A major challenge for brands to seduce their customers Concerned with protecting the planet but more than ever fond of beauty accessories - the industry must imagine the products of tomorrow, more sustainable but without compromising the user experience. Answers by Taiki, manufacturer of cosmetic brushes for 90 years.
More than an accessory, the makeup brush is now a must-have in our bathrooms. Wholesales are on the rise again with the end of the health crisis and the resumption of social life. While innovation focused until now on improving the hair application performance, consumers now expect more effort on eco-design.
What are the problems encountered? What solutions to bring? Taiki Cosmetics Europe, beauty accessories supplier and application specialist, had to face these questions during the 18 months of development of their brand-new range of makeup brushes: "Mix&Match Ecobrush".
Handle and ferrule: how to reduce materials?
The concerns related to the materials used for the handle and the ferrule of the brushes was brought up already, with in response the creation of the "One Cut Brush" range : brushes that are cut from a single piece of FSC wood, making it possible to eliminate the metal traditionally used to hold bristles.
Ecodesign is about improving what already exists in a more responsible way. So how to go further on the handle-ferrule couple, while preserving the pleasure of use? Taiki’s Ecodesign division focused on reducing materials in order to act on the resources used, and on the carbon footprint of transport.
"We wanted to design a range of brushes with as little material as possible, but without cutting back on performance and comfort of use. Rather than impractical mini-formats, lacking precision, we imagined a set of brushes all in wood with interchangeable heads, on a classic format" says Alix Bellanné, Marketing & Communication Director of Taiki Cosmetics Europe. Thus, a complete range of 10 brushes requires only 3 reusable handles, reducing the total weight of materials used and transported by 40%.
"If the concept of brushes with interchangeable heads already exists on the market, these tools are made of plastics from fossil fuels. This is the first time that such a range can be produced from natural and renewable resources, as the wood used is from sustainably managed forests and FSC certified" says Alix Bellanné.
Easy to use: the heads are simply clipped in a single gesture on the 3 handle sizes.
And on the makeup brush fiber, how to improve naturalness while remaining vegan?
Originally, and until the 2010s, brush tufts were made of natural hairs of animal origin, mainly goat, pony, or marten. The "cruelty-free" awareness and the rise of veganism have led most brands to turn to 100% synthetic fibers, but also 100% from petrochemicals (PBT or nylon). If it is possible to use a share of recycled PET in these fibers, Taiki has chosen to raise the question of natural and renewable resources: how to reduce the share of petrochemical materials and return to more naturalness without going back to animal hair?
"As experts in beauty application, we are committed to not degrading the makeup performance of our items when they pass through the eco-design division. We reject any proposal, however natural it may be, that does not give satisfaction from a softness point of view, picking and restitution of the formula, makeup result, resistance to washing," explains Alix Bellanné. Taiki has selected Naturlon 60, a vegan fiber, made of 60% bio-based material, reducing the PBT proportion. This material comes from an inedible part of corn, thus avoiding the use of food resources. A special tapering has been performed to ensure smoothness and even application of both powders and liquid formulas.
A launch at MakeUp in Paris
This new "Mix & Match Ecobrush" range will be presented for the first time at MakeUp in Paris show on June 16 and 17, 2022. It will be fully customizable like all the items designed and manufactured by Taiki for cosmetic brands. The company also recommends choosing laser engraving as a decoration method in order to get rid of inks and push ecodesign down to the smallest detail.
