AURELIE BRUNEL: THE BODY CARE OPPORTUNITY

As consumer expectations of body care become increasingly sophisticated, opportunities are emerging for beauty brands to rethink how they approach product innovation, formulation and category positioning.

Aurelie Brunel, Product Innovation Manager at THG LABS, explores the commercial opportunities shaping the body care market, from the growing influence of facial skincare and targeted treatments to premiumisation, sensorial experiences and changing consumer priorities. Drawing on her experience in cosmetic product innovation, Aurelie shares her perspective on where brands can create differentiation and what should inform a successful body care product development strategy.

Q1. Why is body care attracting so much attention from beauty brands?

Body care is becoming a much more dynamic innovation space. Consumers are applying some of the behaviours they developed through facial skincare to the rest of the body, looking more closely at ingredients, benefits, claims and targeted solutions.

At the same time, body care still has a strong emotional and sensorial role. Texture, fragrance and ritual remain important parts of the experience.

That combination gives brands an interesting opportunity. Products can deliver credible performance while still offering the pleasure and sensoriality that make body care distinctive. 

Q2. How are consumer expectations of body care changing?

There is greater expectation that body products should have a clear purpose.

Consumers increasingly understand ingredients and benefit territories through their experience of facial skincare, and that influences how they evaluate products for the body too. General moisturisation still matters, but there is growing interest in products addressing specific concerns such as texture, dryness, uneven tone, barrier support and the appearance of ageing skin.

For brands, this means the proposition needs to be increasingly precise. The consumer should understand what the product is designed to do, who it is for and where it fits within their routine.

Q3. Where do you see the strongest innovation opportunities in body care?

One of the most interesting areas sits between traditional body moisturisation and highly targeted facial skincare.

There is scope for body serums, treatment creams, masks, targeted products and hybrid formats built around clearly articulated benefits. We are also seeing opportunities around wellness, recovery, sleep and sensorial rituals.

The strongest concepts tend to solve a recognisable consumer need while giving the product a distinctive role within the routine. Innovation does not necessarily have to mean complexity. Often, clarity is what makes an idea compelling.

 Q4. Is body care becoming more premium?

Premiumisation is certainly visible, but premium does not simply mean a higher price point or more elaborate packaging.

Consumers increasingly associate premium body care with considered formulation, strong ingredient stories, sophisticated textures, credible claims and a more elevated application experience.

That gives brands several ways to build value. A product can feel premium because of its efficacy, its sensory experience, its format or the way those elements work together.

The opportunity is to decide where that value genuinely sits rather than adding premium cues without a clear product rationale.

 Q5. What should brands consider before entering the body care category?

Start with the consumer need rather than the format.

Who is the product for? What role will it play? What existing behaviour or unmet need is it responding to? And why should the consumer choose it over something already in their bathroom?

Once that is understood, decisions around format, ingredients, claims, sensory, fragrance and price become much more meaningful.

The most compelling concepts usually have a clear point of view before formulation begins.

For a deeper dive on this and other factors impacting the future direction of body care, check out our latest report.

About the Author

Aurelie Brunel - Product Innovation Manager, THG LABS 

With more than a decade in product development and a strong belief in disruption, Aurelie's passion for innovation and creating successful products is boundless. She became an advocate of biotech early in her career, when it was still niche, by incorporating one of the few available ferments into her first shampoo formula for its superior performance. Since then, Aurelie’s been hooked, and now, every concept she creates includes at least one ingredient derived from biotechnology.

Aurelie has enjoyed witnessing a profound industry shift with a diverse array of biotech-derived ingredients and is convinced biotech is the future of beauty. As she says herself, “From actives to functionals, fragrances to preservatives, it is a joy to formulate with such an extensive palette, knowing we are not depleting finite planetary resources while still delivering the high-end results consumers expect.”