign of how eager personal care experts are to research and source the latest personal care ingredients.

in-cosmetics Asia 2025 continues to evolve alongside industry trends, with this year’s show placing a strong spotlight on:
• Personalisation and AI-powered beauty
• Shifting consumer behaviours across China, India and Southeast Asia
• Ethical cosmetics and sustainability: with marine-derived ingredients emerging as one of the most searched-for categories on the website.
• Product stability and efficacy: a core focus of this year’s Technical Seminar and Formulation Lab programmes.
• SPF and UV protection: with the latest advances in UV filters, formulation strategies and regional compliance challenges.

Sarah Gibson, Event Director at in-cosmetics Asia, said:

“This year marks an exciting turning point. As beauty brands navigate macroeconomic pressures and shifting consumer priorities, we have seen growing interest in APAC based on its agility, speed to market and endless demographic opportunities. in-cosmetics Asia 2025 will echo that momentum, not just in scale, but in how deeply we engage with the industry’s most pressing needs.

“From the rise of biotech beauty to the growing demand for well-ageing solutions, we’re aligning our programme with the real challenges facing formulators today: matching consumer trends with R&D capabilities, efficacy, ingredient compatibility, UV protection and more. This year’s show will provide attendees a platform to innovate and advance with confidence. There’s much more to come, and we look forward to revealing what’s in store!”

in-cosmetics Asia will take place from 4-6 November 2025 at BITEC, Bangkok. It will be co-located with COSMEX, ASEAN’s leading manufacturing, packaging and OEM/ODM exhibition for personal care and dietary supplement products.

Visitor registration will open in early August. For more information, visit here.

ENDS
Notes to editors: For further information please contact Olivia Evans or Kat Long at the in-cosmetics press office on 020 7240 2444 or in-cosmetics@stormcom.co.uk

About RX
RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.rxglobal.com.

About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. *Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors

In the run-up to our J-Beauty Ingredient Day on 18 March, we wanted to find out more about the rise of J-Beauty and how it’s taking the global cosmetic market by storm. We had a chat with GlobalData about why J-Beauty is so popular right now.

Japan, a hotbed of beauty, steeped in ancient wisdom, traditions and time-tested ingredients, thrives on the concept of beauty and relies on centuries-old design principles to beautify multiple elements of everyday life – from the food they consume to the rooms they inhabit. J-Beauty (aka Japanese beauty) encompasses a diverse array of cosmetics and personal care formulations, from regime to ingredients, along with the innovative research behind it and the concepts rooted in centuries of Japanese tradition.

“J-Beauty” has become one of the biggest beauty trendsetters around the world,  tracking back to the importance of flawless skin to Geishas; the traditional female performers in Japan who developed specific beauty rituals ranging from a well-crafted skincare regimen to eating food that enhance skin health. However, the J-beauty philosophy is very similar to a healthcare philosophy and more concerned with prevention and anticipation, with proven long-term results.

The major trends influencing J-Beauty

Shibui & kanso

Inspired by Japanese lifestyle principles such as shibui (“subtlety”) and kanso (“minimalism”), J-beauty routines follow a “less is more” philosophy by using a minimal number of products made up of a few, very effective ingredients.

This “make-up without make-up” approach resonates with the consumer shift towards shorter beauty regimens and we’re seeing increased demand for more efficient beauty products with a strong focus on multifunctionality. According to GlobalData 2020 Market Pulse Consumer Survey ASIA PACIFIC, 75% of consumers feel that simplicity of product formulation or packaging is as important/more important/ top priority when purchasing skincare products.

Well known J-beauty brands are producing hi-tech products that combat a range of skin complaints, like Shiseido’s sunscreen offering the benefit of a primer with a smooth matte finish that also prevents premature ageing.

Mochi-hada & pucci-pura

J-Beauty products strive to make skin plump, soft and bright in tone, taking inspiration from the Japanese mochi-hada (“sticky rice”), shittori (“moist”) or bihaku (“beautifully white”). You can also find “pucci-pura” (petite price) are products better suited for more travel-savvy consumers.

According to GlobalData 2020 Market Pulse Consumer Survey ASIA PACIFIC, 24% of consumers would be encouraged to change their lifestyle to give them a better feeling of purpose and in turn, improve their physical appearance.

Hybrid Skin Care/Makeup Products

Japanese brands work to enhance cosmetics with the benefit of protection, moisture and ingredients that look after skin. Therefore, formulas across all cosmetic areas are founded on skincare fundamentals, including high-coverage foundations with ultra-light textures, SPF face powders and moisturizing lipsticks.

One of the most famous and versatile products in Japan is the Canmake Marshmallow Finish Powder, know as “a Japanese treasure”. The formulators clearly focused on the buttery texture which leaves skin feeling soothed as well as evening skin tone in a cosmetics sense.

Double Cleansing

Double cleansing is increasing in popularity among skincare aficionados around the world due to its many benefits aside from just makeup removal, but it began in Japan. The key is to begin with an oil-based cleanser followed by a water-based one, then double moisturise with a serum and a cream to ensure hydration at every step.

We’re are seeing this trend develop around the world, partially due to the effect of word-of-mouth on social media, and brands are jumping on board with new, Japanese inspired cleansing products.

Skin Superfoods

Beauty and health are embedded in Japanese culture, establishing wellness as a national religion.

For instance, KITAO’s Matcha is a skincare line consisting of natural ingredients such as antioxidant-rich matcha, which has already caught women’s attention along with chia seeds, quinoa and acai, known for its essential ingredients such as calcium, minerals, and essential amino acids – the benefits well-known for a healthy body and beautiful skin

The key to J-Beauty is packing the formula full of high-impact, often natural-based, ingredients such as antioxidant-rich matcha, chia seeds and acai. The ethos is clear; a healthy body equals beautiful skin.

