Last week, Simple Living Eco owner Diane jetted off to Spain to attend the In-Cosmetics Global Trade Show held in Barcelona! Olé!
The In-Cosmetics Trade Show is an amazing event where all areas of the cosmetics industry can connect, share insights, and spark potential collaborations. We wanted to look at ingredient innovations, the latest science and trends in development and possible opportunities to network for future product creations. This was an event Diane knew we, as a business, just had to attend.
Here’s how she got on
A little nervous to travel abroad alone, to a new (and huge) city, Diane bit the bullet and booked her tickets to the show, flights and hotel and started packing. Fast forward a couple of weeks and travel day had arrived. The journey was stress free, and enjoyable (unlike last year's summer holiday) and Diane's excitement for the next few days ahead was building.
On arrival in a very sunny Barcelona, Diane had the opportunity for some sight seeing ahead of the first day of the show. Diane told us;
“I did a lot of sightseeing! Lots of walking! And lots of google mapping! I jumped on a bus as I thought I would see more landmarks but I seemed to spend more time at traffic lights and stuck in traffic so got off and walked places which meant I actually got to get a real feel for the city. I visited the Sagrada Familia which was beautiful. I was mesmerised by it.”
After a busy travel and sightseeing day, the core reason for the trip arrived; Day 1 of the show. Ticket at the ready Diane eagerly entered the venue. The day flew by and was extremely eye opening.
When asking Diane about what key things she took from the event, she said;
“I learnt about new ingredients and their benefits. I also learnt what customers are looking for in terms of transparency, from both the brand and their ingredients. I came away with a head full of new innovations! Some I have already started developing! It really is so exciting. We cannot wait to share these new products with our loyal customers and get their feedback.”
Whilst there, Diane was lucky to catch up with some existing customers and suppliers, as well as making many new connections that she hopes to work with in the future. These new connections included new fragrance companies, and raw ingredients suppliers and manufacturers.
Being an eco-minded company, it was important for Diane to understand how this played into the event, and as expected, sustainability was a major factor this year with many recycled ingredients being on show, such as walnut powder from the shells (which would normally go to waste), a shampoo bar made from bark, and coffee powder, again made from the grounds.
We asked Diane which was her favourite seminar from the event and she said;
“I enjoyed "Sustainability without Greenwashing" a lot. This seminar gave an insight into how you can track data and add this to your website to help customers understand the ingredients with the correct information and claims around being eco-friendly / sustainable / suitable for vegans. We believe transparency is key to our brand positioning, and we plan to take our customers through our journey, whether that is the development of our fragrances, ingredients or new formulations.”
The show really was a great two day experience, and Diane explained that as Simple Living Eco continues to develop as an eco-friendly household brand, with a mission to continually create and launch products that are both kind to the skin and the planet, the learnings she is taking away from the event are priceless.
With so much information to take home, Diane had a relaxing last day before travelling home, where she walked down to the beach and found herself in a happy place to sit and digest the information from the previous two days, surrounded by sea and sun! She also spent a bit of time gazing at the sights of yachts and big boats that passed her by!
This was a great first International trade show for Simple Living Eco, and there is no doubt that the team will attend more of these, but for now, it is back to the office and back to getting on with the new innovations and product launches for 2023.
All made in the UK of course!