“The 1960s and 1970s were the golden age of American cosmetics,” recalled then-SCC president Tony O’Lenick in an interview with CHAILEEDO. Following World War II, the United States experienced a strong economic recovery and a rise in women’s social status, which fueled surging demand for cosmetics.
It was during this period that the SCC, as the only North American professional organization focused on beauty and personal care technology, initiated the founding of the IFSCC (International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists). Over the course of more than six decades, the federation has grown into the world’s largest international organization dedicated to cosmetic science, and its IFSCC Congress has become one of the most influential events in the field globally.
History, however, always passes the baton quietly. With the shifting landscape of the global cosmetics industry, French cosmetics, led by L’Oréal, rose to the center stage. The French SCC (CFS) became the national society contributing the most scientific research to the IFSCC. Meanwhile, Japanese and Korean beauty brands kept pace, with Shiseido still ranking as one of the companies that has won the most awards at IFSCC congresses.
In recent years, the IFSCC has increasingly entered the sights of Chinese beauty companies, becoming a “window to the world” for domestic R&D professionals.
At the recently concluded 35th IFSCC Congress in Cannes, France, Chinese beauty companies delivered an outstanding performance: they ranked first in the number of poster presentations selected, and second only to host country France in the number of podium (oral) presentations. It is worth noting that just nine years ago, China’s presence at the congress amounted to only single-digit submissions.
In CHAILEEDO’s view, this historic shift essentially reflects how China’s beauty industry has moved from looking up to its global peers to standing on equal footing with them. The balance of international discourse power in cosmetics is beginning to tilt ever so subtly.
That said, there is still a certain information gap regarding IFSCC within China. What exactly are the criteria for evaluation at the IFSCC Congress? And how should one interpret the strong performance of Chinese beauty companies this year?
Unprecedented Attention from Chinese Beauty Brands: Proya’s Founder Leads Delegation
“At this year’s IFSCC Congress, Chinese companies were extremely active,” Yung Chan, head of a well-known U.S. ingredient company’s laboratory who traveled to Cannes, France, told CHAILEEDO.
As Chan observed, Chinese beauty brands showed an unprecedented level of interest in this year’s IFSCC Congress. The clearest indicators of this were the scale of participation and the number of achievements.
Take Proya as an example: the delegation was led by founder Hou Junchen himself, joined by Chief Scientific Officer Huang Hu and Chief Scientific Advisor Lieve Declercq, underscoring the exceptional importance China’s leading beauty player placed on the event.
Proya also made major gains at the congress. In addition to having 13 poster submissions selected, the company was invited to deliver a technical presentation and went on to win the “IFSCC 2025 Top Ten Basic Research Award”—the only Chinese cosmetics company to receive this honor.
“The awards ceremony was thrilling. Proya’s scientific research capabilities have received the highest recognition from our global peers,” Huang Hu told CHAILEEDO.
Another long-established Chinese brand, Pechoin, was also a major winner. It had several posters selected and once again claimed the “IFSCC Young Scientist Award,” becoming the only beauty company worldwide to win the award three times.
Other Chinese beauty players such as Mageline, Banmu Garden, Ccay, and Fuyanjia also had multiple poster presentations accepted, showcasing their latest R&D achievements. Notably, Chinese ingredient companies stepped onto the global stage as well, with poster submissions from Vicky, Zhongke Guanggu, Peptide Group, Nebo, and Sunhai Innovation.
Overall, this year’s congress featured 68 technical presentations and 730 posters. Chinese beauty companies accounted for 15 technical presentations—second only to France’s 18—and led the world with 224 accepted posters, more than 80 ahead of France, which ranked second.
CHAILEEDO observed that the number of Chinese beauty companies’ contributions has steadily increased in recent years, with 2025 marking an explosive leap. The number of posters accepted this year exceeded the combined total of 2023 and 2024.
In fact, the IFSCC has only taken root in China for less than a decade. In 2015, the China Society of Cosmetic Chemists (China-SCC) was officially established, and by 2018 it formally joined the IFSCC, deepening the industry’s ties with the global federation ever since.
Public records show that the IFSCC traces its origins back to 1956, was founded in 1959, and is headquartered in Switzerland. Its founding societies included the SCC (U.S.), along with France, Spain, Germany, and five other countries. Today, it has grown into a vast cosmetics science alliance comprising 51 member societies from 81 countries and over 16,000 members worldwide.
Voices from Selected Presenters: A Strong Academic Focus and Fair Evaluation Standards
CHAILEEDO observed that as a global cosmetic science organization, the IFSCC relies on sponsorship and donations from numerous beauty companies for its operations. Yet throughout its decades of development, it has consistently maintained fairness and objectivity in its evaluation standards.
For example, this year’s congress received 639 technical presentation submissions, but only 68 were accepted, with an acceptance rate of just 10.6 percent.
An R&D head from a company selected for a technical presentation told CHAILEEDO:
“The selection process involved email communication with the Scientific Committee, which requested additional data to evaluate the scientific rigor and systematic nature of the research. It felt very similar to submitting a scientific paper, and the process was quite strict.”
Isabelle Castiel-Higounenc, Vice President and Scientific Chair of the IFSCC 2025 Congress, told the media: “Scientific quality and rigor are the fundamental criteria for submitted abstracts. We must ensure there are no conflicts of interest—reviewers do not evaluate any abstracts or full papers from their own institutions.”
“Since all abstracts are in English, no reviewer is influenced by the country of origin, nor by the reputation of the authors or their research teams, because all data is anonymized. The evaluation is supervised by four scientific subcommittee leaders, each responsible for overseeing about 25 reviewers who together assess nearly 300 abstracts,” Isabelle added.
She further explained:“As Scientific Chair, my role is to manage and ensure the smooth running of the process, which involves nearly 95 reviewers from 72 different branches, representing an equal mix of cosmetic companies, suppliers, independents, CROs, and academics from both France and abroad.”
According to information on the IFSCC official website, detailed rules are in place for paper submissions. For example, participants must provide both anonymous and non-anonymous versions of their files to prevent misconduct. Author names and affiliations are entered in separate fields to ensure anonymity during the review.
In addition, submissions may not use commercial product names. Raw materials and ingredients must be identified by their chemical, INCI, generic names, or abbreviations. Any commercial promotion or inappropriate references result in disqualification.
It is also notable that animal testing is strictly prohibited in submissions. Any reference to or use of animal testing data leads to automatic disqualification. However, fish embryos, pig skin, HET-CAM, C. elegans, and immortalized cell lines are not considered animal testing.
Meanwhile, the IFSCC has a comprehensive sponsorship system to ensure smooth operations. A major recent change has been the increase in the number of Chinese sponsors. For example, at this year’s congress, the welcome reception was sponsored by Chinese beauty companies such as Pechoin, Mageline, Xiwuxi, and Bloomage Biotech.
CHAILEEDO also noted that IFSCC sponsorships are divided into tiers—Gold, Silver, and Bronze—with fees of 10,000 CHF, 5,000 CHF, and 1,500 CHF respectively. Gold and Bronze sponsors receive a 1,000 CHF educational grant from IFSCC, which allows them to host an IFSCC speaker either at their company or through their national society of cosmetic chemists.
According to the official WeChat account of the China Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Chinese companies now account for more than 70 percent of IFSCC’s global Benefactors, making significant contributions to advancing global cosmetic science.
A representative of a leading Chinese raw materials company told CHAILEEDO:“Overall, the congress maintains strong academic integrity, with a relatively low level of commercial influence, and the range of fields it covers is very comprehensive.”
