Italian colour cosmetics brand Mewe launched in 2021 and offers fun and stylishly packaged multifunctional and highly innovative makeup products. Amongst Mewe’s best-sellers is the Magic Wand, an egg-shaped solid cream to powder foundation formulated with skin tone-adapting micro-encapsulated colour pigments. Its companion product, the Lip & Cheek Tint contains pH-reactive colour pigments that adapt to the users individual skin tone. Another innovative Mewe product is the Mascara Regenerating Potion, a highly pigmented black liquid formulated with emollient plant oils. Packaged in a dropper bottle, the Potion can be added to any existing black and water-soluble mascara to rejuvenate dried up/half-empty mascaras as well as make the formulations more moisturising.
AJ Sens, a Canadian brand that launched in 2023, offers prescription eyewear for makeup enthusiasts. The AJ Sens titanium frames unlatch in the middle (leaving two pieces, each with a lens and an earpiece) so short-sighted and sight-impaired customers can wear one half of the frames whilst doing their eye makeup or performing other close-up beauty tasks, then switch to the other side. The very light-weight frames are available in three different colours.
Romania’s brand QPearl presented an innovative plastic-free format for liquid body care products such as shower gels, shampoos or conditioners. In the marble-sized Qpearls, the active ingredients, surfactants, foam stabilisers and so on, are contained in a flexible shell made from protein-based bio material. The pearl won’t dissolve in contact with a few drops of water; you need a stream of warm water and continuous friction to release the cleansing formula. The pearl is placed into the palm of the hand under flowing water, once you start rubbing the hands together QPearl will start to release the foam. Continue washing your hands, body or hair with the pearl; with continued usage the pearl will continue to decrease until only a sliver is left. The brand says that one pearl is sufficient to wash an entire body or shoulder-length hair. The pearls can also be adapted with other ingredients (QPearl is currently working on a body lotion) and at the booth, the company also presented mock-ups of wall-mounted pearl dispensers for hotel or private bathrooms.
Organic indie beauty brand Strome launched in early 2024 with a compact product line-up of eight face and body care products. Focusing on high-quality certified-organic product formulations built around classic Northern European ingredients like cloudberry seed oil and birch sap, the Strome product range has a visually striking pack design that looks very unlike the average organic beauty brand. Upcoming launches include three solid perfume balms based on shea butter that will be sold in square tins. The brand’s signature products feature additional mycellium (mushroom) fibre-based outer packaging.
Organic Korean beauty brand Urang presented its new functional beauty sister brand. The Core by Urang range offers four products that feature intentionally compact INCI formulations. The line-up includes the Panthenol Milky Cream which has a trending milky lotion texture but is packaged in a serum bottle. The blue-tinted Sea Kelp Soothing Toner contains kelp extract and butterfly pea extract to adjust and harmonise the skin’s pH.
Customised skin care has been a major trend in recent years. Italy’s indie brand Dermaself presented an interesting twist on this concept. The Milan-based brand specialises in customised face care for acne-prone skin. Dermaself’s AI-driven diagnostics database can analyse different types of acne, taking into account parameters such as number and depth of comedons and blackheads, level of inflammation around the pores and so on. Customers then receive a customised face cream and regularly repeat the analysis so that the product can be adjusted as the acne progresses. The Dermaself database can also recommend other dermatological acne brands suitable for a sufferer’s specific type of acne.
Danish fragrance house Aerlig launched its first luxury fragrances in 2020. The brand’s perfumes cater to consumers with allergic and sensitive skin that still want to wear fragrances occasionally. Aerlig’s fragrances are based on wheat alcohol which has a higher purity and is less drying on the skin than other types of ethanol. Unlike many other indie fragrance brands which tend to use essential oils, the brand’s complex scents are blended from completely synthetic fragrance molecules which cut down the risk of skin sensitivities considerably. It also means that the brand’s six fragrances are already compliant with EU Regulation (EC) 2023/1545 which expanded the list of declarable fragrance component allergens to over 80 substances.
Because of the wheat alcohol base and synthetic fragrance molecules, Aerlig’s fragrances also tested as completely non-phototoxic (they will not trigger dermatitis when worn in the sun), adding a climate-adaptive beauty twist to the brand.
Emotional wellness brand Happy Paul launched in 2022 with a mood-boosting scent combining notes of pink peppercorn, bergamot and spearmint, a heart of petitgrain, rosemary and jasmine and a base of calming woodsy accords. There are now seven beauty products in the range including hair & body wash, face cleanser, face scrub and moisturiser as well as a soy candle and edp sprays/roll-ons. All products are scented with the Happy Paul signature fragrance blend.
Founder Paul Gerrard himself suffered from depression since he was a teen, and improving mental health, mood-lifting self-care is at the front and center of the Happy Paul brand. 10% of the brand’s retail profits go to UK mental health charity Young Minds which offers support children and young adults dealing with mental health issues.
Austrian face care brand Andmetics launched in 2024 with a range of 12+ face and body care, grooming and sun care products. The entire Andmetics line-up is built around innovative and clever beauty products that can be easily combined with existing cosmetics. The brand’s bestseller is the HOCl Spray, a skin-healing blend of water and hypochlorous acid, with the cooling twist-up Magic Eye Stick a close second. The brand also offers two fragrance-free high-SPF products that are suitable even for customers with sensitive skin. With a mass market price tag and drugstore distribution, Andmetics will soon be rolled out to other Western European markets.
Indie brand Fler was one of the first Italian unisex body hair removal shaving brands offering a razor blade subscription service. Since launching Fler in 2021, founder Allegra Violante has built up the brand to include a wide range of shaving products.
Amongst the brand’s most recent launches is a post-shaving body care product with an innovative gel-to-milk body scrub. Once water is added and the scrub is massaged into the skin, the product turns into a milky liquid that can be easily rinsed off and leaves skin feeling smooth and moisturised.