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The pandemic accelerated some preexisting health and beauty tendencies, pushing players to rethink tactics and adapt to a new normal in the context of shifting consumer behavior and consumption habits.
We all live in a time where the beauty, health, and wellness sector are ultimately converging in significant ways. The beauty and wellness connection becomes a matter of overall lifestyle.
Our understanding that beauty is not just “external appearance” is gradually increasing the global consciousness – when we are in our most healthy, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually state.
The pandemic has accelerated some preexisting health and beauty tendencies, pushing players to rethink tactics and adapt to a new normal in the context of shifting consumer behavior and consumption habits.
A Healthy Approach to Beauty and Personal Care
Healthy beauty is a strong trend, driven by the conscious consumer, according to Euromonitor International. What’s more, millennials have fundamentally changed the beauty and personal care industry. They are always on the hunt for Instagram-worthy content and demand authenticity and healthy beauty products.
Yet attention to healthy beauty and clean products is driven by several aspects. Consumers’ growing awareness around green chemistry with the desire to adopt a healthy lifestyle has given rise to the concept of organic and cruelty-free beauty products. Another trend that is appealing is taking care of our appearance, benefiting our health and emotional well-being.
Hence, a lot has been done to inform consumers that beauty and personal care products are absorbed in varying degrees through the skin, the body’s largest organ, increasing consumer concerns.
Why Beauty and Retail “Giants” Pivoted to Wellness?
According to the Global Wellness Institute, health and beauty are now part of a more significant sector: the wellness industry, covering nutrition, fitness, beauty, food, cosmetics, and more, which is worth up to £2.8 trillion worldwide, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
Consumers have never had as much freedom and choice from personalized beauty boxes such as Birchbox to advanced AI cosmetic solutions. Wellness consumers are becoming experts in perceiving the actual value of wellness products and services. Therefore, consumers are demanding proof and trustworthiness from brands.
While some brands are struggling to deliver wellness products, more innovative brands are experimenting with technology to become more trustworthy and saturated.
How Companies Are Adapting to the Health and Wellness Boom?
The key players in pharma and consumer health, such as Pfizer, Bayer, RiteAid, and Johnson & Johnson, attempt to reach the full range of “beauty healthy” customers through supermarkets and drug chains, and online. Using their resources in R&D and investing in technology, they develop multitasking dietary supplements and cosmeceuticals that aim to deliver combined health, nutrition, and beauty benefits.
Unilever is another example of branching into the consumer health arena. Unilever’s Dove Nutritive Solutions app enables customers to customize products according to their specific skin and hair needs.
The wellness industry boom is driven by personalized technology and innovative solutions. As a result, wellness, safety, technology, and preventative health have become the primary focus for every brand strategy moving forward. Building a significant online presence and digital activation is a must. Still, brick-and-mortar experience should not be left behind as physical shopping is a preferred choice among consumers and their renewed desire to return to stores post-pandemic.
Beauty-from-Within: Essential Natural Ingredients
According to the recent PWC research, natural ingredients are a must, even in beauty and cosmetics, for most customers. Growing consumer awareness of the ingestible has become a new trend among the public. Preventatively taking supplements for healthier and better skin has led many brands to enter the nutrition industry. A new market of "healthy beauty" requires a holistic approach in combination with a healthy diet.
However, choosing which vitamins to pop from the myriad options can be overwhelming, to say the least: Do you need vitamin C? Are those supplements safe? Are the amounts listed on the label accurate? Does price matter?
Nutrition is an essential ingredient in a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle, but the selection process for vitamins and supplements often proves daunting for consumers, says Sampo Parkkinen—CEO of Revieve.
