During "The New Consumer: Key Trends Reshaping Health, Wellness and How Brands Win in 2026" presentation at BeautyMatter 2026 State of Play, Emily Safian-Demers, Vice President of Insights at commerce growth agency Front Row, outlined how beauty and wellness are increasingly converging, with Amazon search data revealing where consumer demand is heading next. During Safian-Demers’ presentation, there was a dissection of the structural shifts changing how beauty brands compete online.
Throughout the session, one theme remained consistent: consumers are becoming more scientifically informed and health-focused, and increasingly expect beauty products to deliver measurable functional benefits alongside aesthetic results.
One of the presentations' central themes was the changing definition of luxury. Safian-Demers said that while affluent consumers are reducing spending on designer fashion and leather goods, they are increasingly reallocating that money towards beauty, health, and wellness. She also shared that what began as a behavior among high-net-worth consumers is now filtering into the mass market.
"The way in which we signal status as humans and consumers is changing," she said, describing how "beauty, wellness, and health" are becoming the new cultural signals of wealth, replacing traditional luxury purchases.
She pointed to retailers like Nordstrom and Macy’s, which have repositioned beauty to the front of their stores, while apparel brands such as SKIMS, Gap, and Old Navy are expanding into beauty to capture shifting consumer demand.
Amazon data reflects that transition, too. Beauty products priced above $100 generated more than $900 million in sales during the first five months of 2026, increasing 14% year over year (YoY), suggesting premium beauty is becoming increasingly accessible through mass retail channels.
"Fragrance is no longer just about smelling good, it's about feeling good," Safian-Demers said, pointing to brands repositioning perfumes around mood enhancement, emotional regulation, and neuroscience-backed benefits.
She stated that fragrance is evolving beyond scent into emotional well-being. She highlighted launches that include Vyrao’s neuroscience-inspired fragrances, Moods’ “clinically proven” dual-ended rollerballs, and Charlotte Tilbury’s Emotions fragrance collection, as well as Estée Lauder’s partnership with Dresden University of Technology to research how fragrance influences emotion.
"Beauty consumers are increasingly linking their internal well-being with their external appearance," she said, suggesting that fragrance is simply the latest category to evolve from aesthetic enhancement towards functional wellness. The continued shift towards e-commerce is also reshaping fragrance marketing. Without the ability to experience scent in-store, brands are relying on product pages and digital content to sell emotional outcomes, positioning fragrance around mood, confidence, and well-being rather than olfactory notes alone.
According to Front Row’s Amazon data, fragrance generated nearly $600 million in sales between January and May of 2026, up 6% YoY, with emotional wellness becoming an increasingly important differentiator for brands selling online when consumers cannot physically experience scent before purchasing.
At the same time, consumer expectations are evolving. Underpinning the biotech movement is what Safian-Demers described as growing scientific literacy among consumers. As shoppers become increasingly familiar with active ingredients, biotechnology, and clinical research, brands can no longer rely on broad efficacy claims alone. Instead, proprietary ingredients, intellectual property, and clinical validation are becoming increasingly important competitive advantages.
Biotech, Safian-Demers said, is moving "from niche innovation into really a core driver of performance, credibility, and long-term differentiation."
Examples included Debut Biotech’s proprietary skin-tightening ingredient, Sephora’s expansion of biotech skincare with brands like Mother Science, and Olaplex’s acquisition of biotechnology company Purvela Bioscience.
Consumer search behaviour reflects this growing interest. Amazon searches for “NAD beauty products” increased 5,710% YoY, while searches for PDRN, ectoin, and exosomes also rose sharply, signaling growing consumer familiarity with advanced cosmetic ingredients. Increasingly, ingredients themselves are becoming trends, with consumers seeking out specific actives rather than simply shopping by brand or product category.
Safian-Demers also highlighted the fact that consumers increasingly view gut health as interconnected with skin, hormones, immunity, and cognitive well-being. Rather than treating individual concerns separately, brands including Evvy, Sakara, and Arrae are developing products that support multiple biological systems simultaneously.
Citing research from testing and clinical-care platform Evvy involving 50,000 women, Safian-Demers noted that many aspects of women's health are closely linked, despite products typically being developed to target individual concerns rather than the body as an interconnected system.
Amazon data also supports this broader view of wellness, with digestive supplements promoting hormonal support growing 60% YoY, and digestive supplements featuring immunity claims generating nearly $250 million in sales during the first five months of 2026.
Consumers no longer view gut health, hormones, immunity, and skin as separate concerns and are treating them as one. That shift is encouraging brands to formulate products that deliver multiple functional benefits simultaneously, reflecting a more holistic understanding of well-being.
"The boundary between beauty and medicine is rapidly dissolving," Safian-Demers said, as skincare companies increasingly adopt medical devices, clinical language, and regulatory standards traditionally associated with dermatology and aesthetic medicine.
Safian-Demers described this trend as “branded procedures,” where skincare companies are increasingly adopting medical devices.
She highlighted Dermalogica’s FDA-cleared microneedling pen and Hims & Hers’ prescription ClearPen as examples of beauty brands extending beyond traditional topical products into clinically positioned treatments.
Safian-Demers dubbed such examples "branded procedures,” and noted that they “reflect a new hierarchy of consumer priorities that is led by efficacy, authority, and results.”
Beauty brands no longer stop at creams and serums, moving into treatment-led experiences previously associated with medspas and clinics.
The final trend explored the migration of electrolytes from sports nutrition into skincare. Safian-Demers asserted that consumers increasingly expect ingredients associated with internal wellness to deliver topical beauty benefits as well.
"Electrolytes are becoming a universal language across wellness and beauty," she said.
Examples included Milk Makeup’s electrolyte lip balm, Cocokind’s “electrolyte-powered” moisturizer, and wellness brands such as Zooki reformulating electrolyte powders around skin and hair health. Consumer demand appears to support the trend. Amazon searches for electrolytes have increased more than 330% over the past three years, while skincare products featuring electrolyte claims recorded 131% YoY sales growth during the first five months of 2026.
Across every trend, Safian-Demers returned to a single conclusion: consumers are no longer separating beauty from health. Whether through neuroscience-led fragrances, biotechnology, women’s health, gut health, or clinically inspired skincare, brands are increasingly being judged on functional benefits, scientific credibility, and measurable outcomes rather than aesthetics alone.
For beauty companies, the opportunity is no longer simply to sell products that make consumers look better. Increasingly, competitive advantage will come from demonstrating measurable health benefits, translating complex science into accessible consumer language, and building brands that earn trust as wellness authorities, not just beauty brands.
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