Home > Expertise > Beauty & Nutrition > Solid cosmetics

Solid cosmetics

Solid cosmetics Agency Consulting firm Experts Specialists Consultancy

Meet your consumers’ new expectations with solid cosmetics

The scarcity of quality water and the clean beauty trend are having a significant impact on the cosmetics industry. The entire process of developing cosmetics is being questioned, from the sourcing of raw materials to the development of galenic formulations and product use. Our specialized team supports cosmetics players in their innovation and development projects related to water-free cosmetics.

    Tell us about your uncharted territory

    You have a project and want to discuss it with our explorers, write us!

    One of our explorers will contact you shortly.


    They trust us

    Logo_Bioderma
    Logo_carre_Chanel
    Logo_carre_Cosmetic_Valley
    Logo_carre_Firmenich
    Logo_carre_Loreal
    Logo_carre_LVMH
    Logo_carre_Noveal
    Logo_carre_Pierre_Fabre
    Logo_carre_Symrise

    The challenges related to solid cosmetics

    The list of ingredients of a cosmetic or hygiene product generally begins with the term “aqua” because water is very often the main ingredient. It sometimes represents up to 95% of its composition! For example, a cream emulsion contains 60 to 85% water, a lotion up to 90%, and a shower gel or shampoo up to 95%.

    However, the scarcity of quality water is a reality. Solid products, which contain little or no water in their formulation, are therefore an innovative response from the cosmetics industry to the need for reducing the environmental impact of the sector, both in the production and use of its products.

    Integrating an eco-sustainable formulation into a product portfolio therefore makes perfect sense. However, key technical and marketing issues will need to be anticipated, such as:

    The development and production of solid beauty products (i. e. haircare such as shampoo and conditioner or skincare such as face cleanser and body oil) require making the correct technical choices according to its strategy, applications and targeted client segments. These choices will guide the galenic forms to choose, such as bars, sticks and powders, and will require the development of new formulations. For example, while a cold process soap bar is relatively accessible, powder products are less so and require more specific know-how and expertise. In addition, water-saving solutions often seek a natural positioning, even aiming to reduce the number of ingredients so as to fit into the clean label movement, called Clean Beauty in the cosmetic industry, with additional constraints on their formulation.

    What galenic form can meet the technical specifications specific to beauty sector? How can the right partners be identified to meet these new technical challenges?

    All the production, packaging, and distribution chains need to be rethought. To exemplify the production, solid beauty products can be developed using processes such as extrusion, freeze-drying, mixing of powders, etc. All these processes are fairly new for the beauty industry.

    What good practices can we identify in other industrial sectors? How can a partnership strategy (make or buy, required skills, etc.) be defined?

    This strong technical innovation opens the door to market challenges. Indeed, differentiation through solid products is a double-edged sword. It is certainly important to stand out from the competition with products offering a new experience for consumers, but at the same time it is necessary to support end consumers in the use of products that radically change their habits. Getting the balance wrong between a disruptive character and intuitiveness would be detrimental to the success of the relevant product in the beauty sector.

    How can changes in consumer habits be supported? How to promote intuitive product design?

      Tell us about your uncharted territory

      You have a project and want to discuss it with our explorers, write us!

      One of our explorers will contact you shortly.


      How we support you in your projects related to solid cosmetics

      Alcimed helps its clients, major industrial leaders and new entrants, in their projects related to solid beauty solutions.

      Our team can support you, for example, in:

      • Carrying out market studies to determine the structure of the waterless cosmetics market, the positioning of competitors, the segments to be favored and how to differentiate yourself.
      • The identification of relevant technologies for the production of solid beauty solutions as well as the ecosystem of associated players, to allow the identification and selection of your future key partners.
      • The realization of state of the art on a technology or a scientific field. This type of approach makes it possible to highlight the opportunities offered by the technologies considered before deciding on an investment or not.
      • And many other projects depending on your situation!

      Examples of recent projects carried out for our clients in solid cosmetics

      • State of the art of a process for the production of solid cosmetics

        Our client, a major player in the beauty industry, wanted to understand the possibilities offered by a given technology for the production of solid beauty item which already benefits from a lot of research and innovation.

        Our exploration of the field of possibilities in terms of the type of output products, texture or complexity of formulation, made it possible to highlight serious leads for innovation in the field of solid beauty solutions.

        These avenues provide both differentiation for our client and the ability to deliver new client experiences for end consumers.

      • Search for production partners for powder formulations

        Our client, an industrial leader in the beauty sector, wanted to obtain a map of the players capable of supporting it in one of the manufacturing stages of solid beauty items.

        Our support consisted in identifying these players at the global level, in understanding their profile and technical know-how in order to prioritize them according to our client’s specifications.

