Community self-care and physical-digital experiences to rule beauty in 2023: Report
Holistic self-care, the medicalisation of beauty and “phygital” experiences are three trends research firm Mintel predicts will dominate the personal care category in 2023.
In its Beauty and Personal Care Trends for 2023 report, the company delved into the consumer behaviour, product innovation and marketing tactics that promise to reshape the industry over the next five years.
Here’s a breakdown of Mintel’s findings.
Beauty Rx
The medicalisation of beauty is leading to more demand for proof behind claims, creating value through ingredient-led products and driving the market for synthetic natural ingredients.
Mintel said potential developments from beauty brands could come from genetic sequencing and advances in diagnostics and wearable devices.
“Expect to see major opportunities stemming from hormones, health risk and diagnosis, 3D printing, personalised vitamins and supplements and gene editing,” Andrew McDougal, director, Mintel Beauty & Personal Care, said in a press release. “Meanwhile, synthetic biology technologies are finally maturing, offering a way for almost anything to be manufactured competitively and sustainably. “
Evolved self-care
Beauty is intended to be uplifting and can contribute to a post-pandemic sense of self-care that includes sexual wellness, the hormone journey and wellness for every life stage.
“While the amount of time consumers have to spend on wellness routines is contracting, when faced with stress and upheaval, they will look for ways to uplift themselves and beauty is the perfect category to support that,” McDougal said.
As the importance community continues to grow post-pandemic, so will the concept of community self-care
“In the future, expect to see global beauty companies focus on holistic habits and products that support everything from sleep to blood circulation and their connection to beauty,” McDougal said.
New rules of engagement
Mintel advised brands to embrace disruption to create new rules for engagement and building communities.
“Experimentation drives engagement and technology will usher in the next generation of experience, whether in the store or the home,” McDougal said.
Technology will allow for the replication of experiences across channels, with approaches like RFID (radio-frequency identification) to digital avatars and the metaverse.
“Looking ahead, the development of VR (virtual reality) technology, hardware and content will become convenient and practical enough for consumers to use every day. This will enable brands to use these technologies strategically to create ‘phygital’ (physical and digital) experiences that will dominate the way consumers discover, shop and connect with brands,” McDougal said.
