Where are Tomorrow’s Beauty Trends Taking Us?

What trends are driving personal care and cosmetic categories, today and tomorrow? It’s something we and our customers keep a weather eye on, obviously, in trying to stay out in front of the changes in consumer preference that drive the industry.

That’s why reports like this recent overview of consumer-driven trends by The Benchmarking Company are so revealing. After interviewing 3,400 female beauty consumers, what were some of the expectations they found those consumers to have in mind? Because their expectations are what will steer the evolution of beauty and personal care segments for years to come.

Here are just a few of the areas touched on in the study:

Intimate beauty…

…will be one of the next big trends, as consumer move from just embracing safe, natural and organic products to using them for parts of the body that were previously considered…well, too intimate to mention in polite company. That’s changed, obviously, as products like insertable feminine hygiene pills and tablets, at-home “vaginal facials” and other offerings become more commonplace.

Over 50% of women are interested in buying these kinds of products already, and that willingness will probably just grow over time.

High-end options are no longer an option…

…at least where many consumers are concerned: they want and expect “necessary luxuries” in nearly every segment, from hand sanitizers to sunscreens, lip balms to bug repellents.

That’s driving more brand extensions and diversification than ever. People no longer see the need to settle when it comes to personal care items, and that’s a testimony to the shrewdness of marketers and manufacturers, too, in making that attitude matriculate into nearly every demographic.

Pretty personalization…

…is here to stay, too. New tech allows shoppers at Sephora to interact with Sephora’s entire foundation library, for example. And even Facebook has gotten into the mix by using Modiface to allow users to “try on” any of 9,000 lipsticks. That ability to shop and select from a huge range of potential choices will open up all kinds of options for consumers, who’ll grow to expect personalization as a de facto part of the beauty brand experience.

In fact, 82% of woman expect personalized tech to become more popular in the next decade, and 91% think it’ll give them the chance to monitor their skin health. That’s a level of expectation that often drives a marketplace in exactly the direction consumers predict.

Consumer claims and testimonials…

…will reign supreme, just as word-of-mouth has become a key driver in other sectors; consumers increasingly only trust the word of other consumers, and are increasingly tending to ignore marketing messages in favor of testimonials from others with similar needs. A woman who has a specific skin condition will be looking for insight or product verification from somebody who has the same challenges. Rather than being hurtful to brands, this can be a huge asset, handled properly.

81% of women think consumer claims will become more popular in the beauty category over the next 10 years. Another interesting point about what influences they value? Only 10% think the Kardashians will be relevant by then, though people have scoffed at their staying power before.

Ingestible beauty…

Brands have been offering every kind of (legal) ingestible imaginable to help people feel they’re improving their appearance somehow, from gummies to drinkables. It’ll be even more pervasive as attitudes and technology move forward; already, 78% of consumers say they’d take a neutraceutical or pill targeted to their particular beauty concerns.

So can a true “sunscreen pill,” for instance, be far off? Researchers are already working on ways to make a fish-sourced compound for sun protection, gadusol, into a pill. And speaking of sunscreen…

A future so bright, you gotta wear sunscreen…

…because sun care is a consumer concern that won’t fade away, and will probably be even more in the forefront as the population ages and becomes more aware of the aging effects of sun exposure. 62% of women say they’d take that sunscreen pill or supplement we mentioned above, so long as it was safe – and effective, since consumers have become smarter and more skeptical about SPF claims over the past several years.

The globe-hopper shopper…

…who embraces products sourced from many regions is becoming a new power in the marketplace. 86% of women in the TBC study agreed that products leveraging ingredients or insights from other countries, like Asian blue lotus or medicinal herbs, provide superior benefits over traditional products.

And they expect mainstream brands to follow that cue in another direction by including more multi-cultural products, too, with items formulated for specific ethnicities.