"Canada and the United Kingdom have reached an interim post-Brexit trade agreement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Saturday.
The Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement extends the elimination of tariffs on 98 per cent of goods exported between the two countries and sets the stage for negotiations toward a permanent and more ambitious deal in the new year. The deal could include "the potential to go further in areas like digital trade, the environment and women's economic empowerment," a release from the British government said." (CBC,2020)
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For full article please continue at CBC

The Canadian Cosmetic Cluster has enjoyed a great relationship with the UK Cosmetic Cluster. We will continue to support the UK Cosmetic Cluster and collaborate on innovative cosmetic projects in the future. 

​As of 2020, the beauty industry is worth close to 500 billion dollars USD. This global industry has been long thought of as an industry that has unlimited potential in product sales. New innovations in science have led to better products being developed. As we approached the mid 20th century we saw that cosmetics were no longer a luxury but a part of everyday life. In 1944, the British government likened cosmetic products to cigarettes and beer. These items were a necessity for the common man not just for the select  few wealthy. 

Companies and formulators are in a never ending race to launch a new skincare line or a different shampoo formula. There is a neverending need for new products by consumers. They are eager to try and use a new type of product with the promise of everlasting beauty and youth. The question to ask is why do we need cosmetic products? What is the importance of beauty? Traditionally beauty was linked to health, it was a sign of strong genetics. Signs of youth were associated with fertility. That has been the driving factor for the cosmetic industry for centuries. The last two decades have presented a change in the industry comparable to the industrial revolution. This has largely been due to the growth of the tech industry. Consumers have also changed. Women who were the traditional cosmetic buyers are no longer bound to domestic life and responsibilities. Women have a place in government, business and science. Birth and marriage rates are down in most developed countries. The modern consumer seems not to care about attracting mates and fertility. If the consumer has moved away from its traditional mindset, what are the factors that are leading the industry to its astonishing growth? 

The Canadian Cosmetic Cluster is dedicated to providing these answers. We will partner with academic institutions, corporate sponsors and relevant organizational partners to conduct research on the psychology of the cosmetic consumer and the benefits of self-care rituals.
By studying in-depth how the use of cosmetic products affect us, will help us understand the value of products and provide a more precise picture of the industry. The benefit of the global cosmetic cluster is that it allows us to connect to different countries, different markets. This provides a global understanding of the subject. How does political instability affect consumer habits? Do areas with higher millennial populations have higher sales around the world? What is the driving factor in buying skincare, is the act of self-care. Do cosmetics make us feel good psychologically and physiologically? We are beginning to gather research on the topic. There is still a greater deal of research to be done. The Cluster is committed to supporting companies who strive to show cosmetics as self-care aids.

​The impact of social media has been vast in modern society. Connections are easily made through email and information can be quickly obtained. This has led people to the false belief that since they can now easily access industry information through the internet, there is less of a need to have live meetings. The simple truth is, that meeting individuals face to face is more important than ever. Nothing will replace the impact of the human-to-human connections that occur during physically meeting an individual. Teamwork in person can provide an opportunity for serendipitous meetings and brainstorming of innovative concepts. Small network events provide a great opportunity to get to know other individuals in a business-like setting. Networking with peers can increase collaboration opportunities. Individuals can also have a chance to encounter new vendors and suppliers away from the trade show floors. The more relaxed setting can help individuals talk more freely. By investing time with industry peers at networking events, those peers can become important friends and business allies. It is important to enjoy yourself during business events. The cosmetic business is full of amazing individuals. This career is rewarding and can be a great deal of fun. Entertaining and networking events after industry conferences can add a layer of enjoyment to a typically serious business environment. You can grow your business by mixing a social aspect as you learn about the cosmetic industry. 

Companies greatly benefit from having access to professional office space which enables a company to have flexible access to meet with clients. There is a great advantage to co-working spaces. They provide an opportunity for networking with the ability to maintain social distancing due to the larger area. A space to work away from crowded home life can lead to additional productivity.  

​In this edition of industry voices, we have interviewed Henna Singh. Henn is the blogger behind Canadian Beauty. Henna is passionate about sharing her experiences with beauty products. We ask Henna about her opinions on beauty bloggers and their value for the industry. 

