I Feel Good 2024: Innovations in Wellness

Death to Stock - Photo Shauna Summers_

The latest advancements in clean formulations and natural beauty resources were showcased over two days at the recent I Feel Good event in Paris (September 17- 18, 2024). Ingredient and product innovations underscored the growing alignment between the worlds of beauty and wellness. Trend and Digital Assistant Anna shares her top 5 discoveries from the event, where award-winning innovations signalled the dominant role biotechnology would play in the future of clean beauty.

OUR TOP 5 INNOVATIONS:

Lutein-Fortified Beverage - Eye health support drink by Azelis

Winner of the Public Acclaim Achievement Award, the Lutein-Fortified Beverage is formulated to support eye health with three clinically-researched ingredients: lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. These compounds are known for protecting against blue light and supporting visual function. The drink is flavoured with mandarin and features an innovative formula that keeps the active ingredients suspended in the liquid, ensuring consistent delivery. Consuming 2 to 3 mL daily for optimal eye support is recommended. 

Vecollage Fortify L - Biomimetic vegan collagen by Adara

Vecollage Fortify L, winner of the Best Innovation Award, is a skin-identical collagen obtained via biotechnology through yeast fermentation. As a biomimetic collagen, it allows for improved skin penetration and effective action. Moreover, it is highly effective in protecting the skin's network and preventing degradation. The increasing demand for collagen in skincare stands out as it aligns with the current market trend. Additionally, it has a solid ecological advantage, neither synthetic nor derived from animal sources.

Charcoal scrub - 100% upcycled exfoliating treatment by Laboratoire LBP 

This scrub, awarded Best Formulation this year, uses 100% natural, upcycled ingredients for sensitive skin. It includes charcoal from the food industry, rose water from Damask rose distillation, and a moisturizing agent derived from gin distillation with barley ferment. The treatment is applied in a thick layer and offers a pleasant sensory experience while being eco-friendly and completely clean.

Pschiit Beauté - Innovative nutri-cosmetics spray by Kares-Up

Aiming to simplify beauty routines, Pschiit Beauté is a nutri-cosmetics anti-ageing buccal spray that competed in the Public Acclaim Achievement category. Unlike traditional nutri-cosmetics, which often come in capsule formats that can feel too medicinal, this innovative spray offers a more approachable alternative. With just two sprays, it delivers a potent dose of anti-ageing ingredients, making it both practical and user-friendly. Its concentrated formula provides visible results with minimal effort. The sugar-free composition and pleasant rose flavour enhance the experience, encouraging seamless integration into daily habits.

Sensol 100 - Sustainable innovation in cosmetics by GreenTech

Sensol100, a functional ingredient that competed in the Innovation category, is derived from the refinement of upcycled avocado oil. A process of decolourization and deodorization transforms the oil into a light beige, butter-like texture. Rich in essential fatty acids, including oleic, linoleic, and palmitic acids, Sensol 100 plays a vital role in skin regeneration without relying on palm oil. Suitable for all types of emulsions, it is also ideal for tinted lip balms, providing excellent pigment dispersion and a silky texture similar to silicone, allowing for the replacement of silicones and mineral oils. Additionally, Sensol 100 has a coating effect on hair fibers, ensuring easy incorporation while offering beneficial biological properties. Its 100% natural composition features a simple and effective INCI.

THE CIC TAKE

Exhibitors demonstrated how beauty and wellness are increasingly interconnected as consumers’ well-being ambitions are closely tied to their relation to beauty. The event underscored the opportunity in targeted inner-outer solutions, while the realization of exciting new formats (beverages, buccal sprays) shows the potential to unlock new beauty rituals.

Our trend research and innovation consultancy is informed by our many visits to industry exhibitions and events, where our team tracks fresh-from-the-lab innovations and ingredients. Further insight and inspiration are available in the agency’s latest trend report, Higher Perspectives: Makeup Inspiration from the U.S.

Contact the team today for more information!

GYM BEAUTY - From Sweat-care to self-care

Photo: Elina Fairytale via Pexels

Consumers’ hyper-concentration on all things health-related has spawned a wealth of recent product launches aimed at the post-pandemic Wellness Seeker. Now, beauty brands are taking to the gym and creating a new space for cosmetics and skincare products that address the physiological shifts experienced before, during and after workouts. 

