Need To Know
09 : 07 : 21

Warsaw – Responding to the health risks facing children in densely polluted areas of Warsaw, Otrivin nasal spray is experimenting with an air-purifying playground.

The AirBubble playground features 52 cylinders of algae that filter air pollutants and release oxygen through photosynthesis. Air purification is also generated through movement, so as children play within the park, the air is better able to circulate through the algae. This results in a cleaner, more breathable environment. The project is a collaborative effort between Saatchi & Saatchi London and architecture and innovation firm ecoLogicStudio, and is open to the public for four months.

‘Otrivin exists to help people breathe better, and that is what we are doing with this,’ says Farhad Nadeem, global marketing director at Otrivin. ‘We were very excited by the innovation challenge: what if we could build a playground in the middle of the city, inside which the air would be clean?'

This activation provides an example of how targeted eco-efforts can improve the lives of urban dwellers. To discover more innovations around tackling pollution, delve into our Climate Crisis series.

Canada – As notions of self-care increasingly encompass intimate pleasure, sexual wellness brand We-Vibe is introducing a multi-purpose massage tool.

The tool, called Touch X, can be used as a sex toy, a body massager and as part of skincare routines. Offering eight intensity levels, the tool allows users to adjust the vibrations according to their self-care rituals. To assert its use cases beyond sexual pleasure, We-Vibe is working with the beauty influencer community to highlight its effectiveness in applying products such as serum, moisturiser and foundation.

In this way, the brand seeks to normalise sensuality by spotlighting the versatility of its sex toys. ‘The topics of beauty and sex have more in common than you might think,’ says Johanna Rief, head of sexual empowerment at We-Vibe. ‘Positioning a vibrator as a beauty product also helps circumvent the strict and often arbitrary rules of social media, which are conspicuously often applied to images of female bodies and sexual wellness products.’

By reframing a tool ordinarily reserved for intimate acts, We-Vibe plays into the idea of Synchronised Care – with brands beginning to champion Pleasure Health as a vital element of self-care.

Research from Mintel reveals the crucial need for clearer beauty ingredient information in Thailand.

According to recent data, some 28% of Thai beauty consumers say they are not aware of the names of any beauty and personal care ingredients. The majority (70%) of those surveyed said they were only aware of three out of 10 functional ingredients presented in the study: peptide (44%), ceramide (41%) and retinol (38%).

These findings suggest vast opportunities in this market for beauty and personal care brands to reframe complex and scientific language. ‘Brands need to play the role of educator and bridge the gap to create ingredient fluency among target consumers,’ comments Mintel.

As we explore in Certified Skincare, beauty brands are innovating through labelling that communicates radical transparency about ingredients, sustainability and clinical efficacy.