For many decades, the primary focus of anti-aging skin care products has been to minimize the effects of aging, such as reducing wrinkles, fading hyperpigmentation and improving skin texture.
But while brands were busy addressing these side effects of growing older, they were forgetting to address the root cause, the changes happening on a cellular level inside the body.
In recent years, there has been a change of narrative brought about by a more holistic approach to beauty, linking it to health and wellness, along with a growing consumer demand for a more scientific approach and proof of product efficacy.
‘Longevity’ has officially stolen the spotlight from ‘anti-aging’, and beauty and personal care products are increasingly taking an inside-out approach, combining nutricosmetics with topical products.
‘A complex biological process that affects cells, metabolism and overall health’
The longevity beauty and wellness brand Niance is one company that has been innovating in this space.
Its CEO Marnix Ettena affirmed that aging is not just about wrinkles or skin concerns.
“It’s a complex biological process that affects cells, metabolism and overall health,” he said. “While traditional skin care only addresses the surface, we are now targeting aging at its root at the cellular level.”
The brand combines topical skin care that targets hydration, elasticity and barrier function with longevity supplements that work from within to enhance cellular energy, DNA repair and stress resistance. It essentially addresses all of the key biological aging processes.
In recent years, the world’s biggest beauty company L’Oréal has also been working behind-the-scenes in this space. At this year’s IMCAS 2025 conference in Paris in January, the firm discussed its L’Oréal Longevity Integrative Science approach to anti-aging science, which explores how mechanisms in the human body can affect skin’s age and appearance and uncover the skin’s biological age rather than chronological age.
It noted that there are a multitude of benefits to this, including the ability to determine how fast skin is really aging, to advise on the right products to slow down the aging process and to inform beauty shoppers which active ingredients will be efficacious for their skin. It also alluded to potentially launching a nutricosmetics product.
Pascale Mora, director of scientific communications at L’Oréal Group, shared that longevity anti-aging science is important to the business and highlighted World Health Organization data indicating that by 2050, the population of people age 60 and over is estimated to reach 1.4 billion.
This change to the way we are approaching aging is so key for the future of beauty and personal care that it’s set to be a focus at the upcoming InCosmetics Global 2025 event at the RAI Amsterdam this April.
For example, Dr. Alba Cico, research team leader at Croda Beauty Actives, will present ‘Reduce premature aging by improving emotional resilience: Innovative cosmetic ingredient to reduce psychological stress,’ while Emilie Gombert-Alexandru, senior product development manager at Oat Cosmetics, will explore the limitations of traditional anti-aging ingredients.
Wellness is the ‘new currency’
According to industry experts, the shift in anti-aging is being driven by two closely related yet distinct factors.
The first element is consumer demand for greater authenticity and self-acceptance in the beauty industry.
“There is clearly a shift in language and imagery that previously pushed anti-aging claims to a more positive pro-aging or age appreciation,” said Arnita Wofford, chief marketing officer at Gobiotics by Sweetch. “This is part of a larger cultural shift in self-acceptance and health and wellness being a new currency.
“We no longer aim to defy age but to look and feel our best at every age. The products available to consumers must also follow this shift and support us with both nutraceuticals and topicals that help meet these new challenges.”
The second key element is the growing consumer focus on incorporating beauty products into an improved approach to overall health and wellness, alongside factors such as diet, exercise and sleep quality.
“The roots of this movement from anti-aging to ‘prejuvenation’ are probably to be found in healthcare, with people gradually moving from a curative approach to disease to a preventive one,” said Laurie Canel, product marketing leader for personal care actives at Gattefosse. “At the heart of this is a growing awareness of good preventive health practices, or how a healthy diet, regular physical activity, a good quality and quantity of sleep, or sun protection can help preserve healthspan.”
Deep roots in ancient wisdom
Dr. Barbara Brockway, a renowned cosmetics industry expert and consultant for KSM-66 Ashwagandha, pointed out that this holistic approach to healthy aging is not new and has deep roots in ancient wisdom traditions such as Ayurveda’s Rasayana.
Brockway says she is particularly fascinated how modern research is validating the claims that Ayurvedic practitioners understood empirically for thousands of years and feels that the beauty industry would be wise to look to these time-tested traditions not just for inspiration but to truly understand and maximize the potential of this profound shift toward holistic aging.
‘Have everything connected with efficacy’
Over the past decade, Gen Z’s arrival into the consumer beauty market has played an important role in these shifting ideologies around anti-aging products.
“Most brands are focused on Gen Z and Alpha as they are most interested in preventative beauty that does not include plastic surgery,” Wofford said.
Interest in ingredient-led beauty has also exploded among these consumers, as they have become increasingly educated on what’s in the formulation and how it works for their skin.
Discussing ingredients in preventative aging, Jan Herudek, head of applied research at Enantis, says the trend of peptides and polypeptides, including growth factors, is slowly coming from Asian countries to Europe, the United States and other regions.
”These ingredients stimulate biological processes in the skin, e.g. collagen and elastin maturation and help prejuvenate the skin," he said. “However, these actives suffer from low stability and customers often buy expensive products containing ‘dead’ ingredients.”
Meanwhile, Beto Pino, vice president of technical marketing and innovation for personal care at Vantage, said the company has seen a big growth in ferments, phospholipids and peptides over the last few years, along with more interest in the power of nature for elastin and collagen production.
“Users are looking for ingredients with an impeccable INCI list but also with a strong storytelling on naturality and origin,” he said.
“A boom in mushrooms, Amazonian fruits and seeds and botanical extracts is also happening now, but the key is to have everything connected with efficacy and a promise to achieve it.”
Growth factors stand out
Wofford expects the future of preventative aging to be increasingly integrated with consumers’ overall lifestyle.
“Syncing your diet, and overall lifestyle with your beauty routine will be a cornerstone for future beauty rituals,” she said. “Ingredient research will factor in both topical and internal effects and thus the data provided around new ingredients will drive new product development in a different way.”
Meanwhile, Herudek suggests that the future of preventative aging lies in a ‘minimalist’ and ‘natural’ approach to beauty that prioritises efficacy.
“We anticipate that in the future the focus will shift towards minimalism, ingredients of natural origin and the clinically proven effectiveness,” he said. “Customers want to achieve desired effect in a shorter period of time, their expectations are shifting from a months to weeks’ timeframe.”
Companies are seeking active ingredients with multiple positive effects in the context of prejuvenation.
While many newly developed ingredients are available on the market, growth factors stand out as key biomolecules naturally presented in our bodies.
“Overcoming the skin barrier to deliver larger amounts of these cosmetic ingredients to their target site remains to be optimized but we believe our encapsulation approach might be the key,” Herudek said.
Healthspan: the ‘new driver of luxury’
One thing that is clear is that the focus on longevity and the ‘healthspan’ trend are becoming the new driver of luxury.
“For wealthy consumers, the desire to extend their lifespan and healthspan is now fuelling a blossoming market for precision health and life-extension services,” explained Alex Hawkins, who is director of strategic foresight at trend forecasting firm The Future Laboratory.
According to data from the World Bank, by 2050, one in three people will be over the age of 60, which means that companies will need to start preparing for this demographic shift.
“Such an evolution signals a future where sector-agnostic collaboration will be essential to success as science sets a new benchmark for next-generation luxury consumers,” Hawkins added.
