Paris, France – April 12, 2016

For a growing number of consumers, product sustainability is a crucial factor in their purchasing decision. At the same time, personal care manufacturers are looking to contribute to a more sustainable future. Under the slogan “All about tomorrow”, BASF is inviting visitors to in-cosmetics 2016 to join forces: “Together with our partners in the value chain we want to drive sustainable solutions to improve quality of life,” said Dirk Mampe, Head of Business Management for Personal Care Specialties in Europe. “With our new launches, we enable our customers to meet the consumers’ growing desire for an improved skin complexion, sun damage repair and silicone alternatives for shampoos.”

BASF will share its booth R70 with its European sales company BTC and present new ingredients and formulations as well as innovative concepts – for example for hair care and styling, face and sun care as well as oral care. The company also expanded its goals and commitments for sustainable, certified palm oil products. Moreover, BASF helps personal care manufacturers to achieve their sustainability goals and differentiate themselves in the market with a new method.

New method helps optimize the sustainability performance of Personal Care portfolios

BASF is now able to offer an individual solution to customers, who want their portfolios to be systematically examined and evaluated for sustainability aspects. “With the Sustainable Solution Steering^® method, we can assess more precisely how our products contribute to sustainability goals and develop corresponding action plans together with our customers,” said Bettina Jackwerth, Head of Operative Marketing for Personal Care Specialties in Europe. Customers thus receive more transparency about the sustainability profile of the ingredients, which they use in their formulations, and are able to make informed choices for improved sustainability.

Plantasil^® 4V: Silicone alternative boosts conditioning shampoo

BASF’s Plantasil^® 4V is a tailor-made compound for a strong hair conditioning effect in shampoos. It provides a significant improvement on wet combing and sensorial performance on different hair types equivalent to those of silicone containing benchmarks. Even at higher level of hair damage, Plantasil 4V reduces combing force significantly. These effective properties can also be demonstrated at low surfactant levels. When it comes to formulation, BASF’s new ingredient shows clear benefits: It is easy to use in cold processes and compatible with all relevant conditioning polymers. The new compound also offers clear solubilisation of oils in surfactant bases. What is more, Plantasil 4V has less impact on foam and no stabilization issues, compared to other hair care additives.

Lys’Sun™: A natural shield against solar elastosis

Our lifestyle regularly exposes us to sunlight, causing an insidious biological process: photo-ageing. BASF experts discovered recently that under UV radiation, too much elastin is produced in the skin and too little LOX-L enzyme to assemble it into functional elastic fibers. Elastin accumulates and groups together in aggregates that cannot be naturally removed. The skin loses its elasticity and becomes loose, lines deepen and run together: This is known as solar elastosis. BASF’s new active ingredient, Lys’Sun™, a witch-hazel extract, is able to stimulate the synthesis of LOX-L and thus restore the production of functional elastic fibers. Repairing damage to fibers in the dermis, the new active ingredient helps also to restore the youthful appearance of skin. In clinical tests, Lys’Sun has proven its efficacy at one percent. Compared to placebo, wrinkles are significantly reduced by 7.8 percent of wrinkle depth in eight weeks and firmness is substantially improved by 14.6 percent of volume deformation after twelve weeks. The witch hazel trees (Hamamelis Virginiana) used as source for the extract are grown in France.

New effect pigments focus on brightness and strong chroma

At in-cosmetics, BASF offers a range of complementary effect pigment technologies based on sustainably sourced natural mica, synthetic mica and borosilicate:Flamenco^® Summit Aqua is a natural mica with a unique blue shade and intense brightness – from frosted white to deep digital blue – symbolizing purity, constancy and serenity. With its small particle size, it provides excellent coverage and a fine, satin appearance in make-up and skin care applications. Gold has also made a return to runways, ranging from vibrant pink to warm copper or brown accents. Reflecks™ Dimensions Brilliant Gold, BASF’s new borosilicate with an intense gold hue, offers a strong sparkling effect and chroma. In addition, Chione™ HD, BASF’s range of synthetic mica, will be featured in two new concepts: Perfect Skin Complexion for radiance in skincare, and Perfect Glam for Hair & Body for radiance in rinse-off and soap applications.

Explore BASF launches at Innovation Zone and Seminars

The Innovation Zone invites visitors to explore new launches – such as BASF’s new effect pigments matching the Color Trends 2017 “Smart and Seamless” and “Glam Now” or the company’s new active ingredient Lys’Sun. The show will also feature more than 80 hours of the hugely popular Innovation Seminars – where BASF experts share their specialist knowledge and market insights:

About BASF´s Care Chemicals division

The BASF division Care Chemicals offers a broad range of ingredients for hygiene, personal care, home care, industrial & institutional cleaning, and technical applications. We are the global leading supplier for the cosmetics industry as well as the detergents and cleaners industry and support our customers with innovative and sustainable products, solutions and concepts. The division’s high-performance product portfolio includes surfactants, emulsifiers, polymers, emollients, chelating agents, cosmetic active ingredients and UV filters. Superabsorbent polymers developed for the full spectrum of hygiene applications complete the range. We have production and development sites in all regions and are expanding our presence in emerging markets. Further information is available on the Internet at www.care-chemicals.basf.com/.

About BTC

BTC Europe GmbH is BASF’s European sales company for specialty chemicals. We combine a profound knowledge of the industry with a close proximity to our customers. With its eleven regional offices in Europe, BTC supplies small and medium-sized customers from a wide variety of industries with about 6,000 products. BTC is headquartered in Monheim am Rhein, Germany. Further information on BTC is available on the Internet at: www.btc-europe.com.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 112,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of more than €70 billion in 2015. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information at www.basf.com.