On September 23, the themed salon *Adapting Japan’s Emerging Cosmeceutical & Fragrance Trends for Local Markets* wrapped up successfully at the Liby Center in Guangzhou. Hosted by Daily Chemical Intelligence Cloud and co-organized by Givaudan and Evonik, the event gathered industry leaders, R&D specialists, product designers, marketing professionals and supply chain practitioners from the personal care industry.
Drawing from first-hand findings at the 2026 Japan Cosmeceutical Exhibition and field research at offline retail outlets, attendees held in-depth exchanges over innovation directions for fabric care, fragrance portfolio upgrades and garment-care raw material technologies. The discussion centered on localizing international market trends, and how brands can create standout best-selling products via custom fragrances and premium fabric care formulas. This helps tackle common industry pain points: product homogenization and fierce market competition.
▲ Scene from the Daily Chemical Intelligence Cloud Salon event
The domestic fabric care market is nearing saturation, with widespread product homogeneity. For brands wanting to stand out, emotional value, scent experience and refined garment care have therefore become key competitive differentiators. As a digital platform serving the domestic daily chemical sector, Daily Chemical Intelligent Cloud works together with top global fragrance and specialty chemical firms. We translate findings from Japanese trade fairs and retail field research into practical product development plans. This creates a smooth pipeline that turns overseas trends into locally adapted new products, offering local brands full support covering trend research, fragrance selection and formula development.
During the salon opening, Jiang Zhengchao, Director of Product Innovation & Development Center at Daily Chemical Intelligent Cloud, gave a keynote speech: 2026 Japan Cosmeceutical Exhibition Trend Analysis — On-site Report of Japanese Cosmeceutical Show & Retail Household Cleaning Products. Using exhibited products and on-site photos taken at Japanese cosmeceutical retail shops, he pointed out that Japanese home care products no longer merely stack basic functions. Instead, they have fully shifted toward building emotional value, showing three core traits: emotional resonance, scenario-oriented design and integrated fragrance.
Scent booster beads paired with fabric softeners are now mainstream. Meanwhile, overnight soothing care, enzyme-powered fabric repair and home textile care are fast-growing innovation highlights in Japan’s market. He reminded industry participants not to simply copy Japanese concepts. To achieve successful localization, brands need to deeply combine these ideas with Chinese household usage scenarios and local consumer preferences.
▲ Jiang Zhengchao, Head of the Product Innovation and Development Center at Daily Chemical Intelligence Cloud
Next, Liu Shiqi, Marketing Manager at Givaudan, together with perfumer Qiu Zhujun, presented the keynote speech Fragrance Woven into Fabrics: Evolution of Japanese Scent Design & Innovative Trends in Textile Care.
This session included a live fragrance tasting activity, letting attendees directly feel how different scent notes create distinct emotional responses. Combining consumer behaviour changes and professional perfumery knowledge, the two speakers broke down two major emerging trends in Japan’s fabric care market.
The first trend is “minimalism”. R&D for textile care products no longer chases stronger cleaning performance alone; it prioritises lowering stress on fabrics and simplifying laundry routines. The second trend is the “healing economy”. It turns comfort into real, sensory experiences tailored for specific usage cases — including fabric touch, night-time use and summer scenarios.
Matching these shifts, brand fragrance profiles have moved past simple single floral or fruity scents. Now formulators build complex, multi-layered blends, leaning into soothing fruity and woody accords. Brands widely use stacked fragrance layers to turn clothes into wearable scent carriers, extending aromatic experiences throughout the home.
The pair stressed that fragrance should not be treated as an afterthought selling feature. Instead, scent needs to be built into product planning right from the start. This way, brands can strike a balance between scent storytelling and local consumers’ tastes, and build a unique brand olfactory identity.
▲ Liu Shiqi, Marketing Manager of Qihuadun
▲ Qihuadun's review of fragrance master Qiu Zhujun
Finally, Lu Sainan, South China Sales Lead for Evonik’s Clean Solutions product line, gave her presentation Beyond Fabric Softening: New Inspirations for Fabric Care. She shared how raw material technologies can bring these emerging market trends to life.
She pointed out two major market shifts. Consumers no longer favour strong, long-lasting fragrances; instead, they prefer subtle, natural scent profiles. Also, fabric softeners are evolving from simple functional items into all-round, long-term garment care systems.
Evonik offers formulation support with its proprietary technologies, including REWOQUAT®WE80HF, a low-odor ester quat, and REWOCARE®BPS, a bio-fermented cellulose suspension stabilizer. These ingredients help developers create products with high fragrance loading, clean minimalist transparent appearance, gentle care for sensitive skin, and wrinkle-resistant, breathable fabrics. This enables brands to balance scent performance, product functionality and fabric protection all at once.
▲ Lu Sainan, Head of Sales for Evonik's Clean Solutions Product Line in South China
The roundtable and Q&A session opened practical discussions around core operational hurdles: spotting market trends, planning new product release schedules, managing supply chains and running sales channels.
Daily Chemical Intelligent Cloud has built a repeatable new-product development framework. It covers overseas trend analysis, consumer concept testing, coordinated development for fragrance, formula and packaging, plus pilot testing and supply chain coordination. By drawing on platform resources, the platform helps brands cut down decision timelines for new launches and lower trial-and-error costs in R&D.
▲ Participants engaged in product launches and fragrance sampling at the salon event.
This salon acts as a central hub to share knowledge on overseas personal care innovation, and a practical venue for local brands to talk through localized innovation strategies.
Going forward, Daily Chemical Intelligent Cloud will keep working with global partners including Givaudan and Evonik. We will turn global consumer insights into practical innovation solutions suited for China’s market.
The platform hopes to help local personal care brands create highly distinctive products with strong repeat purchase rates. It will push domestic brands past cut-throat functional competition, and move the industry into a new era focused on richer consumer experiences and genuine emotional connection.