Like the Baby Boomers before them, Generation X is redefining aging and, in the process, has created a 55.6 million-consumer opportunity. While the beauty and wellness industry has only just begun to focus on this consumer group in lieu of younger generations, older women inarguably have greater discretionary spending power. According to the IPUMS-CPS (a database from the National Institute of Health and the University of Michigan) the average income of adults aged 35 and under in 2022 was $57,150, while the average income of adults aged 55 and older was $83,100.

Indeed, the opportunity is wide open for beauty and wellness brands to speak to women 50-plus about their unsolved aging issues. And there’s tremendous upshot for those who do this successfully: generating brand loyalty, enhancing customer lifetime value, and developing authentic consumer-brand relationships — which are particularly important as word-of-mouth recommendations are purchase drivers for this cohort.

But for beauty companies to successfully tap the opportunity presented by 50+ women, they must first understand what these consumers want from their beauty and wellness brands. Coresight Research recently surveyed 50+ women in the US to gain insights into their work lives, exercise regimens, aging issues, preferred beauty and wellness retailers, and how the beauty industry can better address their needs. In this report, Coresight Research, in partnership with CEW, presents its survey results and explores the sizable white-space opportunity created by the 50+ female beauty consumer. The report also dives into what factors influence beauty purchases for this consumer segment, how much they spend on beauty and wellness products (and where they spend it), and whether various other sources, such as doctors and homeopathic medicine, are adequately addressing their aging needs.