Galderma believes it knows what’s next in aesthetics. After talking to experts and analyzing data, the dermatology company has identified six trends it expects to shape consumer demand—and three macro movements that are driving the shifts in buying behavior.
Switzerland-based Galderma labeled the six trends proactive beauty, mindful aesthetics, fast aesthetics, beauty fandom, expressionality and canceling age. If the forecast is right, the trends will affect Galderma, which sells over-the-counter skin care products such as Cetaphil and injectables including Sculptra, as it works to add to the $3 billion it generated over the first nine months of last year.
Some of the trends have implications for Galderma, AbbVie and the other companies that compete for the medical aesthetics market. For example, Galderma, in its discussion of the proactive beauty trend, said “savvier consumers” are considering “prescription-strength” products for at-home use. The at-home products could complement in-clinic aesthetic treatments to help maintain results.
Galderma is also predicting that consumer interest in products designed to proactively prevent signs of aging will fuel “the use of collagen biostimulators in conjunction with other aesthetic injectables as well as ‘collagen banking’ plans—an approach to proactively maintain and boost collagen earlier on.”
The mindful aesthetics trend has implications for manufacturers of prescription beauty products too. To date, “sustainability has only come down to skincare,” Christoph Martschin, M.D., a dermatologist based in Portugal, said, “but I believe it will filter down into medical aesthetic treatments.” If that happens, products with solid environmental and ethical credentials that provide natural looks may have an edge.
Across the other trends, Galderma discusses the fast pace at which looks come in and out of fashion, the potential for “total transformations to look like certain characters or virtual AI avatars,” aesthetics as a form of self-expression and a desire to “preserve and enhance beauty, rather than solely reverse aging.”
In Galderma’s view, the trends are underpinned by three macro shifts: increasing accessibility, advances in science and technology and social media. Minimally invasive treatments are enabling more people to access aesthetic interventions, the argument goes, and social media is increasing awareness of what is available.