Before Covid-19, the at-home beauty tech sector was already primed for growth. But pandemic lockdowns have given it one giant push in the West, further boosted by the enthusiasm of Gen Z consumers.
AI-powered at-home system that analyses the skin, made waves at CES 2020 back in January and is expected to perform well upon release next year, while Foreo’s Luna cleansing device range, which was first launched in 2013, has emerged as a product with mass market appeal.
At-home beauty tech encompasses the purely digital, such as mobile apps designed to enable users to track and analyse their skin, through to physical devices for a specific purpose, such as Foreo’s Luna, and devices that use a blended approach of hardware and software. The global beauty devices market was valued at $39.1 billion in 2018 by Vynz Research and it is predicted to grow to $107.2 billion by 2024.
The fitness and wellness industries have already been boosted by at-home tech. Beauty is shaping up as the next frontier, allowing consumers to take closer personal control over their beauty routines. “In the same way we track our steps, our sleep, our food intake, the amount we go to the gym and analyse all that, we’ll be doing that with our skin health, and checking our products are actually working for us,” says Jenni Middleton, director of beauty at trends specialist WGSN. “It’s how you know you’re getting it right and it’s how you motivate yourself to maintain good habits.”