Pendergraph runs consultancy firm Reguliance Partners with regulatory and R&D expertise in cosmetics, chemicals, and biocidal products. When her clients want to place a new product on the market, she helps them with everything from starting the innovation work to placing it on the market.
— Back in the day, I worked in the lab as a researcher. Today, a normal day generally involves meetings with clients. I help them with questions regarding new innovations, tackling regulatory challenges within specific markets, planning clinical studies or checking artwork. Last year I performed clinical studies that resulted in over 300 new claims.
What’s the most challenging situation in your work?
— I thrive working in cross-functional teams, which can be challenging at times. When you have the regulatory hat on, you need to be strict about following the laws. However, you also need to understand and collaborate with the marketing team who are at times working towards a different objective. For instance, marketing wants to make claims that you don’t think are compliant with a cosmetic product according to the regulations. You have to empathise with them and collaborate to develop a new claim that meets the threshold of compliance and creates interest for the consumer.
How have these challenges changed over the years?
— The level of collaboration between different departments within the companies has changed. Some companies have understood the value of collaborative work across different functions early in the development process. Others are still siloed and collaborate less.
What would you like to see more of from the marketing teams for even better cooperation?
— Early engagement and collaboration are essential. Marketing teams should consider more collaboration with their regulatory counterparts throughout all phases of the product innovation process and not only at the end of the process.
When it’s a cosmetic product, you can claim anything but you also want to stand behind it.
— Yes, you need to support your claims with either clinical studies on the finished products or the raw materials. What you can claim also varies within the different markets. For example, in the UK, you might claim ’for eczema-prone skin’ for cosmetic products. However, in the EU market, we would call it ’for atopic-prone skin’ or ’for very dry skin’.
Have you also become better at beauty marketing now?
— Yes, I have! In my work, you are exposed to new brands, and this keeps you informed about new products on the market and the latest trends. My roles involve working closely with marketing teams, which has given me a better understanding of marketing within beauty products.
What will be the most important questions to deal with for beauty brands going forward?
— An ’ingredient story’ is important and will continue to grow in significance. Consumers are knowledgeable — they are informed about the ingredients. I believe it will be critical to support your products with scientific data and clinical studies on the finished product. It is essential to demonstrate and communicate the efficacy of cosmetic products that is easily understood by consumers. For example, instead of writing ’contains squalane’ on the packaging, companies should explain the benefits of squalane as an ingredient in the specific product through clinical studies.
— Another industry shift will be that tailored skincare for specific skin conditions will continue to grow. And also the increasing collaborations between brands and professional experts such as medical doctors. They provide their insights which are leveraged in the product development phase.
If we look at clinical studies, a few brands have always done it and always included it in their marketing. But it can also be difficult to communicate complex things like scientific reports in your beauty marketing.
— Yes, the leading beauty brands have always included clinical studies and have used clinical experts to support their marketing. Consumers are increasingly receiving their information through TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. We see more professional experts and cosmetic influencers educate the public through these media channels. This adaptation to social media has made complex information more communicable to the consumer.
For the past years, Nina Pendergraph has also worked with brands that are conducting clinical studies.
— In a recent project, I led the clinical studies, as part of an innovation team for cosmetic products for both the EU and UK markets.
So you can imagine a situation where the beauty packaging says, ’According to clinical studies, this and this happens when you use the product.’
— Yes. It will say ’clinically proven formula’ — an in vivo study that involves human subjects, Pendergraph predicts. Many companies use claims provided by the raw material suppliers, even though they do not test the finished product because it’s more time- and cost-efficient for the brand owner.
— According to my experience, testing the finished product will often yield different results than what is expected from the claims provided for the raw materials. That said, I think the shift will be that you will also do testing on the finished products.
One of your focus areas is compromised skin. What’s the talk of the town right now in that segment?
— The skin barrier is part of the outermost skin layer, the Stratum Corneum, which has an important protective role. A compromised or damaged skin barrier is very dry, or atopic-prone with a history of inflammation, redness and irritation. A weakened skin barrier allows greater moisture loss than healthy skin. To understand what compromised skin needs, the components and the overall structure of a healthy skin must be well understood. Finding ingredients to mimic or provide support to the skin barrier function is critical for a successful skincare product. One example is using skin-identical lipids such as ceramides, squalane, free fatty acids and cholesterol. These will generally transform compromised skin to a healthier state.
”I am interested to see any innovation that will be able to compete on performance with Petrolatum”
What other ingredients or innovations are you curious about now?
— Petrolatum has historically been one of the most effective moisturizing ingredients that protect your skin from moisture loss. Petroleum-based cosmetic ingredients are generally not conceptually desired. The market would prefer an effective bio-based replacement to strengthen the skin barrier. One ingredient that I have observed good performance in clinical trials is Canola Oil (Rapeseed Oil). I am interested to see any innovation that will be able to compete on performance with Petrolatum, says Pendergraph. She adds:
— Aside from the performance of the cosmetic products, there will be interest in how sustainably these products can be manufactured. Investors and consumers will both be observing the CO2 footprint, circularity of packaging, and the list of ingredients — and their impact on human health and the environment.
