Track the Trends From Cosmoprof North America 2012

Every year, trends are discovered at Cosmoprof North America (CPNA), and celebrating its tenth anniversary in Las Vegas this past July, the professional beauty show featured some of the latest in spa and salon products, drawing in 25,000 attendees and 856 exhibitors, as well as exhibiting a 9% attendance increase over last year.

Retailers and innovation seekers scoured the aisles at CPNA to find new brands and categories to introduce to their consumers, and key trends seen there include a plethora of different nail offerings—from textured nail formulas to mood changing shades to at-home gel options—as well as DIY smart phone skin analysis technology, beauty oils, organic hair lines, technology to improve hair growth/texture, and next-generation hair smoothing treatments. For the second year, CPNA brought back its TrendScouts to report on the hottest beauty finds at the event, and their tweets were displayed throughout the show floor. These tweets—along with the findings from on-site beauty bloggers, editors, makeup artists and retailers—comprise the CPNA 2012 Trend Report.

Nails

A gel system for home use, with all the bells and whistles: Orly launched Smart Gels, an at-home gel starter kit (currently available Ulta and Sally Beauty stores). Each kit includes a nail tip primer, base and top coat, cuticle oil, cleanser, remover and tools, and a smart LED lamp (about the size of cell phone) is sold separately. Gel nail colors, 12 shades in total, will also ship to stores.

Unlimited shades of everything: Expect a slew of new gel color shades from CND, OPI and China Glaze, as well as a new color collection from Seche Vite. CND has six new Shellac shades for fall, bringing Shellac's total shade count to 42. For fall 2012, OPI is partnering with the new James Bond 007 film Skyfall with new shades of gels, lacquers, magnetizers and nail appliqués, and also is launching an 18K Gold Lacquer Top Coat containing real gold leaf. China Glaze is launching half a dozen new shade collections for the back half of 2012, including On Safari, New Bohemian and Cirque Du Soleil 3D. The brand is also launching its first-ever Real Nail Polish Appliqués. And Seche Vite, the Fast Dry Topcoat brand, is launching a 33-color collection in September 2013. It will utilize Seche Vite's fast-drying technology and only require one coat for maximum color.

Textured nails are everywhere: Professional offerings by CND and Young Nails allow estheticians to apply pure pigment in the form of mica powder directly onto nails to deliver brilliant glimmer, sparkle or texture. CND calls its powder Additives, which is shipping now to salons. And Ciate, the maker of the Caviar Manicure now available at Sephora, is launching the Sequined Manicure and the Velvet Manicure in four SKUs in the fourth quarter. For professionals, Ciate has the Caviar Manicure Bar that includes 47 tubes of caviar bead colors, and for the mass market, Ciate created Nail Rock, designer nail wraps. Layla Nails, the winner of the 2012 Discover Beauty Award, introduced fall shades for its popular Magneffects and Hologram Collection, and its newest launch, Soft Touch, adds an element of matte with texture, available in 12 hues for fall/holiday.

Environmentally friendly: Eco-conscious nails were also prevalent through such brands such as Acquarella, a water-based nail polish brand with advanced technology in its nail polishes and removers that does away with harmful petrochemical solvents and chemicals. Peacekeeper Cause-Metics is rated one of the safest paint-based nail lines by the Environmental Working Group, and its Eco-Smooth Nail Paints are four new long-lasting enamels made with indigenous argan oil, which is high in amino acids. All profits from the nail paints, after taxes, are used to support women's health advocacy and human rights issues.

Cool packaging: New CID Cosmetics introduced the new i–polish, featuring a built-in light, making it perfect for application anytime, anywhere. i–polish also is free from ingredients found in traditional nail polishes, such as formaldehyde, toluene and DBP.

Skin

DIY skin analysis: One of the most talked-about exhibitors at the show was Beautécam, a lens that attaches to a smart phone camera, takes a picture of your skin and analyzes it. The other components offered by Beautécam, which is based in Kyoto, Japan, are social media and branding options. For example, a brand can market the skin analysis component by recommending its own products as a solution to any detected skin problems. Kaori Nagao of Beautécam said at least one global beauty firm is exploring buying the technology, and that Toyota is using the lens to target women for the launch of a new UV shield on 2013 car windows. Also popular in skin was Goldfaden MD, which is being positioned as a natural derm line, with a product called the Needle-less Serum for wrinkles and fine lines. Another eye-catching brand was EyeSlices, reusable cooling eye gels. Four different SKUs target different skin care needs, and these dermal delivery eye masks provide an instant cooling sensation and quickly reduce the appearance of red eyes, dark circles, tired eyes, wrinkles and puffy eyes. The eye treatment pads combine the natural essence of nature with bio-innovation for a solution to common eye concerns. Bella Simplice launched seven new anti-aging masks that help give skin an immediate lift. These masks improve deep wrinkles with a moisture saturation level of 92% in five minutes. It is also used to help cancer and burn victims with traumatic skin injuries.

