Circular Beauty: The Upcycled Ingredients Shaping Personal Care

Circular beauty has shifted significantly from niche to mainstream in recent years. The Business Research Company valued the circular beauty products market at $2.7 billion in 2025 and forecasts $3.74 billion by 2030. Innova Market Insights reports that new personal care launches featuring upcycled ingredients grew by an average of 110% a year between 2021 and 2025. It’s no longer just eco-conscious start-ups leading the way either. Upcycled claims are increasingly turning up across mainstream and premium brands.

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Goldbrew Phyto-Mucin by LABIO: Nature-Derived Hydration & Elasticity

Goldbrew Phyto-Mucin is a premium, plant-derived alternative to animal mucin, created from the nutrient-rich Golden Hibiscus. LABIO’s innovative cold-brew extraction and fermentation technologies are used to produce a low-molecularised phyto-mucin ingredient that provides deep hydration and enhances inner skin elasticity through 10 layers of the stratum corneum.

 

The Science: A Superior Plant-Derived Alternative

INCI: Glycerin, Bacillus Ferment, 2,3-Butanediol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Hibiscus Abelmoschus Extract

Plant-derived mucin from the Golden Hibiscus offers equivalent functionality to snail mucin, with superior safety and higher production efficiency. The Golden Hibiscus, a flower that is rich in plant mucilage and minerals, has been used in food and medicine since the early 4th century. 

LABIO’s process utilises two key technologies: 

  1. Cold Brewing Extraction: this eco-friendly method optimises the extraction of mucin from the flowers, ensuring an efficient and stable acquisition of the active ingredients. 
  2. Fermentation (Bio-Conversion): The fermentation system converts high-molecular-weight mucin into low-molecularised mucin. This bio-converted form is more easily absorbed into the skin, maximising its efficacy deep within the epidermis.

 

Key Benefits and Proven Efficacy

Goldbrew Phyto-Mucin is a high-performance, hybrid ingredient that delivers powerful results, backed by clinical testing:

  • Enhanced Skin Elasticity: Improves inner skin elasticity across 10 layers of the stratum corneum, with clinically proven results of up to +15.77% improvement compared to placebo.
  • Deep Hydration & Moisture Retention: Offers deep skin firming and moisturising effects, improving moisture retention with up to +45.95% improvement in inner hydration compared to placebo.
  • Anti-Aging Potential: Shows superior inhibition of the collagen-degrading enzyme MMP-1 (at concentrations above 2.5%) and enhances skin regeneration (cell proliferation at concentrations above 0.5%) compared to Golden Hibiscus extract alone.
  • Superior Absorption: The low-molecular, bio-converted structure ensures active ingredients penetrate effectively for maximum benefit.
  • Eco-Friendly Sourcing: Developed using sustainable cold brewing and fermentation-based bio-conversion technology.

 

Key Applications

  • Skin care
  • Body care

 

What’s Next?

We’re excited to see what formulators will create with this exciting new ingredient. If you’d like to find out more about Goldbrew Phyto-Mucin, request a sample, or discuss your next formulation with our knowledgeable technical team, please get in touch. 

Tackling Hair Loss: From Prevention to Re-Growth

Hair loss is a growing concern for consumers, driven by factors like stress, hormonal imbalances, pollution, and ageing. With increased awareness of the connection between scalp health and hair health, the concept of skinification—adapting skincare principles for hair care—is reshaping the market. Consumers are now looking for holistic solutions that target the scalp as the foundation for healthy, resilient hair.Continue reading

Embrace Change With These Menopause Products

For many years women of menopausal age have expressed that they feel disregarded in the beauty and cosmetics industry, which, given that menopausal hormonal changes can significantly affect women’s skin and hair, is hugely disappointing. 

However, with this gap in the market clearly in strong demand, it’s great to see a positive trend emerging around the niche menopausal market, as formulators begin to focus on developing personal care products that are designed specifically to help women experiencing menopause. 

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Harnessing Extremophiles: The Adventurous World of Extreme Organisms in Cosmetics

The world of cosmetics is ever-evolving, with a constant quest for innovation and novel ingredients. One such fascinating area of exploration is the use of extremophiles within the cosmetics industry. 

Extremophiles are remarkable organisms that thrive in extreme environmental conditions such as high temperatures, acidity, salinity, and pressure. Their unique adaptations have piqued the interest of the cosmetic world, as they hold the potential to revolutionise skincare and beauty products. In this blog, we delve into the captivating world of extremophiles and explore their applications in the world of cosmetics.

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New Principal: Labio

We’re proud to introduce you to an exciting new principal for personal care products: Labio. Based in Korea, Labio specialises in bio-technology and specifically focuses on extremophiles. Through a unique combination of metabolome, fermentology and cell engineering, this innovative company looks at developing efficient, sustainable and more eco-friendly ingredients with enhanced dermatological benefits for a range of personal care applications.Continue reading