Key takeaways
- Holland & Barrett unveils a new beauty-from-within strategy focused on wellness and efficacy.
- The retailer is integrating ingestible supplements like collagen into its beauty offering.
- A six-store pilot saw a 7% uplift in beauty sales between June and August 2025.
- The new format includes expert-led advice, branded bays, and high-performance products.
- Rollout to larger city stores is planned for 2026, with further innovation and partnerships to follow.
Health is the new wealth, particularly among younger shoppers, and the beauty-from-within sector appears to be booming within this new wellness landscape.
Consumer demand for wellness reshapes beauty priorities
In May this year, global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company shared findings from its annual Future of Wellness research, which surveyed more than 9,000 consumers across China, Germany, the UK and the US, and the report showed that wellness is an ever-growing and resilient category.
“Wellness has become a high priority: consumers say that in the event of an economic downturn, they are less likely to cut spending across a range of wellness subcategories than they are on other consumer spend buckets such as clothing, entertainment and home décor,” said the firm.
The research also highlighted that younger generations are leading this by increasingly prioritising wellness, and that the lines between beauty and wellness continue to blur.
“More consumers are showing interest in ingestible beauty supplements that promote wellness and beauty from within,” it said.
The report also revealed that Gen Z places a higher priority on appearance than other generations. ‘Better appearance’ shifted from the sixth-most-important dimension of health and wellness for US Gen Z consumers in 2023 to the third-most-important in 2024. Gen Zers in other markets also placed greater emphasis on appearance and are purchasing beauty-related products at a higher rate than other generations.
As this overlap between beauty and wellness increases, McKinsey said partnerships will become a key driver of relevance and growth for brands.
“Effective strategies include co-marketing complementary products and forging unique distribution collaborations, such as those between beauty and wellness players,” it shared.
Retailer redefines beauty with inside-out strategy
Against this backdrop, the UK retailer Holland & Barrett has unveiled a new beauty category transformation as part of its ongoing business and store format evolution.
The business explained that its broader strategy is to deliver a science-led, customer-first experience across all channels and that central to this shift is a redefinition of beauty through a holistic ‘inside-out’ approach – one that prioritises both efficacy and wellness, grounded in scientific research and the company’s trusted expertise in health and wellbeing.
The new beauty format combines:
- Brings together supplements and collagen into the beauty space, and has introduced branded bays.
- A curated range of high-performance beauty products, including new brands such as Cetaphil, Aveeno and Noughty.
- Expert-led advice from trained staff to help people find personalised solutions.
Early results show uplift in beauty sales
This new format has been piloted in a six-store trial, and is already delivering strong early results.
According to Holland & Barrett, between June and August this year, beauty sales in the trial locations saw an average 7% uplift in revenue compared to control stores.
“We know our customers are looking for beauty solutions that deliver real results, are backed by science and align with their lifestyle and values,” said Vicky Kelly, category director of beauty at Holland & Barrett.
“To meet these expectations, we’ve embraced a new inside-out approach, which combines high-quality topical products with proven ingestible supplements such as collagen to support skin and hair health from all angles.”
Kelly added that this change allows the business to offer truly holistic care, deliver meaningful, science-backed solutions and strengthen its position as a trusted expert in inside-out beauty.
The retailer shared that the new store format will be rolled out across larger city stores throughout 2026, with further brand partnerships and innovation to follow.
