Well Up: Products for GLP-1 users, wearable health coaches and Romantasy’s looming place in beauty culture

Ozempic Is Changing How People Shop for Supplements

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that one in eight Americans have tried a drug like Ozempic. The product’s meteoric rise has fueled growing interest in synergistic products that help soothe some of its side effects. These include electrolyte, fiber and protein powders. 

The Vitamin Shoppe is already arranging these products under dedicated displays. Meanwhile, SoWell launched a three-supplement “GLP-1 Support System,” and Nestlé created a line of frozen meals for GLP-1 users. 

These efforts signal increased opportunity for brands to create, or reposition, synergistic products in the beauty industry as well as wellness. In June, WGSN Director of Beauty Clare Varga predicted Ozempic would spur renewed interest in ‘firming’ skincare products. Two weeks ago, NutraIngredients released an article entitled “Attack of Ozempic Skin.” 

Now, it’s just a matter of time before we see these products grouped under a new hashtag — with Ozempic Face already paving the way.  

Wearable Health Coaches Are Giving More Personalized Recommendations

Imagine waking up and asking your watch, “Should I go for a run this morning?” 

AI-powered chatbots are empowering wearables to answer, and affirm, suggestive ‘should’ queries; but they’re also allowing them to answer more open-ended questions like, “What workout should I do today?” or “When should I go to sleep?” 

On September 3, WWD broke down how “AI coaching” is revolutionizing wearables. 

While brands like Whoop and Oura have long used machine learning to compile user data, they’ve never been able to turn those insights into straight-forward suggestions. 

This has frustrated some users, who have become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of daily data.

With the move towards coaching, wearable technology will put a personal trainer or nutritionist on your wrist — with or without the price tag. 

This increased access to personalized health planning will likely inform consumer wellness habits and expectations moving forward — cementing hyper-personalized health firmly at the core of consumers’ daily lives; and wellness journeys.

Romantasy Seems Primed for Unstoppable Growth, How Will It Affect Beauty Culture?

This year, the rise of romantasy gave us a summer of smut. 

In July, Elle linked the genre’s popularity to one release: A Court of Thorns and Roses. The article explained that while the first novel was published in 2015, it wasn’t until “it was picked up by ‘BookTok,’ that it achieved virality. In August, The New York Times linked its popularity to readers feeling “disappointed by swipe culture;” and today, the abbreviated title alone (ACOTR) has amassed over 109 million posts, and billions of views, on TikTok. 

All in all, Romantasy’s rise shows no signs of stopping. It also aligns with a growing focus on sexual health brands, products and wellness. But will it pave the way for other partnerships?

Business of Beauty’s Faran Krentcil thinks so. This week, she flagged, “there’s a major opportunity being ignored on the market, and it’s the blank space between publishing houses and beauty brands.” Krentcil points to the influence these flashy book covers have on shoppers, onlookers — and the nearly 40 million BookTok posts dedicated to recreating them. 

Performative reading already recast books as mini billboards, and now it’s just a matter of time before a new release — or special edition re-release — crosses over into the beauty category.