Today's beauty consumer continues to evolve. They are much more conscious of the ingredients they put into and onto their bodies, they are seeking products with cleaner ingredients, and they increasingly view products through a lens of physical and mental wellness.

They are also much more tech savvy, and are using social media to learn about new beauty trends, particularly those members of Generation Alpha, who are at the forefront of most the viral beauty posts out there. 

In her recent presentation at ECRM's Skin Care, Bath, Cosmetics, Natural & Clean Beauty Session, held earlier this month in Tucson, Ariz., NIQ's Katie Hazlett too a deep dive into the data to explore how today's beauty consumer has evolved, and where they are headed. In the three videos below, Katie and ECRM's Joseph Tarnowski discuss some key takeaways from here presentation.

You can view the slides from the presentation at this link.

To learn more about ECRM's lineup of Health & Beauty Care Sessions, click here.

Here are the videos:

The Intersection of Beauty & Wellness

When you consider the total beauty and wellness market and include all of the segments involved -- such as candles/fragrance oils, functional beverages, supplements, and personal care -- it's a $151 billion market, according to NielsenIQ data, and offers tons of opportunities for retailers and brands. Here Katie chats with ECRM's Joseph Tarnowski about how retailers and brands can capitalize on this via creative merchandising that focuses on beauty, body and mind.

Snail Slime & Other Popular Beauty Searches on Retail Websites

Most of us know that NIQ tracks sales data at retail, but the company also tracks trends in searches on retailer websites, and Katie covered some of these trends in her presentation. For the most part, consumers do not search for products or categories, but rather they search for things like ingredients (like retinol or hyaluronic acid), form factors, purpose (such as anti-aging, wrinkle reduction and toning), or other broader segments like sustainable or organic. 

Often these searches come from consumers after learning about specific trends or ingredients on social media. The term "snail slime," for example, has seen triple digit growth, likely influenced by K-beauty trends on social media.

Generation Alpha Beauty Trends

Generation Alpha -- those kids born after 2010 who grew up with tech and are known for whipping out their parents' credit cards and clearing the shelves of high-end beauty brands like DRUNK ELEPHANT after seeing a viral video on social media. 

NielsenIQ's Katie Hazlett touched on Gen A's impact on the beauty category during her presentation. Among some of NIQ's findings:

- Gen A is driving a lot of the growth in the facial skin care category -- growth that's outpacing total U.S. sales (many are not using cosmetics yet but start with skin care products earlier).- Shopping behavior of this generation is driven by social media, particularly younger influencers posting "get ready with me" style videos. 

- Gen A is extremely social media savvy and use various platforms as a discovery tool for finding brands. 

- TikTok shop -- which just launched in the Fall of 2023 -- has already become the No. 9 ecommerce retailer for health and beauty, driven heavily by Gen A activity.

Katie also discusses what brands and retailers need to know in order to best engage this fast-growing segment.