PRESS RELEASE

german version

Monheim, March 4, 2008

 

Cognis at In-Cosmetics 2008 –
looking beautiful with “green” solutions

At this year’s In-Cosmetics, April 15 to 17 in Amsterdam, Cognis Care Chemicals and its active ingredients business Laboratoires Sérobiologiques (LS) will be exhibiting a variety of natural-based personal care solutions in line with their “Green Chemical Solutions” concept. These enable manufacturers to develop a wide range of products that address the constantly growing new “green” market: Whereas in the past being environmentally conscious often meant making sacrifices, today it is regarded as something that actually enriches people’s lives. This is due to products that incorporate both environmental soundness and consumers’ well-being. Cognis solutions allow consumers to go “green” without them needing to compromise on convenience, personal well-being or product performance.

At In-Cosmetics 2008, Cognis Care Chemicals and LS will be presenting new “green” natural-sourced ingredients which demonstrate the principles of the classification system “Green Chemical Solutions”.

• A “green” surfactant for oral care applications which combines environmental sustainability with mildness and improved taste, making it an excellent choice for toothpaste formulations.
• A “green” and very mild pearlizing wax dispersion for natural hair and appealing body cleansing formulations that serve the new “green” trend towards natural beauty.
• A preservative-free active ingredient, based on gymnemic acid role in the inhibition of hair follicles’ activity. This mild and vegetal active ingredient enables to prolong and enhance depilation benefits. Clinical tests have shown significant effect after one month of treatment.

 

In addition, further high-performance ingredients will be launched at the exhibition:

• A liquid acrylic emulsion polymer with special rheological behaviour, designed to suspend, thicken and enhance the appearance of surfactant-based cosmetic cleansing preparations.
• A texture agent delivering a melting texture with a velvety mat finish for various application areas such as sun care, AP/deo formulations or foundation systems. The product improves the thermostability of emulsions as well as the water resistance of sun care products and creates a very homogenous film on the skin.
• A delivery system consisting of microcapsules, nanocapsules and visual beads which serve as innovative solutions for high-end cosmetics.

Innovative concepts at In-Cosmetics 2008
Women are beautiful in different ways at different times of their life. Cosmetics and personal care products can help them show off individual features to best effect, and engender a positive emotional response. “Ageless Beauty” is a concept based on a selection of Cognis textures and LS actives which fulfill age-specific physiological needs, allowing women to fully rediscover and embrace the beauty of their age.

“Crazy Textures” is a range of innovative and outstanding ideas for new body cleansing products. Primarily intended for use by manufacturers of products for children and teenagers, the concept aims to transform personal hygiene from a chore into a pleasure, with unusual scents and foaming sensations that add fun to the daily cleansing routine.

Laboratoires Sérobiologiques will present “LS Hair Salon’, its recently-launched range of seven specific active ingredients, each combining substantiated claims with an attractive marketing appeal, dedicated to all types of hair under all conditions. With this new range, hair will always be in optimal style and full of seduction.

In-focus Utopia – when vision becomes reality
For this year’s In-Focus theme Utopia, Cognis and LS have imagined an idealistic world, in which cosmetics would open the way to a subliminal communication beyond words, taking people further beyond conventional and established social codes, opening a new dimension to the relationship between human beings.

Says Bettina Jackwerth, Global Marketing Director Skin Care: “Personal care products have an impact on people’s emotional state and well-being. With our overall strategy to focus on the wellness market and to develop solutions which help improve people’s quality of life, we are able to identify future trends at a very early stage. Thereby, we give our customers the competitive edge they need to succeed.”

Presenting “green” success factors

As part of the Cosmetic Science Conference, Iris Hütter, Marketing Manager North Europe Hair Body Oral, will be giving a presentation at 10:30 a.m. on April 16, entitled “Green Chemical Solutions – New ‘Green’ Raw Material Concepts as Key to Success for Consumer Brands”. She will discuss the challenges involved in developing “green” ingredients and formulations for different market segments. The various considerations that apply to leave-on and rinse-off products will be explained, always with one eye on the key priority – balancing naturalness with performance. Examples from the rinse-off segment will show how formulators have successfully overcome this challenge.

The latest concepts and products of Cognis Care Chemicals and Laboratoires Sérobiologiques will be exhibited at booth E130 and booth E138.

About Laboratoires Sérobiologiques
Laboratoires Sérobiologiques is Cognis Care Chemicals’ active ingredients business. It specializes in the development, manufacture and marketing of innovative cosmetic concepts and active ingredients.

About Cognis
Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients, with a particular focus on the areas of wellness and sustainability. The company employs about 7,700 people, and it operates production sites and service centers in 30 countries. Cognis has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Another main focus is on products for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, as well as agriculture and mining. The subsidiary Pulcra Chemicals offers specialized chemical products and process expertise to customers in the fiber, textile, and leather industries. Cognis also holds a 50-percent stake in the joint venture Cognis Oleochemicals, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of oleochemicals.

Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. In 2006, Cognis recorded sales of 3.37 billion euros and an Adjusted EBITDA (operating result) of 394 million euros.

Contact
Bettina Jackwerth, Global Marketing Director Skin Care
Cognis GmbH
Phone: +49-2173-4995-195
Email: bettina.jackwerth@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com

Anke Fleuth, Global Marketing Hair Body Oral
Cognis GmbH
Phone: +49-2173-4995-252
Email: anke.fleuth@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com

Anne-Laurie Rodrigues, Communications Laboratoires Sérobiologiques
Division de Cognis France
Phone: +33-1-144799517
E-mail: anne-laurie.rodrigues@cognis.com
Internet: www.laboratoires-serobiologiques.com

Viola Stahl, Communications Manager
Cognis GmbH
Phone: +49-2173-4995-221
Email: viola.stahl@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com