​1. What led you to the world of Beauty Blogging?

I was always interested in trying new products and sharing recommendations with friends. It was natural for me to turn to blog writing in 2006 to have a place to put all my reviews and ideas. I had great feedback from brands and readers and I've been doing it ever since. 

2. How has the beauty blogger environment changed in the last decade? Are these positive or negative changes?

Well, there's been a move to "influencers" and "social media" which, personally, I think isn't great. Sometimes, it's clear that they're being paid and they don't even review the product - just apply it on camera, and then move on, so personally, I don't trust influencer reviews much. I do trust feedback from my own followers and I find that a community is best for really having honest conversations, and that can be on any platform. If you can build that, the right people will come and that's what matters. 

3. How do you think the future of beauty blogging holds? 

I do. Blogs are easier to search and it's easier to build a body of work that you have control over. People are realizing this as countries ban TikTok and they're losing their income sources because of it. I think you need to diversify but hold on to your own content in as many ways as possible.

4. What do you value in beauty brands? How can they stand out?

I value conversation and transparency. Some brands say that they're interested in any content you produce, but what they don't say is that they're not interested in negative reviews. I think some brands also want you to produce very specific content like tutorials, but won't necessarily say that. I would love for a brand to contact me and say "we have such and such product, and we want you to try it, we hope you'll like it, it's your kind of thing, and then maybe you could do X, Y, Z with it." 

Literally, NOBODY says that.  

I find that brands are not really open to conversations and brands that can do that will stand out. 

I also value them promoting me, like I'm promoting them! Only a handful of brands will cross-post your review or like your posts, or leave comments which again, is a lack of willingness to converse on their part. 

I also think that some older brands need to be transparent about ingredients and how they're going to help your skin. The newer, trendier brands are doing this. 

5. What does beauty mean to you? Do you see it as self-care?

Beauty means feeling good about yourself. Improving your own image of yourself. 

​This edition of Industry Voices is very special as it features an individual that has been a big factor behind the success of the Canadian Cosmetic Cluster. Since meeting Lucas Nanini at the Cosmetic 360 Show in 2017, I have had the best fortune to have an extraordinary industry professional to support my cosmetic endeavours. Lucas Nanini the Co-Founder and COO of Noleo, has been in the cosmetic industry for over 10 years. He started his early days at P&G. He then followed their luxury cosmetic division to COTY. This year Lucas has left the cosmetic corporate world to make his own path in the industry with projects like NOLEO and the Good Face Project. In this segment, Lucas shares his thoughts on product innovation and development.
 
 1. What brought you to the world of cosmetics?  

I was doing an internship at P&G in Beijing, China in 2007. I was working on innovation for laundry products, for example; hand wash for the low-income market. Nothing could be further connected to the world of cosmetics.
 
One of the many challenges I experienced during this time was to understand why our bag of laundry powder (which we had just cost saved) was blistering over time. As I was putting together my design of the experiment, a French manager in Shanghai, Tanguy Pellen (who then became my boss a few years later), was visiting the Beijing office to review this project and the issues. At that time, P&G was launching a Gucci fragrance. There was a high level of detail on the packaging, and their challenge was to check if the Fashion House would approve the physical execution of what they would have initially put on paper (or how Art translated into Science). 
 
Home Products and Luxury Fragrances are both incredibly complicated sectors of the cosmetic industries in their own right. But I loved the complexity that came from pushing the boundaries of aesthetics and artistic creativity more. This attracted me to luxury cosmetics as opposed to the challenges of manufacturing and cost-saving homecare products.
 
It has helped me however to know both ends of the spectrum, especially when looking at consumer-centric design and innovation.
 
 2. What are the most important innovations in cosmetics of the past decade? 

I have three that come to mind when observing the industry and what has been done in the last decade. 
 
First, I really think L’Oreal made a bold move by entering the IoT space, and what they did with Le Teint Particulier. It was remarkable because it met an important consumer need around personalization. But more importantly, the work that L'Oreal is doing in consumer data collection is super smart: with this, you can design better product, but also work on predictive modeling tools; smart move.
 
