By 2023, consumers will demand a radical rethink of how we deliver products. Refillability, recycling and sustainable packaging will be re-imagined and new designs will surprise and delight consumers.

Products will need to function in a trading environment that places high demands on their creation on both environmental and social grounds. For example, AVEDA uses wholechain technology to verify its Madagascan vanilla (pictured below), collecting data from its supply chain via QR codes and phones to track the bean’s journey from farmer to formulator.

“The beauty industry will need to reinvent itself as more ethical, inclusive and sustainable,” said Jenni Middleton, director of Beauty WGSN.

“Beauty brands that stand for something will sit at the forefront of radical change. What consumers are looking for are products that heal the world, embrace biodiversity and can be delivered in the minimal footprint. Transparency and full traceability will be key.”

BRANDS TO WATCH: AVEDA, Klorane

Consumers are thinking so much more about their physical and emotional wellbeing since the pandemic. We have embraced many hi-tech tracking tools to monitor our health, but innovation will come in tech to track mood and elevate mental wellness.

“All beauty brands will need to behave as health and wellbeing brands in 2023. Products that not only make you look good but make you feel good,” said Middleton.

“The ‘Happy Beauty’ segment will look to leverage the link between emotional wellbeing and skin health – products designed to reduce stress and improve mood as well as optimise skin health. Beauty products that work at a cellular level and those that look to balance and strengthen the skin’s natural ecosystem will be essential in future,” she predicted.

“Beauty needs to harness the new found respect to science created by the pandemic. Science will also become a cornerstone of beauty rituals and treatments with consumers.”

The pandemic has dialled up our appreciation of the power of touch and the delivery of hands-on professional treatments. Although many spa guests will be comfortable with rituals protected by new hygiene protocols, no-touch therapies are here to stay and will grow as part of the spa offering in future.

BRANDS TO WATCH: SelfMade, The Nue Co; Venn; Beneath Your Mask, Trinny London, Capsix Robotic (as illustrated in the video above)

By 2023, consumer collaboration will be a cornerstone of trans-global beauty. This trend will see new ecosystems develop between brands and consumers, working together to create belonging and inclusivity.

Trusted voices of beauty will be driven by consumer validation, with products and services making significant shifts to embrace customers as co-creators of brand voice and contributors to product design.

“In future, dignity will be valued, rewarded and fairly represented. Systemic discrimination will be challenged and the beauty industry can really push forward and allow this honest dialogue to continue,” said Middleton.

BRANDS TO WATCH: Pai Labs, GEENIE