Ashland, Croda and Innospec make Laura Marshall awards shortlist

Eleven formulation concepts from Ashland, Croda, Innospec and eight other suppliers will compete for the Laura Marshall innovation awards at SCS Formulate in Coventry, UK, next month, with winners announced on 10 November.

The Society of Cosmetic Scientists split the shortlist across two categories: Technology & Disruption, with five concepts, and Sustainability & Ethics, with six. Distributors and ingredient makers share the field. Barentz, IMCD, Safic Alcan, Brenntag, Cornelius, Inolex, Uniproma and Carst & Walker join the three major suppliers on the list.

What made the Technology & Disruption shortlist?

Five concepts will present at the show:

• Boba Burst – Safic Alcan
• Hybrid Shield SPF 50+ Stick – Barentz
• Moonlight Milky Serum – Ashland
• Pocket Wash Essentials – Innospec
• Sea Cycle – IMCD

The SPF 50+ stick from Barentz signals continued demand for high-protection formats in solid form. Innospec's pocket-sized wash concept targets the travel and minimalist-skincare segment. Ashland enters with a milky serum texture, a format that keeps gaining shelf space.

Takeaway: the technology category leans toward format innovation — sticks, pockets, milky textures — rather than new molecules.

Who is competing on Sustainability & Ethics?

Six concepts face the judges:

• Adaptive Barrier Renewal Peptide Lotion – Croda
• Dual PDRN Bi-Phasic Cell Regenerator – Carst & Walker
• PDRN Soothing Repair Cream – Uniproma
• Pro-Recovery Skin Wrap (Advanced Post Recovery Cream) – Cornelius
• Second-Skin Complexion Perfector – Brenntag
• Shine Bright, Frizz Light Mask – Inolex

PDRN appears twice. Carst & Walker fields a bi-phasic regenerator and Uniproma a soothing repair cream, both built around the polynucleotide ingredient that has moved from aesthetics clinics into topical formulation. Croda's entry pairs a peptide with barrier-repair claims. Inolex carries the sole hair care concept on either shortlist.

Takeaway: two of six sustainability shortlistees bet on the same ingredient class, PDRN, which marks it as the ingredient to watch at this show.

How will the judging work?

Each finalist presents a show-board explaining its innovation on the exhibition floor. Six judges will assess the entries:

• Nuria Lima – Quality Assurance Manager, Superdrug
• Clare Barr – Director of Innovation, Meiyume
• Nico Shaw Núñez – Director of Regulation and Sustainability, CTPA
• Dr. Hazem Sawaf – Founder & Managing Director, 7 HOPES
• Jo Allen – Editor
• Amanda Solaiman – Senior Lecturer in Formulation Science, University of Sunderland

The panel spans retail QA, brand innovation, regulation, academia and editorial. That mix means entries must satisfy both compliance scrutiny and commercial plausibility, not just bench performance.

Takeaway: a regulator from CTPA on the panel pushes every claim on those show-boards toward substantiation.

When do winners learn their fate?

The Society will announce the winners during the SCS Annual Dinner on 10 November, the closing act of the event. The awards honour Laura Marshall, former chair of the SCS Formulate Scientific Programme Committee, who passed away unexpectedly in 2014.

For formulators and procurement teams attending, the shortlisted show-boards offer a filtered view of what eleven suppliers judge award-ready right now. Watch the 10 November dinner for the verdicts — and for early signals on which texture formats and ingredient classes, PDRN in particular, will shape briefs into 2025.