The Year of the Body

One thing that has been consistent over the past year is an unrelenting focus on self care. This has become essential at a time where we’re safe guarding our health, mental wellness and happiness. Over the past year we’ve seen a surge in skincare – from sales to brands coming to the fore. This has probably been largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in people focusing on self care. In the cosmetics industry, self care has leaned heavily towards skincare. Consumers have taken time to educate themselves on their skin type, skincare brands, products and the list goes on and on. What has been interesting, however, has been how consumers have researched skincare down to the ingredient – shopping skincare by assessing what ingredients products have.
This is a huge shift in the beauty industry – consumers are becoming more knowledgable on what they’re putting on their skin and brands have been more forthcoming on ingredients and have taken the opportunity to showcase what hero ingredients have been included in their products. This shift has largely emanated from the clean beauty movement that pushed consumers to zone in on product ingredients. Despite clean beauty forcing consumers to become more cautious with what they put on their hair and skin, there has been a slight drift from clean beauty with consumers becoming a lot more forgiving if 1. product ingredients are effective but not 100% clean and 2. ingredient inclusion being explained by brands or being backed by science. The skincare movement has also seen the creation of an influential global skincare community that educates consumers, tests product effectiveness and that also holds brands accountable for skincare no-nos.
The past year has largely focused on hero ingredients and products. Ingredients like Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid and Azelaic Acid have trended over the past year and trendy products like face serums and zero white cast sunscreens have become “add to cart” items. So what’s the next wave? Definitely body care.
Body care hasn’t received the same attention as face care in the past but we’re starting to see traction. Consumers have been complaining about body care not addressing common issues like dry skin – especially in colder seasons or even hyperpigmentation. International brands have migrated to science based body care, with active ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid and AHA/BHAs being included in body care products. What does this mean? Body products will be formulated with body skin issues like dry skin, hyperpigmentation, acne etc in mind and will likely work more effectively than traditional body butters or creams. We’re likely to see a lot more body care products with powerful but safe active ingredients come to market.
This wave has not hit local shores as yet, but we believe that we are likely to start seeing a lot more body care products and brands come to market over the next year. We have launched our own skincare brand Pastry Skincare that will largely focus on body care to start then slowly migrate to face care.
The skincare industry has an exciting future ahead with a lot of product innovation potential. Skincare enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to and we look forward to sharing in the excitement.