THE EXPANSION OF THE BEAUTY PRODUCT

Beauty is expanding. What was once just make-up and skincare is now the industry a range of products call home. This expansion has occurred in direct correlation with the rise of holistic beauty.

There has been, for a long time, growing, mainstream acceptance that 'beauty' is more than what we put on our faces. Beauty can be influenced by a range of things - from skin health to gut health, to now, mental health.

There are many reasons for beauty's evolution. Key research milestones expanded our understanding of the human body and how to care for it. For example, the completion of The Human Genome Project in 2003 began to get people excited about the microbiome and the gut as 'the second brain'. (This eventually led to the Beauty Ingestible category which was a key case study in our analysis and research.)

The rise of pop-culture feminism and the body positivity movement also had its influence. These movements called into question beauty ideals and their link to patriarchal constructs. In so doing, we began to reclaim and define 'beauty' for ourselves.

The mainstream rise of wellness as an industry similarly had its impact. The 'Goop-effect' expanded beauty products to include gua sha, dry brushes, and items that took more of a holistic approach to caring for physical wellbeing.

Of course, there were a plethora of other influences and events that have led to the evolution of the beauty product. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that it has expanded in direct correlation to our evolving, individualised definitions of beauty. In so doing, this product category more accurately reflects the practices, routines and rituals that support us in feeling beautiful today.