Ashland introduces enterprise solutions in bioavailability and texture-rheology control at in-cosmetics 2015

Ashland introduces enterprise solutions in bioavailability and texture-rheology control at in-cosmetics 2015

BARCELONA, Spain - At in-cosmetics, the world's leading trade fair for personal care ingredients, Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) presented examples of enterprise solutions in key areas of consumer care that will enable manufacturers of finished products to introduce new, more dynamic and more efficient formulations. Showcasing comprehensive expertise in bioavailability, the company provided insights into the future of products based on enhanced ingredient delivery in skin, scalp, hair and oral care applications. Presenting advancements in rheological design, Ashland also demonstrated its capability to provide signature texture solutions for skin and hair care.

"Ashland has advanced its successful business collaboration approach in consumer care markets to include enterprise solutions that finished product manufacturers may implement across product platforms," said James Mish, group vice president, Consumer Specialties, Ashland Specialty Ingredients. "Focusing on our recognized core competencies in bioavailability and texture-rheology control, we will create defining solutions for our customers in these areas and carry them forward for adoption in the consumer care market."

Creating enterprise-level solutions in key areas of consumer care requires leadership in ingredient technology, applications development, formulations and consumer science. Ashland has integrated all of these capabilities in-house and organized them in a way that enables the company to bring forward solutions for large-scale adoption and implementation.

"The number one challenge in most consumer markets is bioavailability. Making actives or substances fully available in a formulated product is essential to a superior consumer experience. Our objective is to work with major manufacturers of consumer care products at the early stages of product development to deliver bioavailability solutions that lead to better market opportunities for customers," said Mish.

Enterprise level solutions
Offering enterprise solutions on a pro forma basis, Ashland's in-house development team invests resources to work directly with product formulators to implement the best-available bioavailability solution in virtually any product form.

"Designing a bioavailability solution for a product platform and managing it all the way to commercialization is more beneficial to our customers and ultimately to the consumers than a technical adjustment at a later stage in the development program," Mish explained.

A case in point is seen with sun-care formulations, where a novel bioavailability solution may serve to advance the efficacy of sunscreens. Formulating sunscreen products that spread evenly on the surface of skin as a result of the optimized multifunctional components of a sunscreen formulation, for example, affords manufacturers solutions to create highly efficient, more innovative products.

Signature texture solutions
Advancing core competency in rheology, Ashland outlined its ability to create signature texture solutions for manufacturers of personal care products. The company creates and commercializes emollients, emulsifiers, lamellar gels, rheology modifiers and specialty solvents, taking into account the functionality of its technologies to advance textural attributes that can be delivered from a range of delivery systems.

At its texture bar, a number of skin care demonstration formulations possessed soft or bouncy textures normally delivered from aerosol systems, but made available as simple cream gels or serums. Moreover, Ashland demonstrated how it is possible to create skin care product forms such as body butter with better sensory attributes than formulations that normally employ more expensive waxes.

In hair care, Ashland demonstrated how its knowledge in the six primary hair textures - fine, straight, wavy, coarse, frizzy and curly - may be accentuated or optimized to assure beautiful, easy-to-manage hair. Ashland works with all hair types in areas such as hair fiber repair that help to restore the texture of damaged hair fibers back to the look and feel of healthy hair. Textural solutions may also be tailored by Ashland to create multidimensional hairstyles and enhance color and shine. Today's sleek and smooth hair trend and in contrast the "beach wave" look remain largely a function of texture control and modification and may be optimized with novel formulation design and polymer choices.

Mastering the art of personal care with novel ingredients
Formulators and marketers of personal care products tend to visit in-cosmetics to discover novel ingredients and novel approaches that help them master the art of advanced skin and hair care. From Ashland's Vincience research center in France comes Elixiance^™ biofunctional, a new ecological and sustainable ingredient for skin care products aimed at anti-pollution effects.

In hair care, more information was made available about its new commercial offering for hairspray - the Advantage^™ 4910 polymer.

Ashland also introduced a highly innovative preservative platform. The Optiphen^™ P platform is the first non-alcohol preservative technology platform with a functionalized delivery system. The delivery system serves to ostensibly maximize preservative efficacy typically without interfering or destabilizing cosmetic formulations, such as emulsions. The first preservative product offered within the Optiphen P platform addresses today's demand for cost-efficient preservatives that follow natural ingredient trends. New Optiphen DP preservative complies with major eco-labels: Bra Miljöval (Good Environmental Choice), Nordic Ecolabelling (Swan) and EU Ecolabel (Flower) 2014/893/EC.

For more information, visit Ashland at the in-cosmetics exhibition in Barcelona, Spain, April 14-16, Stand 7D40, or on the web at Ashland.com/personalcare.

About Ashland Specialty Ingredients
Ashland Specialty Ingredients is the #1 global producer of cellulose ethers and a global leader in vinyl pyrrolidones. It offers industry-leading products, technologies and resources for solving formulation and product-performance challenges. Using natural, synthetic and semisynthetic polymers derived from plant and seed extract, cellulose ethers and vinyl pyrrolidones, as well as acrylic and polyurethane-based adhesives, Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers comprehensive and innovative solutions for today's demanding consumer and industrial applications. Key customers include: pharmaceutical companies; makers of personal care products, food and beverage companies; manufacturers of paint, coatings and construction materials; packaging and converting companies; and oilfield service companies.

About Ashland
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a global leader in providing specialty chemical solutions to customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care and pharmaceutical. Through our three commercial units - Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland Performance Materials and Valvoline - we use good chemistry to make great things happen for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit ashland.com to learn more.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Michaela Neilson
Communications Manager EMEA
Tel + 41 (0) 52 560 55 25
mneilson@ashland.com