The Cosmetic Victories awards ceremony, which recognizes innovative projects in beauty, was held as a digital event yesterday afternoon. The awards, now in their seventh year, are organized by French industry cluster Cosmetic Valley with the support of the Essec business school.
Before introducing the nominees and winners, Cosmetic Valley CEO Christophe Masson shared the industry cluster’s initiatives to support businesses in the current geopolitical context.
He said: “If we talk about the economy, if we look at the export figures to Russia, it is only 2%, so a significant figure, but one that is not going to put our industry in peril. But, unfortunately, the war is on the doors of Europe, and Europe is France’s beauty industry’s first export market, and it is also a supply market. So the war is generating issues for supply chain, procurement and increasing costs of energy and driving inflation.”
Masson added that Cosmetic Valley is launching initiatives to support businesses as a result of these issues. For example, it is to launch a hotline to help small-and medium-sized businesses. Through the hotline, businesses can call Cosmetic Valley and the association will act as an intermediary between other government agencies to help companies secure support.
The Cosmetic Victories
The Cosmetic Victories comprise two awards: The Industry Prize (for entrepreneurs, start-ups and small-to-medium sized companies) and the Academic Prize (for young graduates, researchers and Ph.D. students).
The Industry Prize went to France’s CNRS Grenoble for an eco-friendly, carbohydrate-based gelling agent. The solution can be used for cleansers, body and face scrubs, make-up, masks, sunscreen and fragrance.
The Academic Prize (for young graduates, researchers and Ph.D. students) went to Australia-based The SkinDNA Company for its SkinRNA Micro-cell Test. It is a microneedle device that runs genetic tests to determine whether or not skincare products have an impact on a consumer’s skin. The company claims it is the first time a user can see if skincare products are working for them without having to wait to see a visible result.
Cosmetic Valley received a total of 80 applications from 18 countries for the awards. Six finalists were in the final running for the awards.