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The Trend: Synchronised Care

Open meditation. Creative by Some Days, photography by Emman Montalvan

Our beauty and wellness macrotrend for 2021, Synchronised Care, examines how people are adjusting to life in and out of lockdowns. Many are committed to staying in control of their physical, mental and emotional health, driving a new definition of self-care – one that considers health on both an individual and a collective scale.

‘We’ve done ourselves a disservice by thinking wellness only has to do with fitness and nutrition when we actually need to evolve to take a more proactive stance in the areas that truly impact our overall health, mental state, environment and culture in general,’ says Joe Holder, Nike master trainer and founder of The Ocho System.

But it doesn’t stop there. Future standards for wellbeing will also redefine self-care as an environmental practice as much as a personal one. This all-encompassing mindset is establishing holistic frameworks for living that combine and connect previously distinct pillars of health, resulting in new terms and concepts that reflect these crossovers.

In the years ahead, the beauty and wellness sectors will need to think more holistically about consumers and their more expansive needs, ranging from those that affect the individual to those that affect the world.

The Big Idea: Exploring beauty and wellness in 2030

In February, we partnered with multi-disciplinary artist Lucy Hardcastle to explore what beauty and wellness holds for the next decade.

Starting with an analysis of today’s beauty and wellness landscape, Lucy's speculative scenario acknowledges the lasting effects of the global pandemic, pinpointing how the home has become an extended comfort zone and part of our identity. This, she notes, is subsequently leading to more ritualistic beauty and wellness practices.

Looking ahead to 2027, her piece explores the consequences of further potential health incidents. These, she writes, could trigger two opposing mindset and behavioural shifts among people: one that embraces a hyper-natural approach to beauty and wellbeing, while the other indulges in transhumanism, using technologies or devices to modify or augment the body and mind.

By 2030, amid global visual media saturation, we could see many young people battling dopamine addictions from screen-based activities. Physiological nostalgia is Lucy's proposed solution. As a new form of anti-screen self-care, it transforms our domestic spaces into meditative zones where we can engage our other senses as a form of escapism.

Ritualistic Comforts by Lucy Hardcastle for The Future Laboratory

The Campaign: HP highlights the benefits of remote working

Work Anywhere by HP, Germany

With many office-based employees now operating in a hybrid model of working, a campaign from computer hardware brand HP highlights the holistic benefits of work-from-anywhere lifestyles to market its devices. In a humorous film, Work Anywhere, an office worker's HP laptop transports him to far-flung locations around the world.

The ad shows the worker in a hair salon, in the back of a farmer’s truck and on the top of a mountain, and posits HP laptops as ideal hardware for a free-spirited approach to work that in turn fosters a sense of control and wellbeing among workers. It was created by advertising agency AKQA Berlin, and follows the brand’s 2020 campaign, Work Better.

By aligning itself with the conversation about remote working and positioning technology as a tool for freedom, HP sets an example for other technology brands on how to support the growing number of Wandering Workers, many of whom are seeking greater work/life balance.

The Interview: One Skin’s molecular approach to skin longevity

One Skin

In October, we spoke to Carolina Reis Oliveira, co-founder of One Skin, who explained why we should be addressing the root causes of ageing rather than the symptoms.

The scientist formed the company following stem cell research that she and One Skin's three other women co-founders had been developing in academia. The team grew human tissue in the lab to start testing anti-ageing products.

They found that by reading the DNA of any skin tissue, they could learn the tissue’s biological age. With this knowledge, they discovered that many beauty products not only failed to rejuvenate the skin but were also occasionally increasing the genes that are related to ageing. From this, One Skin was born.

The brand seeks to address skin ageing at a cellular and molecular level. Its first proprietary technology, OS-01, eliminates roughly 40–50% of senescent cells on the skin, making room for younger, healthier cells to replicate.

But, as Oliveira tell us, this is just the start for One Skin. The company has ambitions to become a pioneer in the longevity consumer category – targeting ageing head to toe.

The Space: Post Service is a sensory space for bereavement

Post Service, Copenhagen. Interior design by Tableau

Spotlighted in our daily news, Post Service's wellbeing space is dedicated to helping people manage feelings of bereavement and loss, with the intention that its interior design can support mental and emotional responses.

The carefully calibrated clinic, designed by Danish studio Tableau, uses furniture, lighting and colour theory to help foster a sense of community and to boost psychological health. Every feature inside Post Service acts in harmony to support the healing process, with technology playing an important role. The organisation offers talk sessions, for example, held in private infrared saunas designed to help people confront difficult subjects through sensory stimulation. ‘I really believe that design can take a big part in helping a person become better,’ explains Julius Værnes Iversen, founder of Tableau.

By engaging the body and mind in the healing process, Post Service acknowledges that mental health is interconnected with all aspects of our lives, including the physical built environment, textiles and temperatures we experience.

Download the Future Forecast 2022 report

Now that you know what shaped 2021, discover what’s on the horizon. Download our Future Forecast 2022 report comprising 50 new trends across 10 key consumer sectors, insights from our analysts and interviews with global innovators.