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SaponLabs

The project provided key information on the sourcing and physicochemical properties of natural surfactants (so-called biosurfactants) present in over 40 plants

A complete line of Yasmine natural cosmetics. All recipes are free of sodium alkyl sulphates and their analogues, in line with the purpose of the Project

square with Tentacles  Project title

Development of a series of natural shampoos without the addition of synthetic surfactants, especially SLS and SLES

outline of the upper man silhouette  Name of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries

SaponLabs Sp z o.o (limited liability company)

briefcase icon  Name of programme

POIR 

newspaper icon  Competition

INNOCHEM

two heaps of coins icon  Project value

PLN 1 358 152.5

hand icon with two circles above it  Funding value

PLN 1 012 795.50

clock icon  Project delivery period

1 September 2016 – 31 August 2019

Meet our team

Founders of SaponLabs: Marcin Brynda PhD and Professor Kamil Wojciechowski
Founders of SaponLabs: Marcin Brynda PhD and Professor Kamil Wojciechowski

 

As part of the project, the SaponLabs team worked on natural cosmetics without the addition of synthetic surfactants from the SLS and SLES groups
As part of the project, the SaponLabs team worked on natural cosmetics without the addition of synthetic surfactants from the SLS and SLES groups

 

View the results of our work

Presentation of a series of specialist foot creams developed as part of the project at a podiatry congress in Switzerland
Presentation of a series of specialist foot creams developed as part of the project at a podiatry congress in Switzerland

 

Complete series of Yasmine natural cosmetics. As assumed by the Project, all recipes are free of sodium alkyl sulphates and their analogues
Complete series of Yasmine natural cosmetics. As assumed by the Project, all recipes are free of sodium alkyl sulphates and their analogues

What problem is addressed by the project? 

The project provided key information on the sourcing and physicochemical properties of natural surfactants (so-called biosurfactants) present in over 40 plants. The results were described in eight peer-reviewed publications belonging to the world's leading scientific literature:
I. Jurek et al. Journal of Surfactants and Detergents (2022) in print
K. Wojciechowski et al. Surfaces and Interfaces 27 (2021) 101486
I. Jurek et al. Molecules, 26 (2021) 5628
I. Góral et al. Colloid and Interface Science Communications 42 (2021) 100400
I. Góral et al. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science 279 (2020) 102145
I. Jurek et al. Steroids 147 (2019) 52
I. Jurek et al. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Biomembranes 1861 (2019) 556
I. Góral et al. Journal of Surfactants and Detergents 21 (2018) 797
Based on the accumulated knowledge, a series of natural cosmetics free of synthetic surfactants from the group of alkyl sulphates and their ethoxylated analogues was developed. (SLS i SLES).

Who uses the project results? 

Due to the strong connection between the research and development work carried out by our team and the academic community, we decided to share the research results with the entire scientific community, therefore the research results were published in journals with a global reach.
On the other hand, the results about the technology of obtaining biosurfactants, the preparation of raw materials for natural cosmetic (including powdered essential oils) and the details about cosmetic product formulas (including shampoos, hair conditioners, hand creams and specialist podiatry creams) will be used in further activities carried out by SaponLabs company. In the event of interest from other entities, it is possible to make these results available on a commercial basis.

What was the greatest challenge during project implementation?

Two significant problems stood in the way of the project's much greater commercial success:

  1. During the project implementation, the content of the Regulation (EC)  No. 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on cosmetic products was changed by prohibiting the use of marketing declarations "free from", "does not contain ...", "0% of...", "without... " and the like, on which the Project's marketing strategy was based. For this reason, the main goal of the project, which is also its greatest achievement (developing a series of cosmetics without synthetic surfactants of the SLS and SLES type), cannot be used as a key marketing argument.
  2. The Covid-19 pandemic, the beginning of which coincided with the beginning of the project duration period, caused the breakage of supply chains of raw materials and packaging, but above all - broke off advanced talks with contractors interested in the distribution of cosmetic products created during the project implementation. The economic problems that occurred as a result of the pandemic have significantly reduced customer interest in truly natural products (and thus more expensive) in favour of mass-produced cheap goods offered by large corporations, where the presence of only trace amounts of natural ingredients is accompanied by aggressive marketing activities suggesting "naturalness" of the products.

Our advice for other applicants

Legal and administrative handling of the Intelligent Development Operational Programme (POIR) applications is complicated and time-consuming, therefore it is absolutely necessary to secure funds / human resources to handle them. In this way you will avoid many problems that our team struggled with during the implementation of our project. We advise potential future beneficiaries not only to focus on the substantive aspects of the project and its R&D side, but also on its legal and administrative details.

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