Hi, I’m Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, and I love words.

Listening to them, learning new ones, putting the perfect ones down on page to make that sentence just right, and whizzing them around again until they’re just so.

And of course, nattering words to chat, relate, put the world to rights, ask questions, and generally find out more about the world and us in it.

On this site you will find my latest published articles, if you want to know more, please check out my blog here

Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe

Here are my latest published articles

Why the future of ingestible beauty hangs on science

06 May --- Beauty from within has been amassing a growing following in recent years. And with wellbeing a driving influencer in beauty and personal care (BPC) in 2021, brands are exploring novel innovations to appeal to consumer calls for wellness. Enter ingestible beauty. Belinda Carli, director of the Institute of Personal Care Science, gives us the lowdown on the science behind this popular beauty trend. The BPC space has seen a surge in interest in ingestible products that strive to create

Wellness beauty industry pushes for clear scientific communication

12 May 2021 --- In a global marketplace valued in the trillions, there are ongoing calls for transparency and insights on providing scientific communication to build trust in wellness beauty. Wellness is a $4.5 trillion market, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) reveals. It is a market that is growing nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Beauty and personal care (BPC) takes a $1.1 trillion slice of that, latest figures from the non-profit organization indicate. Yet, GWI has described th

Indie beauty conversations: Cheekbone Beauty

10 May 2021 --- Bootstrapping the business with her own money while working a full-time job, Jenn Harper wanted to launch Cheekbone Beauty with her own formulations. Having achieved that for her Indigenous-owned and founded, digitally-native, Canadian cosmetics company, we caught up with brand founder Jenn on what it takes to launch and grow an indie beauty brand in today’s landscape. Where did the idea for Cheekbone Beauty come from? Click to EnlargeJenn Harper, founder of Cheekbone BeautyIn

Profile: The Inspiration Behind Innovation

23 Apr 2021 --- In 2020, Guide Beauty launched onto the precision makeup scene. Co-founded by makeup artist Terri Bryant and created after Terri was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the indie beauty name champions inclusivity. The inspiration behind new inventions, innovations and insights can come from a whole range of experiences, ideas and sources. These explorations by beauty innovators lead to a plethora of new and exciting product developments and services bursting onto the beauty and personal

The marriage of beauty with wellness and self-care

04 May 2021 --- As beauty, health and wellness increasingly converge and grow into meaningful practices, the idea our beauty habits are providing self-care and act as a form of therapy is resonating with consumers. Wellness is a key driver in beauty and personal care (BPC) in 2021. As the value consumers place on their wellness journeys continues to rise, there is growing emphasis on wellness, self-care and beauty as therapy. So much so that wellness beauty is now a fundamental BPC theme that g

P&G takes action on gender equality research, Part II

27 Apr 2021 --- In the second part of this article, we look at how perceptions about women in the workplace have evolved in recent years, ongoing challenges and the ways in which P&G and its research partner believes are the best way to overcome inequality for females. In the first part of this article we looked at some of the research findings and the specific challenges that career women are facing in the beauty and personal care environment. You can read that article by clicking here. The F

P&G takes action on gender equality research, Part I

26 Apr 2021 --- The Female Lead, a gender equality partner of multinational personal care giant, P&G, reveals its latest research detailing the challenges facing women in the workplace. This is the first in a two-part article, the second part being published in tomorrow's newsletter. Known as a campaign that celebrates women’s stories and successes, The Female Lead has created a report and recommendations following its research, entitled Women at Work: Breaking Free of the ‘Unentitled Mindset’.

Hygienic beauty inspires fresh innovations

20 Apr 2021 --- As the pandemic continues to highlight the growing need for hygienic beauty solutions, finished products are seeing innovation crop up in core segments to overlap with other leading trends, including digital, DIY and wellness beauty. Senior beauty and personal care journalist, Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, caught up with Belinda Carli, director and cosmetic chemist at the Institute of Personal Care Science (IPCS), to look at the leading beauty segments spurring hygienic innovations.

The top four reasons why beauty transparency counts

20 Apr 2021 --- Today, in the modern beauty and personal care landscape, shoppers want more information on the products they purchase. With transparency a key component to building trust, we are actively seeking out the brands and ranges that do or are willing to provide it. This article delves into the main drivers and consumer concerns influencing growing demands for transparency, with indie brand What’s In My Jar (WIMJ), co-founder Maria Semykoz. Let’s take a look at the top four reasons tra

Indie beauty conversations: Shade M Beauty

20 Apr 2021 --- Shade M Beauty’s Co-Founder Jolie Nubani chats with senior beauty and personal care journalist, Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, to share the inspiration behind the brand and its mission to reach all women, especially those underrepresented in the beauty industry. Co-founders of Shade M Beauty, Nour Khalife and Jolie Nubani, met while working at L'Oréal. The duo were “frustrated with the industry’s narrow scope in regards to representing and producing products for a diverse body of wom

What's next for digitized skin care beauty in 2021?

