Beauty in menopause: how important is sustainability?

Bryter Insight Director Isabel Wood explores the results of our menopause and wellness research and how it relates to predicted beauty trends.

Introduction

By 2025 there will be a projected 1.1 billion people living post-menopause worldwide. The world is waking up to the fact that this group are a distinct audience with their own needs, concerns, and purchase power. This is also a group experiencing the dramatic shift from being ignored and underrepresented to being seen as a target audience in their own right.

Increasing production and marketing of products for skincare during menopause coincides with an increasing consciousness about sustainability and eco-friendliness of the products we purchase. This is particularly salient for the traditionally high-waste beauty industry. 

One of the biggest clean beauty trends impacting beauty brands is consumer demand for sustainable beauty packaging. Sustainability is no longer a mere buzzword, the industry is witnessing a packaging revolution in the form of refillable containers, high end dropper bottles, sustainable materials. Alongside this we see increased demand for free-from claims, whether that is based on specific ingredients (organic, palm-oil free), or cruelty-free products.

So let's look into this cross-section. How important is eco-friendliness in products aimed at skincare during the menopause, and what sustainable or eco-friendly elements are this audience looking for? Which claims will have the most resonance?

How important is sustainability in this audience?

In Bryter’s survey of 1061 UK women aged 45-65 and experiencing symptoms of menopause, 61% say that environmental friendliness / sustainability is very important when buying beauty products. Consumers are considering sustainability and more importantly want to feel that they are considering sustainability. 

But to what extent is it actually a priority? When we look at eco-friendliness in comparison to other skincare product factors, only 12% listed eco-friendliness as one of their top three priorities, far below other factors related to product efficacy, safety, and sensory experience (Bryter’s follow-up survey of 201 UK perimenopausal women aged 40-65).

What elements of sustainability are important?

Actual behaviour is a better predictor of future behaviour than attitudes. So we also looked at current behaviour, and in this case we see that when given a list of sustainable activities, 87% of this audience often engage in at least one of them. But what does that translate to specifically and to what extent does this apply to purchase decisions?

Looking at the most common behaviour tells a different story. The most common behaviours in this audience are recycling and checking that products are cruelty free.

Critically, elements that do not limit product selection – most products are able to be recycled and may appear to be cruelty free. Which means that yes eco-friendliness is important, but as an added benefit after selecting a product that meets their needs.

This is not to say that sustainability trends are irrelevant. A quarter of this audience say they often buy zero waste products or those in re-fillable packaging. This trend will grow exponentially the easier it is to find brands that meet the primary purchase needs AND offer the option to make an eco-friendly choice. 

Overall, the take away today is that anyone creating beauty products for this audience should consider quality and appeal of products first and foremost but ensure they are not being left behind on sustainability. 

Additional Information 

For further information about our menopause research, or anything else mentioned in this article. Please get in touch with the author, Isabel Wood (isabel.wood@bryter-global.com), we’d love to hear from you.

Our work provides strategic, evidence-based guidance from pre-clinical and NPD through to launch, and to in-life assessments. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your health and wellness product strategy.