Far from being superficial products, cosmetics are essential products that contribute in many ways to a person’s overall well-being. Understanding their mechanisms of action and formulation and measuring their benefits are the fruits of today’s science for tomorrow. This is reflected in the 68 oral presentations and 900 posters that have just been evaluated and selected from nearly 1,200 submissions for the IFSCC 2025 Congress. Coming from 55 different and varied affiliations, the 68 oral presentations offer maximum visibility to a wide range of research teams. 14 countries are represented. 10% of the podium places go to the Americas, 40% to Asia and 50% to Europe and Africa. 3 countries stand out, reflecting their significant research activity in the field of cosmetics and the richness of their ecosystem: France, China and South Korea. Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc, Vice President and Chair of Science of the IFSCC 2025 Congress, discusses the high number of applications and the reasons behind it, as well as the highlights and discoveries that make the 2025 edition so unique.
The IFSCC Congress 2025 has attracted an unprecedented number of submissions for oral presentations and posters. What do you think is the reason for this?
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc: Since its inception in Munich in 1960, the IFSCC Congress has become the international meeting place for all experts involved in cosmetic research. Until 2022, a congress and a smaller symposium were held simultaneously every two years. The increase in the number of participants has led to the decision to organise a large annual congress from 2023 onwards. In 2025, we expect record attendance, which I attribute to three main factors:
A post-COVID recovery. The COVID period led to a proliferation of digital events. However, the various stakeholders are happy to return to in-person events, which are much more conducive to exchanges in general and in our world of research in particular. This partly explains the increase in the number of participants over the last three years.
The appeal of the location, and not just because of the French Riviera. France is renowned for the richness of its industrial and scientific ecosystem in the cosmetics sector, its second largest economic sector. It also ranked first in scientific research at the previous congress*. This is therefore a unique opportunity for participants, half of whom come from Asia, to explore this ecosystem further and consider potential collaborations.
Perceived quality and originality. The scientific committee paid particular attention to developing the scientific programme for the congress, communicating widely about its intention to explore new avenues for inventing the future of cosmetics through science. We identified and invited speakers recognised for their expertise in their field and their communication skills. We also decided to design the programme in such a way as to encourage participants to step outside their comfort zone and provide them with new keys to innovation, in particular through cross fertilization with scientific fields other than cosmetology. This is the aim of the ‘Out of the Box’ sessions organised in the morning and the round table with experts in space research. This is a subject that is particularly close to my heart. For the past three years, I have been collaborating with another conference on health and space, with the aim of bringing these two scientific ecosystems closer together so that they can collaborate more and enrich each other to innovate in their respective fields. Space conditions offer an environment that is particularly conducive to certain types of procedures that must be carried out in microgravity. They also allow us to study certain clinical disorders that develop at an accelerated rate in space, such as skin ageing.
(1) Countries are awarded points based on the number of their members and the extent and quality of their participation in the congress of the year, in this case referring to the year 2024.
What does this conference mean for candidates?
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc: This is the ideal place if you want to share your results and technological innovations with your community, but also stay at the forefront of scientific advances and explore new avenues. Scientific quality and rigour were essential selection criteria for the abstracts presented. The scientific committee was very selective, rejecting around 14% of abstracts. The fact that your abstract has been selected for presentation as a poster or podium presentation is therefore already a guarantee of quality.
Beyond recognition, the conference offers them visibility, as the IFSCC Awards Committee will present three awards based on the work selected by the conference’s Scientific Committee: Best Poster, Best Oral Presentation in Applied Research and Best Oral Presentation in Fundamental Research. We will also announce the top 10 for each of the three themes addressed during the conference. The selected authors, research teams or companies will then be able to share this recognition of the excellence of their work or technologies in order to foster new scientific collaborations or support the launch of new products incorporating the award-winning results or technologies.
The presentations were selected anonymously by the scientific committee. What are the advantages and challenges of such an approach in ensuring scientific excellence and fairness within the conference?
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc: Anonymity is naturally an advantage, but it also presents a real challenge. We had to ensure that there were no conflicts of interest, in other words, that reviewers did not evaluate any abstracts or full papers from their own affiliation. The expertise of the reviewers was also assessed and recorded on the platform, while allowing each reviewer to decline if they did not feel competent on a subject. As all abstracts were in English, none of the reviewers could be influenced in their evaluation by the country of origin or even the reputation of the author or research team that submitted the abstract, as all this data was anonymised. This evaluation work was carried out by four Scientific Group Leaders, each overseeing the review of nearly 300 abstracts by approximately 25 reviewers.
Due to my affiliation and professional ethics, I wished to remain impartial and not participate in the evaluation process. As Chair of Science, my role was to manage and ensure the smooth running of this process, which involved nearly 95 reviewers from 72 different affiliations, representing an equal number of cosmetics companies, suppliers, independents, CROs and academics from France and elsewhere. The diversity of these profiles and affiliations, the validation of their respective expertise, the blind evaluation process free from bias, and the supervision and final arbitration by four different Scientific Group Leaders ensure, for authors and participants alike, the smooth running and rigour of the selection process and the very high quality of the selected abstracts. This was our ambition.
The three main themes this year are Skin and hair health and well-being, Holistic sciences, Diversity and personalization. How do these themes fit together?
