TRENDS 1: Chinese herbal medicines and plateau plants are the key areas for the development of plant raw materials.

We found that among the new raw materials for cosmetics, the largest category is those directly extracted from plants or plant tissues. Among them, the vast majority are directly extracted from plants; a small portion of the raw materials are obtained by extracting from plant tissue cultures. Among these, the main raw materials are derived from plants with medicinal value or those that have been included in traditional Chinese medicine.
For a long time, raw materials derived from plants have been favored by consumers in the cosmetics industry due to their natural and safe characteristics. However, at the same time, they also have some drawbacks such as unstable quality and difficulty in penetrating the skin. To address these issues, some enterprises have proposed corresponding technical solutions and have applied them to new raw materials.

TRENDS 2: Plant cell technology is on the rise.

For a long time, raw materials derived from plants have been favored by consumers in the cosmetics industry due to their natural and safe characteristics. However, at the same time, they also have some drawbacks such as unstable quality and difficulty in penetrating the skin. To address these issues, some enterprises have proposed corresponding technical solutions and have applied them to new raw materials.
In contrast, the plant tissue culture technology involves placing plant cells in a culture medium in an aseptic indoor environment, allowing for the proliferation of more plant cells or plant tissues. These then are prepared as raw materials for cosmetics. During this process, not only can contamination from the external environment be avoided, but the growth environment can also be artificially controlled to enable the plant cells to secrete more desired active ingredients, thereby enhancing the efficacy. More importantly, this technology can also promote the wider application of plateau plants and rare plants in the cosmetics industry.

TRENDS 3: Utilizing molecular modification technology, we can create more potent and stable plant active ingredients.

Many plant active ingredients are not stable, so a series of innovative molecular modification technologies have begun to be widely applied in the field of cosmetic raw materials.
Compared with the raw materials extracted directly from plants, their composition is simpler and there is a clearer pathway for their efficacy. Moreover, these active ingredients are mostly small molecules and are easily absorbed by the skin.

TRENDS 4:Applying fermentation technology.

Through fermentation, the large-molecule active ingredients will be broken down into smaller molecules that are easier to penetrate the skin; at the same time, the harmful components enriched in the environment will also be decomposed, making the raw materials safer; moreover, fermentation can also improve the skin feel of plant raw materials.
Another important function of fermentation is to obtain specific skin care ingredients.

TRENDS 5:The technical direction for the development of peptide raw materials.

In order to enhance the stability and efficacy of the raw materials, enterprises will conduct modifications based on the polypeptide molecules when developing new raw materials.
In terms of type, the vast majority of the new peptide-based raw materials are oligopeptides, with only two being peptides with more than 10 amino acids. This is mainly because oligopeptides have smaller molecular weights and are thus more easily absorbed through the skin. In fact, in the past, the research and development of peptide-based raw materials was mainly focused on oligopeptides.

In conclusion, whether it is new plant-based raw materials or new peptide-based raw materials, the main direction of enterprises' research and development is to achieve stronger stability, permeability and efficacy of active ingredients through technological innovation. Only new raw materials that possess all these characteristics will have the opportunity to gain market favor in the future.