BeautyWellness
TikTok’s latest it-ingredient: Colostrum.
Also known as “liquid gold,” colostrum has become a wellness obsession with nutrient-dense, highly bio-available properties. The catch? It’s the first milk produced by mammals immediately after giving birth, meant to help newborn babies build immunity during their first few days of life. More adults are taking the superfood, with some harvesting their own colostrum during pregnancy and sharing their results on TikTok. Ads for Armra are everywhere, a supplement brand focussing their entire model around this one ingredient. Like most new wellness trends, there’s no real substantial research to support colostrum actually helps adults, but that won’t stop consumers from hopping on the bandwagon. The Co. is udderly fascinated….
The obesity economy's market disruption.
After years of spending on aspirational brands, hard-to-get collaborations, and new food and spirit fads, consumer priorities are shifting. Barclays suggested shorting junk-food stock with an estimated 7% of Americans expected to be on extreme weight loss drugs by 2035. Ozempic maker Novo Nordsisk just dethroned LVMH as Europe's most valuable company. That's saying something...something brands and businesses should listen to. There is a massive shift afoot, from material goods to lifestyle concepts.
Ice baths are white hot.
Unlikely activities are going down in ice baths: networking and speed dating. The New York and LA Times recently spotlighted the socialization of cold-water therapy at wellness clubs like Remedy Place and Ice Pass, underscoring the phenomenon’s exponential uptick. Our social feeds are flooded with guys praising cold plunges in the spirit of normalizing male wellness and mental health. Finance-bro influencer Bennet Jordan recently equated the 250% dopamine level increase that occurs in cold exposure to a “cocaine high without the crash.” As more consumers get hooked, this will be the hottest amenity at gyms, hotels, spas, residences, and even offices.
Anxiety got a little too trendy.
Mental health has become a Gen Z branding topic in the way diversity and inclusion did for Millennials. Look to the sea of anti-depressant themed merchandise and performative anxiety online, and you'll notice a fine line between supporting mental health and outright capitalizing on it. Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty is an example of a brand doing it well—they promote practical mental health tools, eschew box-checking initiatives, and donate significantly to its own Rare Impact Fund, which was built into the brand mission before they launched. Moving forward, brands’ efforts should prioritize expert-backed organizations and community initiatives over merchandise.
First came clean beauty, now comes clean medicine.
After the F.D.A. declared a common decongestant in cold medicines doesn’t work, all eyes are on OTC medicine ingredients. At the recent WWD Beauty & Wellness Forum, we heard from the CEO of Genexa, a “clean medicine” company delivering the effective active ingredients consumers need without the artificial one’s they don’t. Consumer businesses have tackled this problem in food and beauty—currently the clean beauty market is expected to double from $7 billion to $14 billion by 2028. Mark our words. There will be a similar movement in medicine as wellness priorities home in on longevity and body fortification.
Vaping enters its villain era.
Though Gen Z gained credit for cutting back on alcohol intake, the CDC reports 1 in 10 are vaping regularly. Like cigarettes, the negative consequences of e-cigarettes have been well known and largely ignored for some time, but as young adults begin to reckon with nicotine addiction, a crackdown is afoot. Many Z’s plan on using Dry January as an opportunity to quit. Meanwhile, Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul, is set to air on Netflix next month, landing the conversation back in the cultural zeitgeist. Aware of the epidemic, beauty veteran Alyson Lord founded Blip, a Gen Z-focused nicotine therapy designed to destigmatize addiction and attract consumers through fun packaging, positioning, and community support. Take note of shifting smoking sentiments and consider how your business can provide support and solutions.
Diamonds go from jewelry box to bathroom cabinet.
The precious gemstone has been used in skincare dating back to Roman times, but recently garnered mainstream attention as a hero ingredient for beauty. Popularized by the likes of Bella Hadid and Victoria Beckham, diamonds offer brightening, exfoliating, and hydrating benefits, with brands like 111skin creating skincare lines around the brilliant stone. Dubbed “the Birkin bag of sunscreen,” Pavise leverages diamonds’ light-diffusing qualities as sun protection without the chemicals or chalky look that can come from zinc-based lotions. As lab-grown diamonds become more affordable, they’ll become a cost-effective alternative for the average consumer and bring a new wave of diamond-infused beauty products.
Community becomes a critical wellness pillar.
With loneliness now a global health epidemic, wellness routines prioritize community-focused endeavors. A recent Business Insider study shows Gen Z is spending more on gym memberships, social clubs, and art classes to make friends and IRL connections. The rise of run clubs and walking clubs speaks to the sentiment, which was particularly present at this year's Berlin marathon, where many met up for post-run brunches, cultural outings, and DJ sets. The community spirit extends to spas, too. Othership just received funding to expand its social bathhouse concept, endorsing emotional wellness with social bath experiences and breathwork programs. Digital behaviors are also shifting to prioritize platforms that offer authentic human connections. Newly launched app Catchup reminds users to check in with friends and loved ones, while existing apps Geneva and Bumble promote friend discovery. While brand community gatherings and IRL meet-ups are a dime a dozen these days, we expect them to shift focus from influencers to real customers.
Menopause is the women's health issue to monetize.
The last decade has seen a boom in women’s health businesses tackling uncomfortable topics from periods to post-partum issues. Now, as more scientific research and societal attention are paid to menopause, companies are popping up to address this transition period through the lens of longevity. While most menopause products target short-term relief, Oviva Therapeutics takes a long-term approach, improving female healthspan (the number of good healthy years) through novel hormone therapies during menopause. Founder Daisy Robinton spoke about general misinformation surrounding estrogen, proposing the concept of slowing age by extending ovulation. As Gen X-ers start to be affected by menopause at the height of their careers, expect to see more consumers sharing and brands solving for this universal female experience.
Grabbing our attention and wallets: skincare brand Aime.
A French-founded brand making its way to the U.S., Aime takes an inside-out approach to skincare and cosmetics, combining treatments with nutrition, supplements, and wellness. Its Paris boutique stands out with aesthetics matching its clean, simplistic packaging and products, a “Glow Studio” spa, and a café featuring menu items for healthy skin. Treatments include facials, lymphatic drainage, sauna sessions, and an LED bar for light therapy. Popular supplements address concerns like redness and sensitivity, hormone fluctuations, and drainage and detox. Wisely capitalizing on increasing demand for holistic beauty and wellness with a retail model that blends shopping with services, this brand is one to watch.
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