About 70,000 new cosmetics are launched every year on the Brazilian market, meeting the demand created by the large diversity of hair and skin types resulting from Brazil's great ethnic variance. Companies use the special properties of active ingredients found in the country's rich flora, especially from the Amazon region, as a source of inspiration and of raw materials to make cosmetics. The ingredients from Brazil's biodiversity lead to the creation of exclusive formulas, and are obtained from renewable extraction processes, ultimately creating jobs and income for local communities.

Cupuassu, for example, has a moisturising power 240% greater than lanolin and also helps protect the hair fibre. Brazil nut, on the other hand, is rich in oleic acid, vitamins and proteins, and goes into making products ideal for guarding against aging. Assai has energetic active principles and its high concentration of anthocyanins (a pigment that prevents against cell degeneration) acts as a skin moisturiser and a softener.

"Brazilian cosmetics have an important commitment to the tripod of sustainability. Our industry is engaged in being ecologically correct, economically feasible and socially fair. The positive response of the international market is proof that we are heading in the right direction," concludes Joao Carlos Basilio da Silva, President of ABIHPEC.