EP190. Industrial vs artisan beauty

The beauty industry's exploration and use of biotechnology is growing fast as we heard in the previous episode with Josh Britton, CEO and co-founder of Debut Biotech. Large corporate cosmetics companies are turning to biotech - or synthetic biology - to grow their high-performance cosmetic ingredients sustainably in labs. The contrast in approach between the industrial and artisan beauty sectors is intriguing. The indie beauty sector, represented by the Formula Botanica community, shows minimal engagement with biotech. When we searched the Formula Botanica online forum for mention of biotech, we found just a handful of comments and queries about it. In this opinion episode, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier explores these diverging paths and their implications for the future of beauty. Could the advent of biotech prove the key difference between the artisan-scale indie beauty brand and the mainstream? Much depends on the availability of bio-based ingredients for small-scale brands as well as the mission and mindsets of artisan founders and formulators. To learn more about this episode, all of the links that were mentioned and anything else, please visit the show notes on the Formula Botanica website.