        We were thus able to select for our client players who were previously unsuspected and offering a significant jump in performance.

      • Identification of relevant research areas in neuroscience in order to optimize the user experience of solid cosmetic items

        Our client from the beauty industry wanted to identify ways to optimize the support of its consumers in the context of new product experiences. This theme is key for solid beauty items as both the packaging and the use of the finished product is new territory.

        To do this, Alcimed identified and characterized numerous research works in the field of neuroscience that can be applied to the objective of optimizing our client’s consumer experience, as well as the associated competence centers by type of expertise.

        This mapping enabled our client to highlight areas of research as well as preferred partners.

      • Benchmark of good industrial practices in extrusion to develop solid cosmetic products

        One of our clients, a leading player in beauty sector, wanted to rethink and improve its industrial practices in terms of extrusion (processes, skills, technologies, etc.) with the aim of developing new galenic forms.

        For this project, our team carried out a benchmark of existing practices in other sectors of activity (materials, energy, agrifood, etc.) through a bibliographic review as well as discussions with R&D teams from other players.

        Our work helped inspire our client’s team and build a development roadmap for their extrusion practices.

      • Definition of key technologies and consumers receptiveness in regard to the production of solid cosmetics

        Alcimed worked with a top cosmetic client to help them assess the potential for producing solid cosmetics.

        As a first step, we realized a mapping of the ecosystem to identify key technologies required for designing and producing solid cosmetics (bars,…). An assessment of the priority technologies was then realized in order to identify, as a second step, the related European solution providers that could be key to the client. Concurrently, we used the methodology of social listening to gauge consumers’ receptiveness to this type of products.

        At the end, Alcimed recommended on the potential for the client to go into this market, and on the most relevant European solution provider to partner with. As a bonus, we also delivered a full mapping and database of the solution providers for future developments.

      • Identification of equipment suppliers for solid emulsion manufacturing

        Alcimed worked with a top cosmetic company to scout and identify new technologies and processes used to produce solid emulsion for color cosmetic applications, and associated suppliers.

        We elaborated a relevant list of technologies by carrying out 2 consecutive phases:

        • The identification and characterization of technologies used in various sectors (construction, art, food, healthcare, etc.) to produce solid emulsions
        • The identification of eligible suppliers of selected technologies with an in-depth characterization of players of high interest.

        We elaborated a panel of technologies relevant to produce solid emulsion, confirmed and reassured the client on the top technologies to invest in in the short term, and defined the first elements of possible collaborations with selected suppliers.

      You have a project?

        Tell us about your uncharted territory

        You have a project and want to discuss it with our explorers, write us!

        One of our explorers will contact you shortly.


        To go further

        Founded in 1993, Alcimed is an innovation and new business consulting firm, specializing in innovation driven sectors: life sciences (healthcare, biotech, agrifood), energy, environment, mobility, chemicals, materials, cosmetics, aeronautics, space and defence.

        Our purpose? Helping both private and public decision-makers explore and develop their uncharted territories: new technologies, new offers, new geographies, possible futures, and new ways to innovate.

        Located across eight offices around the world (France, Europe, Singapore and the United States), our team is made up of 220 highly-qualified, multicultural and passionate explorers, with a blended science/technology and business culture.

        Our dream? To build a team of 1,000 explorers, to design tomorrow’s world hand in hand with our clients.

        We have chosen to operate without using pre-established methodologies. Our consultants always start from the context and from the specific questions of our clients and think about the best way to provide clear answers. Let’s forget methodological approaches of copy-pasting.

        We’re not consultants, we’re explorers! Working with a consulting firm like Alcimed means living a different experience, with a team that always favors face-to-face meetings, goes beyond classic deliverables in favor of innovative ones (videos, data visualization tools, websites, collaborative platforms, …), that favors interactive animations in projects (escape games, quizzes, board games, role-playing games, video games, …), and that loves to make clients discover unusual places!

        Solid beauty solutions contain a reduced or even zero rate of water in their formulation (we speak of waterless cosmetics). They are by nature more concentrated in active ingredients, end users will tend to use less product than a water-based equivalent for the same action.

        Over the last years, the solid cosmetic market has known a strong growth and is expected to reach US$ 564.8 Mn by 2030. As an example, France, which is one of the most advanced country in solid cosmetic, grow from 1% of solid shampoo purchases in 2019 to 7.5% in 2021.

        Even if solid cosmetic are a small part of global cosmetic market, consumers expectations on sustainability are driving the market and mass market giants have entered the field.

        The opportunity on this market is strong as solid format allows convenience with smaller-sized packaging, economic gain with products allowing twice more use than water-based cosmetics, simpler and stronger compositions (no artificial conservatives and more actives).