Cherie Buziak is CEO/Founder of BeautyEdge LLC - business development and marketing product developer for beauty & wellness, who is also a certified digital wellness educator. She leverages her knowledge and experience to share us her insights in beauty and wellness, giving inspiring and practical advices to beauty players in this category.
How will you define ‘Wellness Innovations’? What do you think of the best practices that are changing the landscape of Beauty?
Wellness is nothing that is new. Wellness has been practiced, has been many rituals and such. Buziak says there're two different aspects that she’s looking at wellness. Ones is looking at what some of the rituals are that are being taken into consideration, looking at different heritage is, and bringing them back into today's society, and how we address them culturally. Another one is about technology and wellness. It’s a whole another area that's very innovative. In terms of technology and wellness, there are different types of devices or digital engagement that have come to the market and are still on the scope of coming to the market.
Wellness is a big category. Buziak points out a word ‘neuroscience’. “When it comes to beauty, one of the areas that I find very innovative is the neuroscience. That’s the piece where we’re really looking at the brain-how it functions and how we relate it to our daily environment. When it comes to beauty, how do we merge two of these together? How are we connecting beyond our five senses?” Says Buziak.
What do you foresee the next trends in the ‘Well-being’ sector? And How to navigate the changes successfully?
“When I think of wellness trend, I think of it more as a lifestyle. Wellness, for the most part, is a lifestyle, -says Buziak- To me, a trend is something it comes and we practice for a while and it goes. But wellness is here. I think one way to look at that is where we’re going with product for its benefits and functional benefits.”
More creating a beauty product is the function coming through evidence of studies that are being done on different notes of fragrances with a formulation. Fragrance companies are now really looking closely at how to incorporate more functional benefits with fragrances. We’re still in this pandemic of Covid globally. So if we have higher stress level, it is where a functional part comes into play. The fragrance is to help bring calming.
Buziak also mentions the blue light technology. There are Studies have shown that their different ways that come out of the screen that aren't beneficial for our skin. Whether it's tiring out our skin, or it's dulling our skin tone in those types of things, we want that protection. There is something functional that can be incorporated within the formulation to energize our performance. So Buziak's advice is looking more at functional disciplines and incorporating those and those types of technologies, even on digital.
How should we understand the consumers’ views of beauty and wellness?
To understand the consumers’ views of beauty and wellness is a great point to cut in because it's almost as if you’re creating this product for yourself in your environment. What Covid has done is just push us over in a trajectory way to really make us become more aware of a lot of things in our life, aware of our relationships, aware of how well we take care of ourselves and aware of how much time we're spending with family. Buziak thinks this awareness has really bubbled up and allowed us to be more vulnerable to look at our well being.
when looking at wellness, we have the outside wellness. However, Buziak says we're looking more internally, and our inner being, and how we're feeling inside at the same time. “I think this is going into so many different directions. And there's a tremendous amount of potential for brands to look at different spaces.” Said Buziak, and she gives us several very detailed example to think of.
“It can be the home space. What is my home feeling like? What is it looking like? What is it smelling like? What’s the scent in the air to bring comfort to my home?” “… put in a position to work from home. What is that space look like? I am taking my breaks and what products can I develop around someone that is working from home, maybe it's a spray mist, just refreshing myself, refreshing my face.” “…I think many of us have gained that 10 pounds over the last year…there are a lot more people running…because gems were closed. There's slowly opening… but not everybody wants to go back.” What products can be developed around that? So the key point is to think really putting ourselves in place of what's happened to us in the daily life and really caring about our feeling.
How can a brand fulfill this unmet need, thus to expand the portfolio and become a leader in this growing market?
To become a leader in the market, it's where the strategy in terms of the intentional, consistency and clarity to take part in. Buziak goes back to lifestyles in all different areas. “Whether it's exercise, whether it's the travel industry, whether it's the financial industry, whether it's the spiritual world of what people do, look at that lifestyle and make the connection there with your brand. That's part of it. It's like the positioning first, - says Buziak-I think that there's a tremendous amount of opportunities for brands that want to move into wellness.”
The second key would be looking at your formulations in general. “To me…I love to do was part of product development is really look formulas across the board in the brand and start to create from what may be a consistency in an ingredient in your formula or what may be a thread that you can bring together that responds to wellness in some way. So there's a way for brands to do this, but it's very thoughtful.” Says Buziak.
It's like a build-up processing. You have to build up into it and really be consistent and factual. There's so much more richness that can be developed around the brand so that your brand is sustainable. Do it intentionally so that your brand will be better and better for the long term.
How would you identify ‘Hot spots’ in the connections between beauty and wellness?
Global wellness economy is valued at 4.5 trillion dollars. People care more and more about mental health. Buziak thinks a hotspot to look at for sure would be sleep. We're not getting enough sleep, because there're so many things in our mind right now.
Buziak talks ‘neuroscience’ again. She says: “I really am avid promoting neuroscience, there's so much to be learned about our thought processes and how much controlling we really have over ourselves and how that can spread out in our environment.” She also mentions the breathing exercises. Brands can create a concept around that to grow your business.
