The pandemic triggered seismic shifts in how we approach health and well-being. Today, well-being practices that incorporate body, mind, and soul dimensions are an integral part of beauty routines. Here, CEW kicks off a series of stories targeting Beauty Wellness, first with a look at the consumer’s renewed expectations of wellness, highlighting four key areas.

Today, there is no looking good without feeling good. Indeed, 65 percent of Americans believe that beauty and grooming are a part of wellness, according to a 2022 MindBody Wellness Index that asked more than 16,000 Americans from major U.S. cities about their wellness habits. Moreover, 78 percent said that wellness is a top priority, with mental wellness prioritized above all by younger generations. About 57 percent of Gen Z and 53 percent of millennials said that the pandemic had negatively impacted their mental well-being.

The global wellness market is currently valued at more than $1.5 trillion, with annual growth of 5 to 10 percent, according to a 2021 McKinsey report. While the wellness industry has been steadily gaining momentum over the past decade, COVID-19 greatly accelerated the trend. Recently, the Global Wellness Institute pinpointed key shifts that will have critical implications for the wellness industry in the future including: self-care evolving from pampering and escapism to self-preservation; prevention becoming a lifestyle; wellness and science moving closer together; embracing nature more than ever for nourishment and healing; balancing physical and virtual connections, and mental wellbeing coming to the fore.

Below are four key areas of beauty wellness that will be covered in greater detail in CEW’s Beauty Wellness Series.

Supplements

Supplements are taking center stage with the growing emphasis on holistic wellness. The global women’s health and beauty supplements market size was valued at $55.4 billion in 2021, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8 percent from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View Research. In the U.S., the supplements market has been steadily growing with a host of diversified offerings in the ingestible beauty segment. Gen Z, in particular, are “mainstreaming” ingestible beauty and driving innovation in the beauty-from-within space. About 71 percent of Gen Zers indicated they are “very interested” in personalized supplements that provide targeted effects on overall health and skin, hair and nails, according to a recent study by marketing firm Vesta.

Sexual Wellness

Interest in sexual wellness is at an all-time high as consumers increasingly understand that sexual health is a crucial part of self-care. The U.S. sexual wellness market size is estimated at $10.3 billion in 2021, and is expected to reach $11 billion by the end of 2022, according to Grand View Research. Indeed, 98 percent of consumers said they believe intimate care and sexual wellness are important parts of overall health and happiness, and 94 percent of respondents value that brands are making products to address their personal needs, according to a recent study of 2,900 American female-identifying beauty buyers conducted by The Benchmarking Company. In that same study, 47 percent of consumers said they had purchased sexual wellness products, and 38 percent said they intended to purchase sexual wellness products.

CBD

CBD, already big business, is poised to become even bigger. Rising awareness of the health benefits of CBD, and its effectiveness in addressing a host of issues including chronic pain management, is propelling accelerated growth. Leading cannabis researchers BDS Analytics and Arcview Market project that the collective market for CBD sales in the US will surpass $20 billion by 2024 (an increase from New York investment bank Cowen & Co that estimated the market could reach $15 billion by 2025). In tandem with this, CBD education, quality assurance, and safety will become ever more important in order to win consumer confidence. Beverages is one of the fastest-growing CBD product categories (currently occupying a small percentage of the market). Cannabinoid market research company BDSA anticipates that the cannabinoid beverage market will reach $2.5 billion by 2026.

Beauty Tech

The era of beauty tech, encompassing AI, AR-powered technologies, machine learning, data analysis, and diagnostics offering heightened personalization, is coming into its own and promises to transform our skincare regiments. The market for beauty tech in the US, covering cosmetics, skincare and personal care products, generated approximately $1.35 billion in 2021, and is forecast to reach S3.42 billion by 2026, according to Statista. In particular, wearable tech such as smart watches and smart fabrics that record and interpret data about the body in order to enhance productivity, sleep quality or manage various health conditions, will garner greater consumer demand.