What customers want has changed significantly over the past few years, and with the rise of TikTok, and the push-back against unrealistic beauty standards, the beauty industry is one of the more impacted spaces. Beauty customers are increasingly changing their shopping patterns, and Adore Beauty wants to understand what’s next.According to a new report released by the beauty retailer, an increased focus on sexual wellness, as well as holistic health and wellbeing, have been identified as new and emerging trends in the health and beauty space.The first-of-its-kind ‘State of Beauty 2023’ report noted that customers no longer crave a wide range of choices,  but instead are seeking out curation. This, based on findings from a survey of 2,000 people and insights from research firm Soon Futures.And, as can be seen in the data, a number of interesting trends have emerged.A beautiful mindThe first trend identified by the report is a customer-led push for a more holistic and integrated approach to beauty. Beauty is no longer simply about what makeup customers buy — rather, it is now a mixture of wellness, mental health, and physical wellbeing. “This has come from beauty customers’ bias toward reclaiming ownership over their whole wellbeing after experiencing the stress and upheaval of the past few years,” Adore Beauty’s chief marketing officer Dan Ferguson told Inside Retail. According to Ferguson, 69 per cent of survey respondents said they were more aware of their stress levels than they were pre-pandemic, with more than half placing more of a priority on their health and wellbeing.  “We’ll start to see the sleep economy benefit from this, [with]  more niche beauty-centric trends [also] emerging into the mainstream, such as ‘biome-building’ in skincare,” Ferguson said. Ferguson added that customers are increasingly seeing sexual wellness as part of their holistic wellbeing, and expect brands to break taboos around formerly discrete topics, such as ageing, dandruff, acne, menstruation, and menopause.Much of this is centred around authenticity, with customers moving away from celebrity endorsements and influencers, and back toward authentic experts and consumer communities. “Consumers have never had more access to information about beauty and skincare [and] in this context, curating a mix of expert and everyday peer voices gives us the guardrails needed to make that ‘right’ decision,” he said.The final trend, Ferguson noted, was ‘joyscaping’: customers are looking to experience beauty products as a direct antidote to stress.Examples of this include colour cosmetics, home scents, and playfully packaged products which evoke feelings of fun and joy.Who are your customersWhile these are major trends, they are all driven by customers’ wants and needs.  In order to better define customers’ desires moving forward, the report delved into a number of archetypes common in the beauty customer.The ‘Pleasure Seeker’ consumer is motivated by sensory stimulation and a more hedonistic approach to wellbeing and beauty, while the ‘FYP Explorer’ is chronically online, always in their ‘For You’ page and eager to show consumers  the next beauty hack, trend or product. The ‘Skinspert’ is an ingredient-fluent authority who is checking customer reviews. This audience considers themselves quite literate in the science of beauty, whereas the ‘Intentionalist’ is purposeful and seeks out beauty brands and products that reflect their values. Finally, the ‘Bio-Hacker’ is open-minded but ultimately motivated to optimise their mind-body beauty connection through a multitude of products, like supplements and at-home LED masks. “We think each [archetype] really speaks to the key emotional, cultural and social motivators driving our behaviour right now,” Fergunson said. And while these archetypes are driving buying behaviour, the ‘beauty beginners’ (also known as Gen Z) were also identified as an agent of change in the industry. This cohort shows a strong sense of agency and influence, said Ferguson: much more than prior generations. “The past five years have seen  a deluge of ‘Gen Z beauty brands’  infused with bold new colours, logos and values-driven identities,” Ferguson said. “Powered by social media trends and an imperative for ‘self expression’, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are likely to connect with brands that provide opportunities for experimentation as well as those that stand for clear and authentic values.”