Nutraceuticals are foods, or the nutrients within a food, that have medicinal properties. 

“The term “nutraceutical” was coined in 1989 by Stephen De Felice, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, an American organization which encourages medical health research,” according to The Pharmaceutical Journal. 

Today, nutraceuticals might also be known as:

• Supplements
• Functional foods, or fortified, enriched or enhanced foods
• Vitamins, or vitamin powders
• Herbal remedies

According to NCBI, nutraceuticals for skincare may comprised of any of the following:

“They may be macronutrients (nutrients salts/chemicals elements required in large amounts, e.g., potassium, magnesium, calcium and omega 3 acids), micronutrients (nutrients salts/chemicals elements required in small quantities, e.g., vitamins and minerals) and phytochemicals. Food sources used as nutraceuticals are all natural and can be categorised as: dietary fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, amino acids and peptides, carotenoids, vitamins, phytochemicals and spices.” – Nutraceuticals for Skin Care: A Comprehensive Review of Human Clinical Studies, PMC

Common nutraceuticals for improving the skin are green tea extract, pomegranate extract, borage oil, evening primrose oil, fish oil, collagen, and co?enzyme Q10.

The recent nutraceutical purchasing growth can first and foremost be linked to the sustained consumer interest in skincare.

Consumer interest for improving their skin beyond the typical lotions, serums, and washes has officially hit an all time high. Consumers want the best skin of their lives – and will increasingly try new and novel methods to get there. Nutraceuticals offer a modern, innovative approach for improving the skin and are also an attractive new product to add into a shopping cart.

“There is a powerful community of ‘skintelligent’ consumers who are not only skin-care savvy and highly informed about products and ingredients, but are shaping the market,” said Theresa Yee, Senior Beauty Editor at WGSN, to Fashionista. “This new generation of powerful ‘skinfluencers’ know what they want and need from their skincare products — they are super inquisitive and will investigate, research and educate themselves on the ingredients before they make a purchasing decision and also share their knowledge on their social channels.”

For skincare-savvy consumers, nutraceuticals are the latest product to improve skin health – and thus one of the most interesting products to purchase.

Secondly, nutraceutical purchasing is on the rise due to the boom of the wellness market. Consumer interest in wellness, or practices and products that promote whole body health – and a subsequent better appearance – is at an all time high. Currently, the global wellness market is worth $4.2 trillion USD, with personal care, beauty and anti-aging comprising a $1,083 billion USD slice of the market.

Nutraceuticals hit the sweet spot in the wellness market. Packaged as vitamins, supplements, or special medicinal treatments, nutraceuticals create a chance for consumers to make their skin better from the inside out. This edible approach to skincare is both novel and deeply familiar. The concept of using vitamins to promote bodily health is well-ingrained within consumers. Adding a skin-improving supplement into an established vitamin routine is fairly easy and approachable for most consumers – and another driver of the nutraceuticals popularity surge.

The global skincare market isn’t slowing down any time soon – and neither is the nutraceutical sector. Poppable pills, powdery supplements, and specialty vitamins to improve the skin are the latest consumer fix for achieving healthy, ageless skin – and a big opportunity for formulators to drive growth.

Take advantage of our new anti-aging guide, featuring the most innovative, highest-quality ingredients in the personal care industry.