Exotic ingredients: Many skin care brands are introducing exotic blends of skin-repairing oils with interesting ingredients incorporated into multipurpose serums and/or moisturizers to help satisfy needful skin. Manuka Doctor is a skin care line infused with purified bee venom. This unique process provides a refined and concentrated source that can be used as a powerful natural ingredient in its products. With purification, the active components become concentrated. As such, with the potency of purified bee venom, you only need a very small amount. Additionally, purified bee venom has a cumulative effect with results building up over a period of continual use. Another observation was that argan oil is still a popular ingredient in almost every beauty product these days. Beauty oils seem to be a driving force in skin care because of their healing and restorative properties. Marula–The Leakey Collection has a unique blend of omega fatty acids that makes it an ideal moisturizer. Additionally, by uniting sophisticated global consumers with talented fair trade producers, The Leakey Collection is dedicated to advancing opportunities for women in rural East Africa. Shea Terra Organics also aids co-ops in Africa and introduced its mini holiday Argan Oil Beauty Kit with three nourishing oils for face and body, all infused with argan and other unique ingredients indigenous of Africa, and Niki Saint Pierre Botanical Cosmeceuticals also launched its intense overnight therapy anti-aging collection featuring beauty oils.

Beauty Tattoos and Lash Texture and Volume

Temporary transformation: Violent Lips had a crowd by its booth the entire run of CPNA. The company, which makes temporary lip transfers (in Glitterati, animal prints, florals and fishnet patterns) is sold in Sephora, and is also launching Violent Eyes this month with glitter transfers in cat-eye shapes. Violent Lips has also launched a mass version, Bella by Violent Lips, named after firm president Jeff Haddad's 15-year-old daughter Isabella, who actually was the brainchild behind the glitter lip-tattoos. Additionally, nail tattoos, press-ons and decals were another CPNA element that appeared to be all the rage for quick (and disposable) nail art.

Look-at-me lashes: Fiberwig is known in Japan as the "instant eyelash extensions in a tube." Engineered to create the perfect lashes with twice the amount of microfine interconnection fibers, Fiberwig also features a long-lasting film coat around the natural lashes, never smudges and can be easily removed with water. Beauty Addicts also launched Show-Off Mascara, a unique formula that blends argan oil to condition lashes while pumping up the volume. Lash Extensions continue to be a lucrative service at salons and spas—and it’s a trend that isn’t just relegated to your standard lash. The brands and varieties on display at CPNA include different colors, neons, bling and more, and along with colorful lashes, coupling those with bright liners that are water-resistant were a big trend. Jewel tone hues are hot for fall and holiday.

Hair

Hair smoothing remains on trend: Several hair smoothing options stood out from the dozens on offer at CPNA, including Bio Ionic's Agave Healing Oil Treatment, which uses an amino acid complex-based Carbo-C proprietary formula and is designed to last about 12 weeks. Keratin Complex has received OSHA compliance for all of its formulas, said Lisa Loria, the brand’s director of marketing. And Cadiveu, the South American-based, original maker of Brazilian Blowout, is launching its latest version of a smoothing treatment, SupraLiss, which the firm said is "free of all aldehydes." SupraLiss is more technical, needs more time than the original, lasts longer and leaves more shine. INOAR Professional also presented keratin treatments, which have been formulated according to hair type.

Quick fix for thinning hair: Powder hair fillers—to hide bald spots and to fill in where hair thins—were popular at CPNA, namely at FHI, where its Hair Veil applies to the scalp to make hair appear fuller. SureThik is a full-treatment company specializing in therapeutic hair loss transplants, laser hair therapy and baldness, and it has launched three new products, Organic Hair Building Fibers, Boost and Lift. The iGrow Hair Rejuvenation System leverages a patent-pending combination of built-in laser and LED lights to enable both men and women concerned with hair loss or thinning hair to experience dramatic results. Within 12 weeks of using iGrow as directed, most consumers report that they experience the end of excess hair loss. And Ván Tibolli Beauty, which represents modern glam, sex appeal and sophistication in a bottle, according to the company, discussed its products’ secret—Trioxxy, a synergy of keratin proteins that replenishes hair from the inside out using a hydra delivery system.

Barrel irons = the new curling irons: Heating appliances were everywhere at CPNA, and especially popular were barrel irons—curling irons without the clamp—by Amika and Keratin Complex. Barrel irons eliminate the ridge that often forms when using a curling iron. Innovations in flat irons also were seen, such as with hairstylist Jose Eber's new glass-plated flat iron GlassTech, which utilizes infrared tube lighting to heat the plates. The glass plates are nonporous, preserving hair moisture and making it safer to eliminate frizz, breakage and cuticle damage. Jose Eber is also launching a conditioning iron, Therapy Rx Moisture Boosting Tool, which uses high-frequency, ultrasonic vibration to break conditioners and oils to molecule-size particles to ensure maximum penetration into open hair follicles.

A Spa-worthy shower: A universal shower attachment that brings the wonders of aromatherapy into the comfort of your shower, Essio attaches easily to virtually any shower and works in conjunction with a disposable pod that slowly releases a blend of pure essential oils into the shower to create a luxurious aromatic effect.

And those were some of the hottest trends at the 2012 Cosmoprof North America event. For more information on Cosmoprof North America and the next show—taking place July 14–16, 2013, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, visit www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com.

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