How did you live through this particularly severe period for the makeup segment?
Thomas Sirot (Aircos) - The fact is that 2020-2021 was a very difficult period for our factories, which saw orders come and go, start and stop. I recognize the efforts of our teams, as they have shown great flexibility both in continuing to serve our customers and in protecting our employees.
Thanks to the long-term vision of Aircos and the Anjac group, we maintained our expansion strategy as we reinforced our teams with talent that is focused on innovation: a process industrialization engineer, a marketing manager, a sales manager... and a new Research & Innovation manager.
We opened a sales office in the United States in the midst of the turmoil, and we confirmed our intention to open an R&D laboratory alongside our sister company Cosmetix West in California. Our activity in the United States is very important, as making prestigious brands best-sellers is a great satisfaction, but we want to go even further and that requires local proximity and agility.
In terms of innovation, we are very dynamic. 2020 and 2021 are accentuated by the launch of lines of cleansing powders that are matching the trend for clean, nomadic and eco-responsible products. As for packaging, we are innovating with the "Direct-to-Green" single-material compact, eco-designed with 1 direct filling in the base, without any metal, for easily recyclable full-service solutions. We are developing 100% natural and compostable biosourced solutions thanks to the innovative materials of the Anjac Group’s Innovi Applied Research Laboratory.
Grégoire Huet (Pascual) - 2020 was a difficult year, but the brands quickly got back to new product developments for the recovery. "Color" offers accessible products that are highly coveted by consumers.
For us, 2020-2021 consolidated the rise of R&D and Innovation at Pascual. Our investments in R&D and our Clean expertise are more than ever praised by renowned French luxury brands who are looking for products that are efficient, clean, but also very sensorial. We work closely with them. This challenge is met both in the R&D laboratory and in manufacturing.
Pascual offers this particular expertise to its customers, in addition to the flexibility of small batches and the Made in France mark of quality. More than ever, as our customers’ need for agility increases, our know-how in kitting at the gates of Paris is particularly appreciated.
We continue to invest in our equipment, after 1 filling line for sticks of all diameters, we are increasing our number of tanks for the production of foundation. We are working on several major launches that will be unveiled soon.
What are the most important innovations for this year?
Thomas Sirot (Aircos) - In addition to the innovations mentioned above, we continue to innovate on our Livelogy technology platform. This proprietary technology offers unlimited possibilities in color intensity, for stunning finishes, with exceptional sensory aspects that imprint the codes of cream textures. After the metallic effects, we are launching a brand new Ultra Matte formula from Livelogy: "Very Noir". Like a creamy gouache paint, " Very Noir " turns into a powder and offers an ultra black, ultra matte coverage, that is simply amazing!
The other Aircos major launch, more than 50 Clean and Talc-free makeup and skincare textures!
This is the result of years of research. Since 2018, thanks to briefs from trailblazing American Indie Brands, our R&D has been working to replace the "unwanted" talc, increase naturality to over 90%, and guarantee makeup results to make conventional formulas blush.
Grégoire Huet (Pascual) - Clearly for Pascual, innovation means offering Clean performance and sensorial foundations in emulsion and stick as well as lipsticks that reach extreme naturality rates of 99%. Like all Anjac companies, we use the Beautylitic tool to qualify our formulas and compare them with market leaders, and they all come out with flying colors!
Our new "Sweet Lip Oils" collection to revolutionize lip glosses with a Makeup-Care approach! Ultra-clean, 98% natural, vegan, for a wide choice of "fresh and tangy" looks enriched with key ingredients.
There is no doubt about the makeup dynamic within the Anjac group. A range of innovations and new services are already in the pipeline for 2022.
