BASF’s Care Creations division has opened an evaluation salon for personal care at its site in Lagos, Nigeria. The new facilities will enable in vivo sensory and performance testing of ethnic skin and hair care formulations on volunteers.
Understanding consumers preferences
With this investment, the supplier of personal care ingredients aims helping its customers in the sub-Saharan African market to develop “finished products with high relevance and consumer acceptance”.
“To develop successful formulations and ingredients for ethnic personal care products, a deep understanding of African consumers’ preferences and pain points, their skin and hair characteristics, as well as how ingredients affect them is indispensable,” said Tosin Dania, Technical Manager Personal Care sub-Saharan Africa. “The BASF ‘Care Evaluation Salon’ combines market empathy, science excellence and formulation expertise, allowing us to share this understanding and benefit with our customers across the region.”
Facilitating sustainable growth of the sub-Saharan African market
This new in-house salon is the first of its kind launched by a personal care ingredient supplier in Nigeria. It complements BASF’s Application Technology Laboratory inaugurated in February 2019.
“This expansion is another example of our commitment to this growing and important market. With our strong local competency, we aim to drive the evolution of the personal care industry in sub-Saharan Africa towards more global competitiveness,” said Jason McAlpine, Vice President Personal Care - EMEA.
The salon and laboratory facility will be open for collaboration with academic institutions on research topics in cosmetic science. By partnering with academic researchers, BASF aims to advance technical expertise in the region and support the training of the next generation of cosmetic scientists.
