What is the future of beauty in 2025: Q&A with Mintel consultant
The market intelligence firm Mintel recently revealed its three big-picture industry trends for the beauty and personal care industry in 2025 and beyond. These were:
#Trend 1 (My) Knowledge is Power, which predicted that beauty consumers will work smarter (not harder), by combining knowledge, tools and technology to achieve personalised solutions for superior results.
#Trend 2 Turning the Tide, which stated that all brands will be expected to consider eco-ethical implications, as consumers “demand a seamless connection between ethical practices and high-performance beauty solutions.”
#Trend 3 Think Slow, Move Fast, which forecast that next year, the beauty industry will put more emphasis on comfort and emotional well-being.
Within the context of these three trends, we spoke to Vivienne Rudd who is a senior consultant at Mintel Consulting who has nearly three decades of experience as an in-demand commentator on the global beauty industry.
CosmeticsDesign-Europe (CDE): The first trend, My Knowledge is Power’ speaks about “products designed for pre- and post-procedure care”. Can you elaborate on this growing sector of beauty? What kinds of innovation are you seeing?
Vivienne Rudd (VR): Over recent years, we’ve seen the growing social acceptability of cosmetic procedures, from so-called non-invasive treatments such as Botox and vitamin & whitening injections, to more elaborate aesthetic surgery.
As a result, we’re seeing an evolution in the skin care landscape. Rather than simply refer to these treatments via product names and broad-brush claims, skin care companies are now creating products that are directly inspired by the ingredients and effects of headline-grabbing procedures.
A great example is a number of products inspired by the popular Rejuran Healer procedure in Asia Pacific, which uses fragments of DNA called PDRN to promote skin healing and rejuvenation.
There is a trademarked Rejuran Healer Triple Radiance Ampoule which is designed to improve tone, texture and radiance thanks to DOT c-PDRN. There are also a small but growing number of Korean brands that are also using PDRN to promote these protective and responsive benefits for the skin.
This cross-influence from the aesthetics sector is also having an impact in Western markets. The recent deal between L'Oréal and Galderma is a case in point. The two companies have competing dermo cosmetics brands, but it’s Galderma’s expertise in injectables that is fuelling the new partnership and will result in new solutions for L'Oréal’s topical products.
And speaking of injectables, one of the most interesting recent developments to watch is the emerging trend for Ozempic-related topical and ingestible regimens. This is still in its infancy, but the World Obesity Forum’s forecast for a 51% rise in global obesity by 2035 and recent moves by national governments to promote the use of GLP-1 medications, indicate real potential for such regimens in the future.
Nutricosmetics and VMS companies have been quick to spot the opportunity. SoWell has launched supplements designed to counteract the effects of GLP-1 medications and Eyeam’s Hormonedrops claim to offer a natural alternative.
However, the real opportunity lies in face & body care products that can counteract the effects of such rapid weight loss on skin tone and texture.
Mintel’s Data Analytics team has been looking at the combination of claims and ingredients that can help to address these issues and predict the cascade of such solutions across beauty categories and sub-categories and from market to market.
CDE: This first trend also covers hyper-personalisation of products. Is this a real possibility for brands? How do you see this working in the future?
VR: This is another interesting area. There is so much work going on with RNA and microbiome analysis that the possibilities are truly exciting. However, by its very definition, hyperpersonalisation cannot be replicated at scale, it is necessarily an individualised approach which will probably be limited to wealthier consumers.
Instead, for the short and medium term, we’ll probably see hyperpersonalisation expressed as hypercuration. Pond’s Skin Institute Microbiome Analyser microbiome testing in Watsons stores in the Philippines is a good example.
This works with a customer’s skin swab to analyse a range of data points and produce a list of recommended products within an hour. This tailors the customer’s skincare routine and keeps them within Pond’s brand universe. In the longer term, however, personalised analysis will move into the home, where it will become brand-agnostic. The challenge for brands is how to become part of this process.
CDE: Moving on to the second trend, Turning the Tide. Are the beauty industry and sustainability essentially at odds? What’s your advice for beauty brands trying to navigate this situation?
VR: I don’t believe the beauty industry and sustainability are necessarily at odds. Beauty manufacturers are consumers too, with a stake in the future of the planet. They also have to make a profit, and to do that, they have to develop and sell consumer-pleasing products.
Increasingly, such products have to have sustainability at the heart of their lifecycle. The challenge is to do this without compromising efficacy and affordability. Consumers want sustainable products, but they don’t expect to pay significantly more for them or expect less from them.
In the coming years, climate change will increasingly affect the industry from a number of angles. First, is the use of natural materials. The world’s population is growing, putting more pressure than ever on a diminishing amount of available soil and water, while there will be fewer people to grow the products due to migration to the cities and other countries.
The answer has to be more biotech ingredients that mimic or even surpass the benefits of naturals. These lab-grown ingredients will enhance formulations and may even, in the long run, make the process more affordable for both brands and consumers. They will produce exciting hybrids that will result in more exciting claims too. The beauty of chimeras, if you will.
At the same time, climate change will mean for many that extreme weather events become more common and that winters will be longer and wetter, while summers will be drier and hotter.
Products that focus specifically on the challenges these place on skin and hair health will be in demand, as well those that use less water and energy for their sourcing, manufacture and transport.
CDE: The third trend, Think Slow, Move Fast, discusses the intersection between neuroscience and beauty. How do you see this evolving?
VR: Neuroscience and psychodermatology have been passions for me for at least six years and it’s been a little frustrating to see the slow progress of both. However, the last year has witnessed an acceleration of available technologies and product activations will inevitably catch up.
I find it particularly interesting when a brand like Eucerin connects skin care products with quality of life – either through skin comfort or (and it’s connected) the amount and quality of sleep.
I believe this is a pathway for both neuroscience and psychodermatology to create a suite of products that form a daily regimen whose pay-off is a combination of physical and emotional benefits that measurably improve the user’s quality of life.
Many beauty houses are actively exploring the potential of nutricosmetics to step into this space.
The number of start-ups and rapid acquisitions underlines the potential of this fast-evolving category. In the future, as technology advances, companies will feel more empowered to make bolder claims and move beyond the current, relatively restricted sub-categories and palette of ingredients.
However, any brand looking to move into these areas must be fully aware of the needs and hesitations of consumers. They also must ensure that their claims are substantiated if they are to avoid accusations of ‘wellness-washing’ and scientific romance.
Nutricosmetics will always be an adjunct rather than a replacement and so will need to justify their existence more than any other.
CDE: Based on what you’re seeing in the market now, if you were to start your own beauty or personal care brand tomorrow, what would you do?
VR: There are so many brands out there that it’s hard to spot gaps in the market. However, on the basis that I would like to address my own unmet needs, I would create an accessibly priced brand that offered sleep-enhancing products for older women, drawing on the principles of neuroscience to improve the texture and tone of my facial skin, and the volume and texture of my hair, with rich textures and gorgeous fragrances.
My hero product would be an eye and lip cream that lifts my lids, firms the skin around my lips and is lightly tinted to disguise my dark circles and wrinkles. That would certainly improve my quality of life.
