The principle of lyophilization technology is to freeze the substance, in the vacuum environment to directly sublimate the moisture into water vapor, in order to avoid the material in the case of heat denaturation, oxidation inactivation to remove water, so that the substance can be stored for a long time without deterioration, before this technology has been widely used in the pharmaceutical and food industries, in the beauty industry is mostly used in the field of medical beauty. With the application of freeze-dried technology extending to ordinary skin care products, the beauty industry has set off a wave of "freeze-dried powder" in recent years, from international brands to local brands have launched related new products to catch up with the trend.
As one of the most popular and easy to get started beauty products, the competition in the mask market is also becoming increasingly "rolled-in", the brand is always looking for the next star product to expand its living space, and the emerging concept of freeze drying in the field of skin care has undoubtedly brought inspiration to the mask category that urgently needs to seek a breakthrough.
According to the Data Administration, the number of lyophilized masks filed from 2017 to 2021 is growing, and according to the latest forecasts, the number of filings in 2021 is expected to reach 2 times that of 2020. On the Little Red Book, the search results of "lyophilized mask" exceeded 20,000, and the topic of "freeze-dried mask" on Douyin was played nearly 20 million, which is a good performance for an emerging category.
The main reason why "freeze-dried" has such a strong appeal is its ability to maintain the activity of ingredients, and consumers who pay attention to efficacy not only understand what the function of various skin care ingredients is, but also begin to pay attention to the concentration and utility of ingredients, such as whether they are "fresh" for poorly stable vitamin C products.
At the same time, due to the "freshness" ability of freeze-dried, the formulation of the mask can reduce or even avoid the use of preservatives, and the point that flake masks are often criticized is the irritation of preservatives, flavors, etc. in a closed environment, and the lyophilized mask can better solve this problem.
In addition, the form of freeze-dried is also in line with the current water-saving "waterless beauty" trend, although this is not the focus of most consumers, but with the brand and consumer environmental awareness, there may be more brands for sustainability considerations to develop freeze-dried masks.
In this year's Double 11, Winona ranked sixth as the only local brand in the Tmall beauty rankings, behind this achievement, in addition to its ace product Shumin Moisturizing Special Cream, the soothing repair freeze-dried mask also made a great contribution, during the Double 11 period sold 195,800 pieces, sales reached 213 million yuan, accounting for 15.2% of the brand's total sales, ranking second.
Winona Soothing Repair Freeze-Dried Mask
In addition to the freeze-dried mask, this product is also equipped with 20ml of BFS sterile pure water, which avoids the problem of "foaming" masks that are not easy to control the amount of water, or the quality of the water source is not high. In terms of formulation, the product uses the brand's star ingredients purslane extract and green thorn fruit to achieve the effect of soothing and repairing the skin barrier respectively, in addition to the addition of collagen to promote collagen synthesis, balance the skin microecology of prebiotics and moisturizing hyaluronic acid, squalane, while claiming to be free of alcohol, flavors, pigments, preservatives and emulsifiers.
Yuze's Centella Asiatica Reassurance Repair Mask also had a bright performance in this year's Double 11, with sales reaching 143 million yuan, accounting for 29.4% of the brand's total sales, ranking first. According to the brand, this mask uses Refractance Window drying technology to preserve highly active ingredients, mainly using Centella asiatica extract, hyaluronic acid, prebiotics to soothe, moisturize, maintain skin balance and other effects, without the addition of preservatives, fragrances and so on.
Tamazawa Centella Asiatica Reassurance Repair Mask
Bloomage Bio has also joined the competition in this track, and its sensitive skin care brand Mibel's Revitalizing Repair Solid Flash Release Mask uses lyophilized flash release technology to stabilize the active substances, and the formula uses patented type III collagen that repairs the skin barrier, Ikedoine, which strengthens the skin's self-repairing power, and β- dextran, which balances the skin's ecology.
Mibel Revitalizing Repair Solid Flash Release Mask
Can maximize the effect and avoid the stimulation of preservatives, the concept of freeze-dried masks is indeed tempting, however, freeze-dried is to preserve unstable ingredients, and can not be applied to all mask formulations, former Johnson & Johnson Senior R & D Manager Sanmu mentioned in his public account "Basic Yanjiao" mentioned that not all skin care ingredients need or are suitable for lyophilization, such as more stable niacinamide does not need to be lyophilized, and unstable vitamin A alcohol will not become more stable due to lyophilization.
In addition, at present, the lyophilization technology of lyophilized masks is controlled by a small number of manufacturers, such as Winona, Yuze, Herborist, Xiangyi Materia Medica, Ripperside and other brands of freeze-dried masks are produced by Weibo Haitai, because the brand itself does not develop this technology, there is no technical barrier, the product difference is small, may still fall into the dilemma of low-price competition.
From the perspective of consumer demand, the category of freeze-dried masks has great potential for development, in this track of increasingly fierce competition, brands on the one hand to strengthen research and development, the establishment of their own technical moat, on the other hand, in the case of technical problems temporarily difficult to overcome, the brand can also improve the sense of use and create a differentiated formula in the minds of consumers to establish a clearer brand image. BINC
Author: Lee
Editor: Guo Mansi
Image source: Network