According to GlobalData 2020 Market Pulse Consumer Survey ASIA PACIFIC, 82% of consumers agreed that knowing about ingredients and understanding their source is as important/more important/ top priority when purchasing skincare products, something we’re seeing reflected in how brands are marketing their products.

Wabi-Sabi

‘Wabi’ refers to humility or humbleness and simplicity while ‘sabi’ denotes an appreciation for the ageing process and the well-worn patina of time. In line with this, the J-beauty industry is developing anti-ageing products to tackle specific geriatric skin and hair care issues such as wrinkles, rough and sagging skin, dark spots, greying hair, and hair loss.

According to GlobalData 2020 Market Pulse Consumer Survey ASIA PACIFIC, 81% of consumers feel that being able to see the positive impact of a product on the skin is really important when choosing which products to purchase.

What’s next?

J-beauty brands need to make their mark in the social media market by collaborating with popular local micro-influencers, bloggers, or podcasters to communicate the quality and efficacy of Japanese beauty products.

Japanese beauty has always been popular and well-known in Asia and has sparked an interest in Asian beauty overall. As western consumers are now more interested in a minimal skincare routine using single products packed with multiple, efficacious ingredients, there is more opportunity than ever for J-beauty to make a mark in the beauty sector.

The skin microbiome is a rapidly growing area of research and as more companies begin to invest in skin microbiome-targeted personal care products, Perfectus Biomed identified the need for robust, reproducible test models to understand the effects of these products and validate associated claims.

We have significant experience in biofilm testing, introducing both UKAS-accredited and customised biofilm models appropriate to a wide range of products in a variety of sectors. These models are based on a microbial community developed on abiotic surfaces such as plastics and metals.
Whilst the assessment of product efficacy on colonised hard surface models provide much needed preliminary data these models don’t fully mimic the biological impact of host cells on bacterial colonisation, in other words, live human skin.

Building on our existing abiotic model and expertise in cell biology this presentation demonstrates how we have addressed three key challenges: Assessing bacterial interaction with live cells, assessing bacterial colonisation in 3D skin and assessment of bacterial colonisation in wounded skin. This resulted in us determining microbial attachment and colony formation on these models.

Check out our in-cosmetics Virtual technical seminars, including ‘100% Vegetable and Organic Texturizing Agent Alternative‘

Nanoencapsulated vitamin C is more stable and its cutaneous penetration is increased, thanks to its reduced particle size (100 – 200 nm). The vehicle of the nanoencapsulated form is Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate (oily vitamin C) in high-performance nanoparticles.Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate is a lot more stable than ascorbic acid, thanks to the esters that stabilize the molecule, leaving it soluble in lipids, which also increases its permeability in skin, allowing for a more efficient vitamin C action in the skin structure matrix, the site of important biochemical reactions for the maintenance of the skin’s integrity. In addition, this form of vitamin C has a less acid pH, which, associated to the special coating conferred by the nanoparticle, gives better cutaneous tolerance and compatibility, and doesn’t irritate the skin. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that inhibits lipidic peroxidation, and is thus important in neutralizing free radicals. Vitamin C is also important for its action in stimulating collagen production. It acts as a skin lightener as it inhibits melanogenesis.

Nanoencapsulated vitamina C gives long-term hydration, with a silky, agreeable feel and with no granular residue. Its nanometric size forms a monolayer on the skin surface and guards against the transepidermal water loss that is a mechanism closely bound up with cutaneous drying and aging. It looks like a liquid colloidal suspension, white and opaque, which can be used in the preparation of various cosmetics and thus can be a vehicle for several types of base for the face, eye area and body.

Tests have analyzed non-encapsulated vitamin C (Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate) and vitamin C (Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate) vehicle in lipidic nanoparticles in aristoflex gel with 2% Kogic acid, to verify the antioxidant action. It was seen that after a month of being stored on a shelf, the nanoencapsulated vitamin C had a greater antioxidant action than the non-nanoencapsulated vitamin C, as it inhibited the yellow color characteristic of oxidation, as we can see in the image below. Here number 1 is aristoflex gel with 2% Kogic acid; number 2 aristoflex gel with 2% Kogic acid and 0.4% non-nanoencapsulated vitamin C and number3 aristoflex gel with 2% Kogic acid and 10% nanoencapsulated vitamin C.

Capsulated vitamin C’s stability was evaluated across freezing/thawing cycles with the temperature changed from -4 °C to 40 °C 3 times. After this stress there was no change in dose of vitamin C nor alteration in the mean diameter of the particle.

Encapsulated vitamin C’s stability was also evaluated in solutions with pH varying from 3 to 8 and maintained for 3 months at room temperature. Following this, there was no significant change in dose nor particle diameter. These results lead us to conclude that nanoencapsulated vitamin C can be used in bases of varying pH, with surety in the maintenance of the dose of vitamin.

Also evaluated were encapsulated vitamin C’s potential for primary skin irritability, accumulated skin irritability, skin sensitivity and photoallergy. Volunteers received an application on the skin of the back and evaluated themselves, and were also assessed by dermatologists following a determined period of contact with the skin and after receiving UV radiation on the spot for a determined period. Encapsulated vitamin C did not induce detectable irritation during the study period and is thus considered safe for topical use. Further, no volunteer presented phototoxicity and photoallergy. Encapsulated vitamin C was also assessed as to ocular acceptability by an eye care professional after the test period. there was no eye irritation; thus the product was considered appropriate to use in the eye area.

In collaboration with Dr. Patrícia Andrei Saslavsky

See more cosmetics and personal care articles