Ashland is shaping the future of personal care at NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026, New York

WILMINGTON, DE – May 19, 2026 – Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) Ashland will unveil new Technology Platform innovations and ingredients at booth #1521 during NYSCC Suppliers’ Day 2026, May 19-20, 2026.

From the Ashland Super Wetters Technology Platform, easy-hance™ wetting agent is a nature-derived, superwetting agent for textured hair. It enables faster and more efficient wetting for improved detangling, alignment, and overall performance in both rinse-off and leave-on products. This ingredient helps reduce water use and shortens cleansing routines while enhancing moisture, curl definition, and manageability. With easy-hance™ wetting agent, formulators reduce reliance on heavy oils and silicones.

During NYSCC, stop by the Ashland Booth #1521 and see a live hair demo of new easy-hance™ wetting agent

• Tuesday, May 19 at 10:30 am and 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, May 20 at 10:30 am

While at the Ashland booth, ask for your A.I.-powered skin evaluation to determine your skin’s perceived age and get instant insights. Award-winning and major technological breakthrough, eternight™ biofunctional, is first to focus on the humanin peptide for skin care. Tied to longevity, this mitochondrial peptide is a key driver impacting the 12 hallmarks of aging. AI facial scanning shows skin looks up to four years younger in 28 days.

“We are incredibly excited to return to NYSCC Suppliers’ Day and showcase how Ashland is shaping the future of personal care through purposeful innovation,” said Michael Lull, director of marketing, Ashland. “From our latest technology platforms to next generation ingredients like easy-hance™ wetting agent and eternight™ biofunctional, we’re delivering high-performance, nature-derived solutions that meet evolving consumer expectations around superior performance, efficiency, and differentiation. Live demonstrations, AI-powered skin insights, and our expanding portfolio of multifunctional ingredients reflect our commitment to advancing both formulation science and the consumer experience.”

The first commercial innovation from the Ashland Multi-functional Starch Platform, stabileze™ s polymer is a starch based, multipurpose polymer offering viscosity control, emulsion stabilization and formulation suspension benefits at low use levels. The new-to-the-world polymer enables the creation of stable formulations while delivering an appealing sensorial experience.

Effisin™ em natural multifunctional is a 100% natural origin, water-soluble antimicrobial booster that enhances preservation, enabling easy incorporation into a wide range of formulations. Its broad pH stability (3–8) and very low use concentration (0.05% - 0.2%) allows formulators to standardize antimicrobial strategies across product lines - reducing cost, complexity, reformulation time, and raw material inventories.

The phyteq™ product family has grown with the introduction of the new phyteq™ raspberry plus multifunctional. This next‑generation product is an easy‑to‑use liquid blend and provides the same proven antioxidant and well‑aging benefits as phyteq™ raspberry — now complemented by even broader antimicrobial performance. Its versatile profile makes it suitable for a wide range of modern formulations, supporting both product protection and skin care claims. With its multifunctional nature and expanded capabilities, phyteq™ raspberry plus offers formulators a smart and efficient solution for today’s personal care products.

Vital et™ sp biofunctional is an optimized Vitamin E derivative complex that activates the skin’s calming power. Inspired by biomimetic skincare and the slow cosmetics movement, it delivers the biologically active form of α-tocopherol in a water-soluble format with proven skin delivery. Because a balanced skin is silent skin, its unique 360° soothing benefits empower the skin to self-rescue against multiple stressors.

N-hance™ ccg 75 cationic guar from our Responsible Solvers™ program is a biodegradable, nature-derived polymer designed to deliver clean aesthetics and medium to high conditioning performance in clear, surfactant-based formulations. It maintains excellent optical clarity while providing effective wet and dry conditioning without heavy buildup, making it well-suited for lightweight, transparent shampoos and cleansers across sulfated and non-sulfated systems. Through this program, Ashland is increasing the volume of guar harvested annually through educational programs and scientific solutions for sustainable farming while respecting the sourcing relationships and local cultures of small village farmers in Rajasthan, India. Our successful program has helped male and female farmers lower their production cost while increasing their crop yield by approximately 20 percent, thus helping increase farmers' income, expand the local economy in the small villages.

Learn more and request samples at Ashland.com/nyscc26

About Ashland

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a global additives and specialty ingredients company with a conscious and proactive mindset for environmental, social and governance (ESG). The company serves customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care and pharmaceutical. Approximately 2,900 passionate, tenacious solvers – from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators – thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit ashland.com and ashland.com/ESG to learn more.

™ Trademark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries.

Media Relations Ashland

Nina Servino

janina.servino@ashland.com