Pushing beyond performance

We’ve seen brands successfully tap the workout market before, with targeted makeup products primed to withstand intense performance (see, CliniqueFIT launched in 2017 and Tarte’s 2016 line ) but the latest iteration of gym beauty involves a more holistic approach. Where previously brands have focused on gym-proof makeup, today’s consumer is not solely concerned with maintaining their glow on the treadmill. Consumers are looking for products that continue working well after their workout has ended, addressing their post-exercise skincare needs, actively smoothing, soothing and tightening, and enhancing their overall gym experience.

This month Revolution unveiled its new GYM line - a collection of products (including workout accessories) that are formulated not just to hold up to exercise but to actively address workout-specific skincare needs. Featuring products that respectively cool, relieve, tighten and firm the skin, the range also includes a metal Gua Sha and face roller to lift and sculpt, taking the body-boosting narrative one step further. 

A new space for self-care

In light of the post-Covid wellness surge, Revolution has spotted an opportunity to connect with consumers through the introduction of new self-care rituals centred around the workout experience. Shifting the emphasis away from pure endurance makeup to consider broader gym-related beauty needs from a wellness perspective, Revolution is carving out new territory.

It joins other brands that are leveraging the demand for more holistic care, such as the UK brand Face Gym which builds on the idea of “facial fitness”, providing a workout for the face through the use of multiple tools inspired by the kind of equipment usually found in the yoga studio. Face Gym has successfully developed a narrative of aesthetic care in a sport-inspired environment. In the US, the upsurge of wellness athleisure has seen leading brands including Lululemon and Alo Yoga expand beyond yoga pants into beauty lines. These brands are transitioning from their focus on “studio-to-street” fashion, and are moving towards the for “studio-to-beauty” expansions. Deeply rooted in mindfulness and wellbeing, such products will be sure to interest beauty buyers in their quest for self-optimising, self-care brands.

THE CIC TAKE:

To tap this emerging sector, brands must go beyond performance-proof cosmetics and consider the wider wellness opportunity that lies in developing pre-and-post workout products, tapping the growing demand for whole body and mind care. Embrace fitness semantics to engage health-focused beauty buyers who will take every opportunity to optimise their wellbeing.

SOCIETAL WELLNESS - REDEFINING BEAUTY

Photo: David Suarez via Unsplash

Driven by the idea of collective responsibility, consumers are redefining the concept of care, moving the emphasis away from the self and onto their community. Brands are being challenged to follow where sentiment is leading, and more than ever before, beauty in the US is being seen as a rallying voice for change.

In our latest report, Redefining Beauty: Makeup Inspiration from the US, we explore the trend for Societal Wellness, where values-driven consumers are challenging brands to take a stand on the big issues and address beauty’s developing role as a therapeutic medium.

As the US grapples with a mental health crisis (10.6% of young people in the US identify as having severe depression, with multiracial youth at the most risk) and growing division over reproduction rights, now is not the time for brands to stay silent. Brands that fail to stand up and be counted may lose the support of their core consumerbase - one in four Gen Z will not spend with a brand that does not take a stance on the big issues. Intrinsic values trump external validation for this powerful cohort.

Below is a taster from our latest report, Redefining Beauty: Makeup Inspiration from the US, where we explore the trend for Societal Wellness through three distinct pathways: 

• SOUL-CARE - BEYOND WELLNESS

In the grip of a mental health crisis, consumers are seeking solutions that lie outside of conventional thinking and practices. This creates an interesting opportunity for beauty brands, particularly as consumers become more open to alternative treatments that allow them to access deeper emotional healing. Brands are exploring the universes that exist around spiritual wellness, medicinal psychedelics and ritualistic healing in order to engage consumers with the pursuit of a deeper wellness that goes beyond the surface.

