Legislation threatens personal care polymer development

As the personal care market evolves to meet the rapidly changing demands of the fashion

conscious consumer, r&d into novel polymer ingredients is receiving a boost. However, even as short product life cycles compel constant innovation by the cosmetic industry, an increasingly strict regulatory environment threatens to dampen investment in new polymer technologies.

Recent legislation mandating stricter testing and registration requirements has increased development costs of new technologies, with cosmetic companies preferring to rely on existing polymer ingredients. 'Innovating with polymers is in danger of becoming too costly in personal care to still be profitable in Western Europe. However, a lack of innovation will inevitably lead to downward spiralling prices, as little will be left to differentiate a company's polymer ingredients from those of its competitors,' warns Evelyne Turmes, research analyst from Frost & Sullivan

Intensifying competition among cosmetic formulators is prompting efforts to maximise the efficiency of production processes. Here, easy-to-use polymer ingredients that enable valuable savings in time, energy and costs are expected to achieve popularity. Multifunctional polymer ingredients that can cover more than one performance target are also likely to gain preference. Multifunctional polymers include, for instance, polymers that can aid in not just thickening, but also offer other benefits such as cold processability, sensory enhancement or increased gloss. Supported by these factors, the market for specialty polymer ingredients is expected to recover from a trend of declining revenues.

Total market revenues are estimated to rise gradually from US$349.0m in 2003 to $400.9m in 2010 with rheology control polymers projected to be the fastest growing segment in terms of both revenue and volumes.