Next, I simply cannot answer this without adding one of the products that I worked on. This product was the SK-II Magnetic Wand. I was working with the Singapore, and Japan team at P&G, to develop this applicator. And it was the first time in the industry that we looked at Physics (and more specifically diamagnetism) as a mode of operation for the driving of key ingredients into the skin, in addition to Biology (with the skin) and Chemistry (with our active ingredient). 
 
Last, a worthy mention is innovations in Microbiome applications. This is something that is in my opinion instrumental in our next curve of innovation, and we have only scratched the surface (pun intended) in this space. I look forward to seeing what would come out of this field in terms of research and development over the next three to five years.

 3. What should a startup cosmetic brand focus on when approaching innovation at a budget? 

I will try to step away from general tips like “know your consumer”, “know the market”. You can google that and find that information from many sources. 
 
Instead, I would encourage the startup to assess if this approach or technology is the “best” to solve this problem. By “best” I am not talking about performance. I want would like the startup to access the balance between performance, cost, limits in consumer habit change, and ease to scale.
 
It is important to remember to include in “best”: the team. Ask yourself do you have the legitimacy to drive this project? Is your business partner (don’t launch anything alone) the right partner with the right complementary skills? Are you clear about what is missing in the team and how you can compensate for that?
 
Last but not least, what is your “best protection”, or competitive advantage. It does not always mean, IP. It could be speed to market, supply exclusivity, claims and endorsement, etc…
 
The good thing about this process is that once you complete and analyze all these factors. You will be able to screen out 70% of your ideas, without spending any money.
 
​4.  What areas in product design are the most important to focus on? 

Two things come to mind for me.
 
The first is safety. I can’t encourage anyone to create a product that may be performing well but is not safe (without serious backed up data). In the world of cosmetics, nothing is worth getting ill for. This is what has been driving my business partner Nico and I every day at NOLEO. For us, if an ingredient is not essential, it shouldn’t be in the formulation. Does that mean we may lose on sensory? Probably, but not always. Is this however something that will prevent people from buying your product? Absolutely not! It will all come down to education on how and why you have put together your product this way.
 
Secondly overall experience. It is so easy today to approach a contract manufacturer and get a product developed. Therefore, the biggest impact you could make for a consumer to buy your product is to make this link between the product and the consumer as strong as possible. This should be true throughout all the touchpoints, from brand awareness to product consideration, product purchase and product use. 
 
It could be nice branding, a well thought out website, the right choice of words, a nice display in-store or online, and irreproachable customer service. Most of those are not coming at extra cost, it just requires to spend a lot of brainpower and iterative thinking to come up with the best version of this product on those touchpoints. 
 

5. In your opinion, what areas of the cosmetic industry need the most innovation and redesign?  

The first is IT and information management. We have been operating in an industry that is relatively slow in adopting the latest tools and technologies. This applied to product lifecycle management, product design, safety and regulation, product and consumer feedback tracking etc, … This is very far from the advances of industries such as financial (think fintech) food and beverage, or general retail. 
 
In my opinion, a strong digitization effort is required. This is what my team was doing at COTY as we stepped away from paper, or local records, into cloud-based information management solution. This provided us with clean, structured and more useable data. Since I left COTY, I have been involved in a very smart project in the Good Face Project team, a female-founded tech start-up based in California. Their team is bringing their tech expertise to turbocharge and tidy how cosmetic formulations are made, and how product safety and regulatory assessment are performed. This will not only save the brands and suppliers' time and resources but more importantly, remove the risk of human error. This is what will help provide the best product (actual formulation and service) possible to the most discerning beauty consumers. 

​Canadian Cosmetic Cluster Presents - New Webinar for Startups in the Cosmetic Industry on November 4th 2020 at 10 am Eastern Time Canada/ 4pm European Central Time

The Cluster will talk about how startups fit into the Global Cosmetic Industry and their role in as the future leaders in Beauty. 

Topics That Will Be Discussed
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Cosmetic Industry Overview
Startup Opportunities in Canada 
Global Startup Opportunities 
How to Save Money in the Startup Phase
Future of Cosmetics and How to Contribute