• ACCESSIBILITY ENHANCED - BEAUTY FOR ALL

As consumers propel the momentum around social awareness, Pride celebrations and Black History Month are growing in significance as opportunities to bring attention to the contributions, and struggles, of marginalized people. In this context, consumers are challenging brands to deliver on their diversity best practices, and move forward with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ talent at the fore. NPD reports that in the 12 months ending in February 2022, Black-founded beauty sales increased by 45%, while the rest of the market grew by 30%. 

• POLITIBEAUTY - BRANDS FOR CHANGE

As we live through a period marred by huge civil unrest and global crisis, brands are realizing that they need to be vocal in order to connect with today’s politicized consumers. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe Vs Wade, many key beauty brands have taken a bold stance on abortion rights and issues around women’s equality. The pro-choice message chimes with the overwhelming backlash to the verdict amongst Gen Z . Since the decision was made, well over 100 beauty and wellness brands have joined the Don’t Ban Equality coalition to protect access to reproductive healthcare. 

A full copy of the report, Redefining Beauty: Makeup Inspiration from the US, is available to purchase now. Drop us a line for more details, and discover an in-depth analysis of the US makeup sector through six emerging universes and 18 pathways to innovation.

#USTRENDS. When spirituality infuses cosmetics

Photo Credits: Free People Movement - Facebook

Wellness is at the very core of skincare trends. Good vibes, stone rollers and crystal-infused formulas are the new anti-age. A trend coming from the wellness temple, California, and slowly cascading on the rest of the US.

A New Way of Life Infuses Beauty

Recently, the power of stones has made a major come back, with an upsurge of appetite for wellness and well-being, as the notion of physical well-being extends now towards mental well-being. 

In an hyperconnected society, the need to disconnect from devices has increased, and the desire to reconnect to oneself has never been so important. The phenomenon of disconnect-reconnect has influenced the travel industry (open air travel), brain-body training,as well as the boom of mindful activities such as yoga or meditation.   

Spirituality & Self-Focus - The New Urban Quest

The concept of spirituality continues to grow, infusing the US from the West Coast in particular, where mindful practices have always been stronger. A wave of millennial-minded meditation venues have spread all over the US, especially in big cities. Stressed-out New Yorkers can become more grounded during their lunch breaks at Be Time, the city’s first meditation bus. Retail wise, mindfulness has gained momentum with virtual reality guided meditation at the new Philosophy's WellBeing store in New Jersey, or meditation during manicure sessions at Sundays. Same goes online with Lululemon's "Mindful Podcast", featuring videos of a seven-day meditation challenge.

Photo: Lululemon New York - Pic by Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation

If mindful meditation has been widely embraced in the workplace, it is because the benefits are also instrumental. Indeed, the Buddhism-inspired technique will boost motivation, concentration, resilience and overall productivity. In California, it is not uncommon to find crystals in meeting rooms for positive energy, or collective yoga sessions on the city’s rooftops.

Photo: Facebook - Glaccebottles

Herbivore - The Rose Quartz Roller - Facebook

In a world centered around work performance, this wave of mindfulness offers other perspectives. It embraces  a new relationship with time, awareness, and self-care to heal both body and mind. Yoga coaches have become today’s new managers, and their work tools include "zen" accessories as well as cosmetics. Facial rollers made of energetic stones are everywhere, like the Facial Roller Jade by Herbivore or the Crystal Facial Workout by Skin Gym. Pure crystals are directly formulated into products such as the Crystal Aura by Hannes Dottir, a face-mask powder that mixes with water, enriched with crystals and marine extracts from Iceland. Pacifica just launched Crystal, a highly gem-infused line of cosmetics and makeup. Moreover, beauty routine turns into a full mystical ritual with the new brand Aquarian Soul that offers jade and amethyst roll ons, body oil enriched with rose quartz or moonstone, and at-home sacred fumigations thanks to herb bouquets.

"Good Vibes" Trend

This "good vibes only" outbreak shows no sign of stopping. Coming soon: the emergence of a new star ingredient, the "CBD" or cannabidiol, extracted cannabis (non-hallucinogenic) promoting wellness, tranquility and healing pain. The agency, Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation, discusses this new vision of makeup and skincare in its latest trend book, Freedom Beauty - US Makeup Trends.

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Discover our trend book Freedom Beauty - Inspiration from the USA