21 Apr 2021 --- With the physical beauty environment on hold, brands are engaging in their online efforts to tap into skin care consumers’ needs. Enter a seamless omnichannel approach, known as phygital. With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continuing into 2021 from 2020, Maria Semykoz, co-founder, What’s In My Jar (WIMJ) shares an area of beauty that is set to have a lot of attention: “The innovation focus will be on skin care.” In most key markets around the world, the majority of consum

Guide Beauty opens up makeup application to all

22 Apr 2021 --- Precision makeup application is getting a full makeover, ensuring that exquisite artistry possible and easy for all. Universally-designed tool innovators, Guide Beauty, won Allure’s coveted Beauty Breakthrough Award in 2020 for its Guide Eyeliner Duo — impressing editors with its beauty advancement. Senior journalist, Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, caught up with Terri Bryant, founder of Guide Beauty to find out more about its innovative and patent-pending tool for all. Guide Beauty

How to ensure no BPC consumer is overlooked

22 Apr 2021 --- All consumers want and should be able to find themselves represented and valued equally. It is vital the beauty industry “reflects society as a whole and genuinely represents the entire target market,” the British Beauty Council said in a 2019 report. And that still stands true today in 2021. Today, louder than ever, consumers are calling for beauty brands to become fully inclusive, specifically creating brands, products and services that appeal to them. The beauty industry has

Maskne product innovations expand in 2021

19 Apr 2021 --- A new wave of brands are innovating with rapid and extensive new product developments (NPD) that seek to soothe and relieve the effects of wearing masks daily - creating and curating collections that capture skin care consumers’ current concerns. Daily hygiene habits have been magnified during the pandemic. Hygiene, responsible and conscious-first innovations that provide comfortability and solutions for consumers are essential. During the pandemic, the impact of face-wearing h

How hygiene banks are fighting hygiene poverty

19 Apr 2021 --- Amid COVID-19, grassroots movements are working hard to solve and end hygiene poverty by providing personal care items to people in need. Senior beauty and personal care journalist, Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, spoke with Edgar Penollar, CEO of The Hygiene Bank to explore what this entails and why it is so critical to so many. “Before COVID-19, many were struggling to make ends meet,” highlights Edgar Penollar, CEO of The Hygiene Bank, a grassroots, community initiative that provid
Innova •

Clarins ramps up phygital approach

19 Apr 2021 --- As prestige skin care and makeup name, Clarins, prepares to roll-out its new virtual store design to certain physical shops in 2021, senior Beauty and Personal Care journalist, Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, explores how the heritage brand is embracing the phygital trend. The rise of the omnichannel approach—whereby brands use multiple ways to offer consumers a seamless shopping experience is not new; it’s been growing in pace as social media, advancing technologies and transparent s
The Earth & I •

Early-Life Diet and Exercise Impact Later-Life Microbiome

Excess fat and sugar in your diet during childhood can change your microbiome later in life, even if your eating habits become healthier, a new study measuring nutrition in mice suggests. The research study, conducted by the University of California (UC), is one of the first nutritional reports to explore the juvenile diet and its lasting effect on the microbiome following a significant washout period, which is the equivalent in mice of approximately six human years. Carried out by lead resear
foodnavigator.com •

Has the alternative meat market been slowed by COVID? Redefine Meat thinks not

During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer demands for meat reduction and replacement options have temporarily decelerated, market intelligence company Mintel ​reported, with consumers relaxing their food habits. However, one company bucking the trend is meat alternative brand, Redefine Meat, as its CEO and Co-Founder, Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, reveals: “​During COVID-19 there has certainly been a spike in the popularity of alternative meat.”​ Emphasising the amount of funding given to the meat-free fo
foodnavigator.com •

A rainbow of opportunity: How fermentation biotech is creating ‘Agricultural 2.0’

In today’s market, consumers are actively seeking more sustainable and healthier products. Enter food biotechnology. Fermentation​ is a type of biotechnology that uses microorganisms to create a chemical change that can produce food additives and animal feed. Fermentation can offer a number of benefits for food producers—including sustainability, health and product performance. Talking about how fermentation delivers on these, Lindsay McCorkle, who is part of Rabobank’s FoodBytes! food and agr
foodnavigator.com •

Upcycling food waste into a biobased plastic alternative

US-based MiTerro has developed and utilises two-patent pending technologies to create plastic-alternative biomaterials that are made from agricultural waste. The technology is getting increasing interest from Europe as the United Nations’ sustainability goals near, and both regulations and leading industry trends in the continent focus on reducing wastage, strengthening supply chains and improving our food system. With its dedication to ending both food and plastic waste, MiTerro strives to re
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