Skin care supplements: spotlight on the market

Supplements for cosmetic impact, sometimes dubbed cosmeceuticals or nutricosmetics, is a segment to watch again, having fallen out of fashion for a few years in the recent period.

According to Net-a-Porter, products like Neat Nutrition’s ‘Super Greens’ powder and Dr Barbara Sturm’s ‘Skin Food’ supplements are doing well at the moment.

“Nowadays, women have an entire wardrobe of skincare products, especially serums, and while we have a lot of skincare, we now know that what works on the inside has an effect on the outside​,” the company’s beauty director, Newby Hands, told Get the Gloss​ recently.

“Supplements not only make us feel better and more energetic but they also affect our skin, hair and nails, so they’re the next step in our skincare regime​.”

Causing a buzz…​

Such is the rising enthusiasm for skin care supplements, that some well-establish brands have now moved into the segment for the first time.

Burt’s Bees, a personal care and cosmetics player, last year moved into the functional food category​, for example.

The brand’s new functional food portfolio includes three protein-shake product lines: Daily Protein, Protein +Gut Health with Probiotics, and Protein +Healthy Radiance with Antioxidant Vitamins A, C & E.

The +Healthy Radiance range is particularly focused on cosmetics claims. The Burt’s Bee product page explains that it’s “rich with nutrients for a healthy glow”, urging consumers to “feed your inner glow.”​

Avon’s eye on supplements​

More recently, an even bigger player got in on the scene, with Avon launching a brand dedicated to the category this year.

The brand, called Espira​, has a portfolio that includes ingestibles for hair, skin, and nail health, and the brand also has product lines for overall nutritional support as well.

It taps into the wellness space – a cross-over nutrition and beauty category that consumers have begun to affiliate with appearance and personal care.

One for the guys​

One consumer group that looks like a lucrative bet for the supplements category is male beauty and personal care shoppers.

Indeed, a recent report from Lycored, an ingredients player active in the naturals space, suggests men are “an ideal market for ingestible skin care products​”.

The research covered 480 consumers in the UK and France, surveying them on their attitude towards skin care, health and appearance.