Since first gaining global notoriety in the early 2000s, natural beauty has evolved to become the most relevant trend in the beauty & personal care industry. As a consequence, consumers around the world are attracted to cosmetic formulations which rely on a holistic approach to sustainability, combining performance with minimal impacts to the environment. The industry now faces the challenge to constantly develop formulations containing natural ingredients without any compromise on performance.

Dow has developed a collection of cosmetic formulations covering both skin and hair applications by focusing on the three key pillars of natural beauty: Ecology, Economic development and Eco-conscious mindset. The ECOllaboration concepts collection features formulations designed to reach at least 90% of natural or natural-derived ingredients. The idea is to both inspire and help Brand Owners to develop formulations fitting with natural cosmetic trends without compromises on performance. Innovative and Eco-conscious formats have been developed, including a solid deodorant, a solid body moisturizer and a powdered shampoo, which combine water-poor formulations with zero-waste packaging.

As the typical natural beauty consumer is constantly searching for formulations with few ingredients, each playing a clearly defined role, simplicity has been a key driver for the development of these formulations. Inclusive beauty, which is driving changes in the cosmetics industry, has also been a clear focus of this work. Most of the formulations included in the kit are non-binary and could be adopted worldwide- a fragrance-free styling gel or a naked color lipstick to be applied on everyone’s bodies.

The cosmetic industry has increased its interest in sustainability, environment protection and biodiversity. For this reason, Dow decided to launch a series of high performing ingredients aligned with natural beauty- many of them highlighted in this ECOllaboration concepts collection. A nourishing cleansing cream for both skin and hair has been developed with Dow’s new biosurfactant to allow a mild and smooth cleansing. As an alternative to cyclopentasiloxane, a new emollient derived from levulinic acid has been used in a foundation, helping pigments dispersion and sensory enhancement. Regarding skin imperfections, rice husk silica is a new solution for wrinkle masking. Finally, a clear styling gel was designed using a new film forming agent based on corn starch.

This paper will present the formulation work and process adjustment required to formulate with a high level of natural ingredients. It will also summarize the performance testing performed, demonstrating that high performing formulations aligned with natural beauty can be developed.


To highlight the formulations benefits, different methods have been used including in-vitro and in-vivo testing. For hair care products, curl retention test under high humidity conditions was performed to showcase styling benefit of new film forming agent. Combing test using Dia-Stron equipment on both wet and dry hair was conducted to study benefits of Dow ingredients in a powdered shampoo format. Regarding skin care, sensory performance was evaluated by panelists with customization for the solid deodorant due to its innovative format. Moisturization of the body stick was assessed using Corneometer device. Finally, long lasting benefit for color cosmetics formulations was evaluated with in-vitro film durability test. The challenges for performance testing have been to adapt the test methods to new formulation formats such as solid and powder.

Finally, ECOllaboration brings together formulations where natural beauty and efficiency are in synergy.