The beauty industry thrives on innovation and buzzwords like ‘smudgeproof’ and ‘wellness’, but while the latter may have once been seen as a passing trend, it’s causing sales of body care products to skyrocket.
Over the past few years wellness has gone from being a term reserved for fitness fanatics and alternative therapy fans, to a wholly accessible way of living.
Looking after our long term health and taking genuine care of ourselves, both inside and out, has had quite an impact on sales across food, health and beauty. With consumer attitudes shifting, so has the popularity of different categories and two that have benefited notably are body care and sun care.
Decades ago sunscreen wasn’t seen as a necessity, but now the global market for sun care products is projected to reach $US24.9 billion by the end of 2024.
Times are changing and the message is that it’s not enough to just take care of our skin from the neck up. From non-invasive cosmetic surgery to wellness and sun care, below is a breakdown of the biggest body care trends to watch out for.
Wellness
As Katerina Steventon wrote for Cosmetics Business: “If facial skin care is about attractiveness, body care is about wellbeing.”
Not only is the wellness trend influencing what we eat and how we exercise, it’s also supercharging what we put on our skin and our inner health. Mintel global skincare analyst David Tyrrell suggests that China is one to watch. A study by the global market research company revealed that 30 per cent of Chinese consumers are ‘active changers’ – i.e. actively looking to change their behaviour, product usage, and more.
“These wealthier consumers overwhelmingly believe that a healthier-looking appearance is a mirror of an individual’s state of health,” Tyrrell says in his report on The Future of Bodycare.
“In pursuit of achieving a healthy lifestyle, 35 per cent of active changers have bought more beauty/body care products than they did six months before, and this consumer believes more strongly than any other consumer segment that good skin condition is important to obtain a healthy lifestyle.”
Another key player in the wellness industry, is the booming supplements category. Providing inner health and wellness for skin, hair and the entire body, the category is still relatively new, however ingestible beauty is growing, and growing fast. According to Vida Glow founder, Anna Lahey, it’s anticipated to be worth over $6.5 billion by 2025, as BD reported here.
BD recommends: GLOWSO, Avec, The Collagen Co and Rapid Loss.
Natural ingredients
In the chase for body health and wellness, ingredients are becoming a major factor too. A study conducted by Nielson recently discovered that 73 per cent of consumers feel positively towards brands that share the full ingredient information on its products, and another study by Label Insight discovered that 49 per cent of women said they would pay more for a product that contains ingredients they understand or recognise – largely, natural ingredients.
According to Tyrrell, natural and organic is the way to go for body care: “Brands need to develop a strong natural/organic proposition and mix in a hero foodie (for example, vitamin C-enriched gac fruit or Kakadu plum) and other ‘superfoods’ or organic extracts to produce a new line of natural skin boosters – but nothing synthetic.”
BD recommends: Ipsum, alfree, Weleda and Aluram.
Treating the body as you would your face
Nowadays it isn’t good enough to just look after your face and neck – the rest of your body is equally as important. Brands are now creating masks, firming products and body scrubs that aim to work similarly to your favourite face products.
Firming products specifically are having a moment, with anti-cellulite and firming body care products making up 14.6 per cent of the total global body care spend, according to Mintel.
“The neck and decollete are the first places to show signs of ageing as they come into daily contact with harsh environmental factors such as pollutants and sun damage. Nourishing body exfoliators and firming masks for the decollate are body care trends that we’ve definitely noticed trending in Australia,” Ella Baché's state educator shared.
BD recommends: Skin O2, VOYA, Plunkett’s Nutri-Synergy, Andalou and Silic 15.
Renewed push for sun care
As people realise the life-threatening impacts of UVA and UVB rays on their bodies, the sales of sun care products are skyrocketing.
In a recent report from GlobalData analysing innovation trends and opportunities in the Asia Pacific sun care market, it was found that millennials concern about sun damage and the negative impact it can have on their appearance is making them interested in buying more sun protection products more often.
When comparing the attitude of millennials with older generations and their concerns about sun damage, the research found that 81 per cent of millennials expressed concern over sun damage, compared to 74 per cent of over-35s.
GlobalData associate analyst Matthew Perry explains: “While the negative health impacts of sun damage are well understood in Asia Pacific, and have been for many years now, another key driver for sun care solutions has been the growing acceptance of sun exposure as an accelerator to the ageing process and cause of appearance-related damage.”
Perry continues: “In addition to its health-related purpose, sun protection now serves a cosmetic function, becoming an integral part of daily beauty regimes, especially among younger consumers who are now increasingly appearance-conscious due to social media.”
“Everyday body sunscreens will be a big focus this year as women are becoming increasingly aware of the anti-ageing power of SPF.”
BD recommends: SunSense, Banana Boat, Invisible Zinc, Hawaiian Tropic, Reef and Bondi Sands.
Body treatments without the downtime
The quest for securing a ‘perfect’ body without entering the operating theatre is a long-held mission by many consumers and brands are now developing treatments to cater to those who want the results without the downtime.
For example, freezeframe® TUMMY TUCK is a fat burning cream formulated to flatten and firm the belly without going under the knife.
And mesoestetic bodyshock Local Reducer is a treatment formulated to target accumulation of localised fat in stubborn areas such as saddlebags, hips and arms. It helps reduce accumulated fat deposits in difficult to treat areas while helping to smooth and tighten the skin.
If in-salon treatments do pique your interest but you're particular sensitive, products such as the Numit Numbing Cream is the go-to must have for any treatments. It provides a skin-numbing effect, so you can tough it through a range of common minor superficial medical and cosmetic procedures including, vaccinations, tattoos, laser hair removal or even skin resurfacing.
Similar to this, body treatments that keep various conditions such as itching, burning and tinea, managed at-home, are always winners. Brands such as SOOV and SolvEasy have you covered.
