Biossance: the beauty brand that biotech built

Amyris calls itself a renewable products company. Which really means it’s a new kind of specialty ingredient maker; the sort that leverages biotechnology to manufacture molecules for industry. But since the company’s launch in 2003, Amyris has expanded through a joint venture with NIKKOL Group to create a consumer-facing business and dedicated cosmetic ingredient supply business: Aprinnova. Aprinnova’s first brand is Biossance, the popular skincare line featuring squalane.

Caroline Hadfield and her team launched Biossance in 2016. “Looking at what was happening with skin care, the millennial customer, looking at the indie space, a need for transparency and efficacious products, we developed Biossance,”​ she tells Cosmetics Design.

“In the very beginning, it was a little bit of an experiment;” ​acknowledges Hadfield, “but we were so in the grassroots, looking at squalane, looking at what was happing in the indie skin care business, and we were really quite scrappy.” ​

Watch the full video interview above to learn about the brand’s role in the made-without ingredient trend, how product sampling helped build a loyal consumer base early on, why EWG certification made sense for Biossance, and much more.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.