Isabel Castiel-Higounenc: We have ensured that the programme reflects the vision of the congress, namely science at the heart of the future of cosmetics. ‘The Future is Science’
On the first day, we will look at new trends in research direction. First, we will explore skin and hair health. On this subject, while the line between medicines and cosmetics is clearly defined, in terms of approach, the way in which skin health is addressed reveals areas of overlap in terms of research. Cosmetics address not only beauty issues but also well-being and, in some cases, health. One example is photoprotection: sunscreen products, which are a public health issue. As a reminder, 90% of skin cancers are directly linked to sun exposure, and 1.5 million new cases appear each year. Similarly, 80% of the signs of ageing are directly attributable to sun exposure.
Secondly, through the lens of cognitive science and neuroscience, we will try to understand what influences consumers’ product choices beyond simple biological effectiveness, i.e. what selection criteria they use. These new sciences should also enable us to better understand sensoriality, what the application of a product generates in terms of sensations and emotions, and how this contributes to overall satisfaction in terms of effectiveness, beauty and consumer well-being.
On the second day, we wanted to address two specific topics from the perspective of a new holistic approach to cosmetics. The first was the microbiome, because we no longer consider the skin or hair to be a single organ, but rather a tissue within a global ecosystem that interacts with our human cells. Secondly, longevity is taking precedence over anti-ageing. In cosmetics, longevity does not mean prolonging life expectancy. It means living as long as possible in beauty and good health. This is the difference between lifespan and healthspan. To keep skin beautiful and healthy for longer, we now know that a holistic approach is necessary. This involves combining several targets – prevention, regeneration and activation – and simultaneously treating structural, cellular and tissue dysfunctions, while taking into account the influence of other tissues such as blood vessels, nerves and muscles.
On the third day, we will look at how cosmetics are adapting to the diversity of consumers worldwide, taking into account their different skin and hair types and routines. At the same time, we will see how new beauty technologies are supporting this diversity approach, enabling increasingly tailored and personalised products to be offered.
What are the key points worth sharing?
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc: When reading the abstracts submitted by participants, we see that all areas of cosmetics are represented: from make-up, perfumes and hair care to beauty tech, exposome, microbiome, longevity and anti-ageing. Anti-ageing and longevity remain the most important topics, followed by photoprotection, neuroscience and the microbiome. We are seeing a rise in research focusing on neuroscience, cognitive science, sensoriality and emotions.
Sustainability, which was still a new topic just a few years ago, is now a cross-cutting issue that applies to all areas of research. It is becoming essential for innovation in cosmetics today. This is a very positive development. Just as with product safety, optimising sustainability in the development and production of cosmetics has become a prerequisite, and all players in the cosmetics industry, each at their own level, are contributing to advancing research in this area.
The conference aims to bring together more than a thousand people and is inviting academic, scientific and industrial experts to take part. What are the most promising discoveries or presentations you expect to make at the congress?
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc: With its highly cross-disciplinary theme, this congress highlights a wide range of topics. However, this year’s event will focus on the growing integration of AI in cosmetic research, new discoveries in understanding the effects of ageing, studies on the relationships between different tissues, the skin, the nervous and vascular systems, the development of new evaluation methods and in vitro skin study models, numerous new ingredients derived from green science and biotechnology, and increasing research into understanding sensations and emotions.
How could they have a real impact on the future of cosmetology?
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc: These discoveries will provide a better understanding of consumers and their needs, but will also enable us to identify new targets, create innovative approaches and develop more effective technologies to better address classic cosmetic issues such as photoprotection, hair quality and skin ageing. They will contribute to offering increasingly personalised solutions, while optimising the ecological impact of cosmetic products through more environmentally friendly products. Finally, they will go beyond the notion of ‘beauty’ performance to embrace a concept of overall health and well-being.
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc, PharmD, PhD
Vice-President & Chair of Science at IFSCC Congress 2025
Vice-President IFSCC
Innovation Valorization Director
Communications & Engagement, L’Oréal Research & Innovation, France
Passionate about scientific research and communication, Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc is convinced of the essentiality of cosmetics and their importance for the beauty and health of our skin, hair and our quality of life. Isabelle joined the L’Oréal Group over 27 years ago, with the aim of putting her skills at the service of innovation in cosmetics. Driven by scientific research and the sharing of knowledge, she now contributes to bringing the Group’s scientific expertise to as many people as possible.
Researcher by training, Isabelle is a pharmacist with a Ph.D in dermo-pharmacology. She joined the L’Oréal Group in 1997 as Laboratory Manager, where she carried out research into skin homeostasis. She went on to become Scientific Director for a variety of projects. She first led a research project on menopause, in collaboration with Université de Laval in Quebec. She then devoted several years to oral cosmetics, with Innéov, where she directed upstream research in collaboration with Nestlé. At the same time, Isabelle turned her attention to dermatological care with Galderma, where she coordinated scientific exchanges with L’Oréal. She joined the R&I Communications Department in 2014. Her years in Research teams drove to the release of 28 scientific publications and many patents.
Today, as Director of Innovation Valorization at L’Oréal, she promotes the Group’s scientific expertise and its ambitions in terms of innovation. Her objective: scientific advocacy, to gain recognition for the excellence of L’Oréal’s research and innovations from a wide variety of audiences, including experts, the media and the public. Drawing on her dual expertise in research and communications, she supports researchers and brands in developing communications strategies around major innovations or new scientific territories.
As an active member of the IFSCC (International federation of societies of cosmetic chemists) on behalf of the SFC (Société Française de Cosmétologie) since 2022, she has been appointed IFSCC vice-president for the year 2024-2025. She is currently co- organizing the 35th IFSCC congress 2025, as Vice President and Chair of Science.
