"We're seeing this trend manifest itself in several ways," explains Nica Lewis, global skincare analyst at Mintel.
"From the next generation of at-home beauty devices that harness energy and light to new ingredients that boost cellular energy, beauty brands are giving consumers more power and vitality for better results."
Trend expanding into Europe
Plug-in, or electronic beauty appliances have slowly been building as a category in recent years, particularly in North America, where laser appliances targeting the reduction of facial hair, skin outbreaks and wrinkles have proved more and more successful.
But as the trend becomes more established in the US market in particular, Lewis tips that parts of Europe are likely to be the next geographic areas to take up on the trend in a big way.
Lewis points out that in the principal markets of Germany, UK and France, women have indicated that they remain uninterested in these kind of devices, but in southern Europe, specifically Italy and Spain, consumers have remained more open to the idea.
Southern Europe taps into the trend
“This is partly climate-driven but also cultural since Southern European women are more likely to be familiar with these technologies from regular salon visits,” Lewis explains.
In reaction to this increasing interest in Europe, manufacturers there are starting to react to the increasing demand by launching an increasing number of devices, a phenomenon that has until now been mainly concentrated in the North American market.
Lewis also points that the use of beauty devices is giving way to complimentary treatments that harness or boost cellular energy, such as sugar and oxygen.
Likewise, the use of the devices is also expected to lead to a counter trend, specifically beauty ingredients and formulations that limit or shield the skin from high energy blue or violet light in conjunction with use of the devices.
One specific issue arising from this is anti-glycation claims, which Lewis says is likely to see demand for a new range of actives coming to market, including African Manilkara and Japanese apricot.