We are pleased to announce that Stan Chem Group have successfully completed the acquisition of Hampshire Cosmetics, the cosmetic contract manufacturer based in Waterlooville near Portsmouth who will now trade as Inovia International.

Stan Chem was established in the 1970’s and operates across 3 divisions; Chemicals, Bio stimulants and Cosmetics.

The Cosmetics division trades under Inovia International. It is focussed on the supply and distribution of cosmetic ingredients and like Hampshire Cosmetics; cosmetic formulation development, manufacture and contract filling.

Inovia has had considerable growth over the past years and sees significant opportunities for further growth over the long term. The acquisition of Hampshire Cosmetics is a natural progression in the growth strategy with the Waterlooville site providing a sound platform upon which to achieve those ambitions. The intention is therefore to combine the businesses.

Inovia International will continue to serve all your needs and can proactively discuss with you how to improve on service expectations as well as collaboratively discuss and explore any NPD needs.

It has been widely covered in the media that recent research studies have shown that plastic microbeads can contaminate waterways and marine food chains. Microbeads are sometimes used in cosmetic products such as toothpastes, body scrubs and washes to aid cleaning and exfoliating. The recent study findings have lead to a ban being announced on these materials.

Here at Solab and Hampshire Cosmetics we take an active role in industry developments and organisations such as the Cosmetic Toiletries and Perfume Association (CTPA) and Society of Cosmetic Scientists (SCS). Consequently we were at forefront of the study findings on plastic microbeads and have been phasing out the use of these materials for some time. By the time Cosmetics Europe announced the voluntary recommendation to stop using microbeads last year (October 2015) we had already stopped using these materials both in manufacturing and development.

As a result, the announcement of the full ban on these materials this year has not affected our development teams who are already experts in developing world class products without the use of plastic microbeads. If you need to reformulate your products, or would like to develop a new range of microbead free products please contact Andrew Postles at postlesa@hants-cosmetics.co.uk.