Hot Trends: The Intersection
of Beauty, Vanity and Health
by Nan Andrews Amish, MBA, CLU
We live in a youth oriented culture. We tend to worship youth,
not wisdom in the US.
Hot trends in beauty and health reflect this.
Trend #1: Aging Baby Boomers
There are 81 million baby boomers, in their late 40s, 50s
rapidly approaching their 60s.
This is the most active generation to reach their sixties yet.
They think young, they want to look young.
Many have the resources to look young, so why not? They color
their hair, improve their sexual performance.
Of course they are interested in beauty and their skin.
Trend #2: Healthcare Economics is Broken
Secondly, there is the fact that healthcare economics is broken.
Physicians are seeking new ways to keep their revenues high.
Their bread and butter businesses are not particularly profitable.
Botox, plastic surgery, laser procedures are financially and
esthetically attractive!
Teen girls seek breast enhancements for graduation presents.
Their moms seek liposuction, botox, and breast enhancements:
their fountain of youth.
Vanity and age reduction business is cash business, not insurance
business.
Plastic surgery business comes in fast, comes in clean. Visa,
Discover, American Express.
For diseases and injury there are HMOs, insurance. For everything
else there is Master Card.
Trend #3: We are youth oriented Material Girls (and Boys)
at heart
Baby boomers are concerned about aging.
Gen-Xers are material girls, they have affluence, and they plan
to spend it on themselves.
Staying young is key to personal and career success.
Youth rocks.
Trend # 4: High Interest in Healthcare and Wellness
Fourth, there is a genuine interest in a variety of approaches
to wellness. The Internet and the media have increased awareness
about a wide variety of approaches to health, fitness and wellness.
No longer do experts alone rule.
People are savvy consumers. They do research on the Internet.
Wellness and health are the second most Internet queried subjects,
following only pornography. They find their own answers, then
follow them up.
Baby boomer women are high users of alternative and complementary
medicine, regardless of their doctor's approval.
They are consumers of everything from organic produce to little
known cancer treatments and beauty regimens.
They are as informed as their medical providers, in many cases
more so. They expect expertise. They search it out.
Trend #5: New Product Revenues of Consumer Product Companies
have Slowed
Fifth, skin care and consumer products have slowed growth.
They always are seeking new products, new excitement.
What better opportunity than baby boomers seeking the fountain
of youth and Gen-Xers with money to burn?
Trend #6: New Technologies, New Science
We know the skin is the major organ in keeping the body healthy.
With nicotine and birth control patches, we have publicized
transdermal capabilities.
The skin absorbs toxins and nutrients whose molecules are small
enough to penetrate the skin's protective barrier.
Science now designs nutrients to have small molecules so they
can be transported via the skin, skipping the stomach's acidic
environment. Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, pentapeptides
can all be sent to revitalize the skin from the skin.
Beauty is more than skin deep, skin is the door to beauty!
Create products that can nourish the skin and can be absorbed
through the skin, and people get excited.
The trends intersect making beauty and skin treatments in particular
big!
Nan Andrews Amish and Big Picture Perspective
offer facilitation, member surveys, management assessments,
tools, workshops and keynote addresses to help associations,
leaders and teams increase their effectiveness by seeing the
big picture perspective. Nan knows associations. She is past
president of a 1000 member New England regional marketing association
and current board member and 2002 Member of the Year of the
National Speakers Association/Northern California.
Permission to reprint this article is granted,
provided original author is given credit, and a link to www.BigPicturePerspective.com
is included.
