With product formulations becoming ever more advanced, Capsum has emerged as a leader within the space.
In a conversation presented by Capsum, Sébastien Bardon, cofounder and chief executive officer of Capsum, sat down with Amanda Smith, CEO of Fairchild Media Group, to discuss its approach to creating innovative formulas for leading brands in the beauty sector.
As a certified B Corp end-to-end beauty contract manufacturer known for its skin care, makeup and fragrance, Capsum is based out of Marseille, France and Austin. The company is known for its innovations in microfluidics and encapsulation — which are both new ways to assemble beauty formulas.
“Traditionally, you make a product by mixing all the ingredients very strongly in one big tank — it works but it limits what you can do,” said Bardon. “In microfluidics, we have calibrated capsules that are created one by one in a continuous flow until you make the finished products. All the ingredients are positioned exactly where they should be in the formula and at the right concentration.”
In essence, Capsum is not just mixing ingredients but designing the architecture of a product. The process has many benefits, from stabilizing fragile biotech actives to controlling the way ingredients are released on the skin, developing textures that enhance efficacy and creating highly visual formulas.
The company, which Bardon laughingly said are self-proclaimed “geeks of formulation,” invented and specifically built manufacturing machines to create these formulations.
One example of a finished product is Chanel‘s Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation, a pioneer in the watercolor makeup trend that was created when Chanel tasked Capsum with creating a complexion product that had transparency, glow and freshness.
Pigments are encapsulated in visible droplets that are suspended in a water gel. When applied, hydration is released first then capsules burst to release pigments and allow coverage to progressively build.
Across the landscape, Bardon sees that the products that are resonating the most with consumers are ones that are fully aligned — with performance, sensory experience, visual identity and storytelling all working together. He points to the Youth Activating Melon serum Capsum created for Meaningful Beauty as an example that represents these qualities.
“For us to really translate the vision of a brand into a successful product, we need to work with them very closely. They are going to define their ambition, what experience they want to create — and our role is to translate their ideas into viable products, and we need to work every day with them,” said Bardon. “Some luxury brands we can work with for 18 months just to develop and formulate the product. It’s proof that if you work in close collaboration with the right technology platform, then you can transform vision into real business.”
