The Haircare Gap

The Haircare Gap is a thought-provoking industry webinar exploring the disparity between innovation in skincare and haircare.

While the skincare category continues to surge ahead with ingredient innovation, clinical validation, and consumer engagement, haircare often appears to lag behind — with fewer groundbreaking actives, slower trend cycles, and challenges in claim substantiation.

This session will bring together voices from across the value chain — ingredient developers, formulators, manufacturers, brand leaders, and testing specialists — to explore why this “gap” exists, whether it is real or perceived, and how the industry

can bridge it.

Key Discussion Points

● Why does skincare appear to innovate faster than haircare?

● Are the differences due to formulation challenges, consumer expectations, or regulatory/claims barriers?

● Is haircare’s rinse-off nature a limiting factor for active ingredient performance and claim validation?

● How can ingredient manufacturers, formulators, and testing experts collaborate to accelerate progress?

● What opportunities exist for new technologies, claims, and storytelling in haircare?

Target Audience

This webinar is designed for professionals in the cosmetics and personal care sector, including:

● Ingredient and raw material suppliers

● Formulators and product developers

● Brand managers and marketing teams

● R&D scientists and claims specialists

● Regulatory and innovation strategists

Speakers

Rachael Davison-White - Webinar Host on behalf of CCUK

Helene Hine – Croda – Ingredient manufacturer (K31 Bond BuilderTechnology)

Peter Luebcke - Valogen Biosciences - Startup ingredients manufacturer

Dr. Catherine Leray – THG LABS - Full-service Private Label Beauty Manufacturer

Paul Cornwell – TRI Princeton – Expert in hair claims testing and substantiation

Agenda

1. Welcome & Introduction (15 mins)

Host: Rachael Davison-White

● Setting the scene: contrasting the fast-moving skincare market with the slower evolution of haircare innovation.

● Discussion of ingredient diversity, data-backed actives, and the persistence of legacy haircare technologies (e.g., guars, polyquaterniums, sulfate-free claims).

● Framing the key question: Why is innovation slower in haircare?

2. Established Ingredient Manufacturer Perspective (15 mins)

Speaker: Helene Hine, Croda

● Size of the haircare market

● Do trends in haircare move at the same rate as skincare and comparison with skincare innovation pipelines.

● Insights into technology barriers, and why new actives often launch in skincare first.

● Highlighting advances such as K31 Bond Builder Technology.

3. Startup Ingredients Manufacturer Perspective (15 mins)

Speaker: Peter Luebcke; Valogen Biosciences

● Size of haircare market and growth potential

● What are the specific challenges for entering the haircare market as a newcomer vs skincare

● Is there a disparity felt by startups between the market segments

● What changes could ease these challenges.

4. Formulation & Brand Perspective (15 mins)

Speaker: Dr. Catherine Leray – THG LABSs

● Exploring the challenges of formulating rinse-off vs. leave-in products.

● Key claim areas and where limitations exist.

● The consumer’s view: what expectations are unmet, and what future claims would brands like to achieve?

● Costings of haircare vs skincare

5. Testing &Claims Perspective (15 mins)

Speaker: Paul Cornwell, TRI Princeton

● The science of claim testing in haircare.

● Current testing methodologies and their limitations.

● Innovations in testing — particularly for rinse-off products.

● Opportunities to strengthen data and credibility in haircare claims.

6. Wrap-Up & Q&A (10 mins)

Host: Rachael Davidson White

● Key takeaways from all perspectives.

● Open discussion and audience Q&A.

● Closing thoughts on bridging The Haircare Gap.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees will gain:

● A holistic understanding of why haircare innovation trails behind skincare.

● Insight into ingredient and formulation challenges unique to haircare.

● Awareness of testing limitations and future opportunities for claim substantiation.

● Inspiration for new collaborations between ingredient developers, formulators, and testing experts.

Speaker Bios

Helene Hine

Helene has 25 years’ experience in the beauty industry and holds an MChem from University College London, a Cosmetic Science Diploma, and Chartered Marketer status. She spent 10 years in formulation and claims substantiation, followed by 15 years in product and marketing management. In her current role as Global Insights and Innovation Manager for Hair at Croda Beauty, Helene works on global innovation projects, trend analysis, and category insights, and manages the hair care ingredient portfolio.

Helene explores why hair care innovation has often progressed more slowly than skin care and why this trajectory is beginning to shift. Drawing on market data from the professional hair care market, and the growing influence of bond-building technologies, she unpacks the challenges unique to hair care ingredient R&D, including cost pressures and rinse-off formats. Helene then outlines how advances in biotechnology, including KeraBio™ K31, are opening new possibilities for credible, science-led repair. Her perspective points towards a much more high-tech future for hair care, with greater scientific depth than the category has traditionally offered.

Peter Luebcke

Peter has a considerable experience in science, innovation and commercialising intellectual property. With a chemistry degree and physics PhD, Peter has worked in a variety of roles from university spin-out company formation, investment and technology transfer though to tier 1 product development consultancy across multiple healthcare, cosmetic and consumer products and also managing numerous successful grant applications and subsequently coordinating the resulting R&D projects. Peter also founded several start-up companies coordinating investment, business planning and commercialisation activities in parallel with clinical trial design, product formulation and IP licensing.

Paul Cornwell

Paul is the Business Development Director for TRI Princeton, an independent research institute based in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also the UK SCS representative on the IFSCC Presidium, working as IFSCC Treasurer.

Paul’s technical expertise is focussed on product evaluation, instrumental measurement techniques and on formulation design, particularly in cosmetic skin and hair care products. He has many years of industrial experience in claim support testing, innovation and product development at Unilever and PZ Cussons.

Paul qualified as a pharmacist in 1989 and gained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology in 1993. For his PhD Paul worked with Professor Brian Barry at Bradford University on topical drug delivery and skin penetration enhancers. For his postdoctoral research he continued to work in skin delivery with Dr Joke Bouwstra and Dr Harry Bodde at Leiden/Amsterdam Centre for Drug Discovery (LACDR). Since then, Paul has enjoyed a career in R&D in the cosmetics industry working at Unilever and PZ Cussons, mainly in hair care technology. Over his career Paul has published many journal articles and presented at many scientific conferences. In industry, Paul has been involved in many successful product launches for major, international cosmetic brands such as Organics, Dove, Lux, Sunsilk, Carex, Original Source, Charles Worthington and Imperial Leather. He has contributed to several patent applications, at least four of which have gone to the full ‘grant’ stage.

Paul has been Business Development Director at TRI for the last nine years, and works on the management of contract testing, membership services, development on on-line assets for the institute, organising courses and conferences, and running research projects.

Dr. Catherine Leray – Account Head of R&D, THG LABS

Dr Catherine Leray , Account Head of Research & Development at THG LABS, has worked as a cosmetic scientist for over 25 years and is passionate about the science behind truly effective personal care products.

Specialised in haircare, she enjoys turning research into practical solutions that deliver tangible results, developing products with proven benefits without overlooking the importance of sensorial experience.

Her work in R&D is driven by a deep understanding of consumer needs and the scientific principles that make effective haircare possible.

As full-service cosmetic manufacturers, THG LABS understands both the aspirations of beauty brands and what science can realistically deliver. Catherine will share her expert insights on formulation limitations, key claim territories, cost dynamics, and the consumer expectations driving demand for more advanced solutions. It will be a forward-looking discussion helping frame where the real opportunities lie for advancing haircare innovation.