Panel discussion on...

Beauty from within and holistic trends

Juliane Hellhammer, PhD1     , Franziska Schmitt, MSc2
1. CEO & Founder, Contract Research DAACRO
2. Senior Project Manager, Contract Research DAACRO

Member of AgroFOOD Industry Hi Tech's Scientific Advisory Board

1) We assume the next cycle of beauty claims is moving away from traditional “anti-aging” toward stress-resilience beauty. Consumers increasingly understand that skin, hair, scalp, and nails respond directly to stressors such as poor sleep, cortisol load, inflammation, metabolic change, and emotional strain. 


Consumers are not only looking for glow or wrinkle reduction anymore; they are looking for resilience, recovery, hydration, barrier support, scalp comfort, and good sleep. 


Beauty is increasingly viewed as a reflection of internal balance rather than perfection. The future of beauty claims may therefore belong to solutions that connect visible results with resilience, recovery, and overall wellbeing. Clinical trials will be essential to give these claims real credibility and to show that benefits are not only intuitive, but also measurable. 


2)GLP-1 medications have created an entirely new beauty need-state. The future is not about “treating side effects,” but about supporting resilience during metabolic transition - from protein adequacy and collagen preservation to micronutrient balance, hydration, skin elasticity, and hair follicle health. 


Weight management, beauty, and emotional wellbeing are no longer separate categories. Consumers increasingly expect holistic support that helps them feel healthy, energetic, and visibly well during periods of physiological change - ideally backed by clinical studies that make these benefits both tangible and credible. 


3) Stress is becoming one of the most important bridges between wellness and beauty. Chronic stress can simultaneously disrupt sleep quality, cortisol rhythm, inflammation, gut function, and hair cycling. That is why concepts such as neuro-beauty, beauty sleep, gut-skin support, and mood-stress resilience are moving rapidly into the nutricosmetic space. 


What is especially exciting is the convergence of visible beauty outcomes with overall wellbeing. We are seeing growing interest in the gut-brain-skin axis, as consumers increasingly recognize how closely emotional wellbeing, microbiome health, inflammation, and skin appearance are connected. 


This is fueling demand for holistic, science-driven solutions that link inner balance with visible beauty benefits. As a result, ingredients such as adaptogens, probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics are increasingly becoming part of beauty-from-within concepts.  


Consumers no longer separate beauty, mental wellbeing, nutrition, and recovery into isolated categories. They expect integrated solutions that fit naturally into everyday wellbeing rituals. 


6) ​​​​​​​Integrated “in & out” concepts are becoming increasingly relevant because oral and topical approaches address different but complementary aspects of beauty physiology. While topical products can act locally on the skin barrier and visible appearance, nutricosmetics can support systemic processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, hydration, collagen metabolism, recovery, and overall skin and hair health from within.

The evidence is still emerging, but the rationale is strong — and we are starting to see more clinical studies comparing oral, topical, and combined regimens. This is exactly where the industry needs to become more rigorous: not just assuming synergy, but proving whether an integrated journey delivers superior outcomes versus each product alone.


Study design, relevant endpoints, and timing are critical here. For example, skin hydration, elasticity, barrier function, redness, recovery time, patient satisfaction, and quality-of-life measures may all be relevant depending on the intended use.

Regionally, adoption differs. In Europe, the focus is often more evidence- and regulation-driven, with higher expectations around substantiation. In the US, the market is highly dynamic and consumer-driven, but also more fragmented. Across all regions, however, the direction is the same: consumers increasingly expect beauty journeys that are holistic, clinically credible, and easy to integrate into daily life.


8) AI is bringing the nutricosmetic industry significantly closer to true personalization, but we are still in the early stages of translating complex biological data into scientifically validated consumer solutions. 


The biggest opportunity lies in connecting multiple data layers — such as biomarkers, microbiome data, lifestyle patterns, sleep quality, stress levels, hormonal status, and even consumer behavior — to better understand individual physiological needs and predict which interventions may be most relevant for a specific person. 


At the same time, one of the greatest challenges is that human biology is highly dynamic. This makes it difficult to create truly precise and clinically validated recommendations based on static data alone. We therefore believe the future of personalization will not only be about “one product per person,” but about adaptive, data-driven systems that evolve alongside an individual’s physiology and lifestyle over time. 


Beyond formulation itself, AI also has enormous potential in areas such as biomarker analysis, clinical study design, responder identification, consumer adherence, and the discovery of new connections between wellness and beauty pathways. 


Ultimately, the most successful AI-driven beauty-from-within concepts will combine scientific credibility with practical usability. Consumers do not just want more data — they want relevant, trustworthy, and actionable guidance that fits naturally into daily life. 


11) Menopause is one of the clearest examples of how hormonal transition, stress biology, inflammation, sleep disruption, metabolic changes, and beauty concerns intersect. Historically, the industry focused too heavily on general “anti-aging” and not enough on supporting resilience during hormonal transition.

Many women experience multiple symptoms simultaneously, yet these concerns have often been addressed in isolation. The next generation of menopause-focused nutricosmetics should therefore move beyond isolated claims and support the broader physiology of transition, including stress adaptation, sleep quality, skin barrier function, hydration, mood resilience, and metabolic balance.

At the same time, clinical validation will become increasingly important in this category. Menopause is highly individual, and the relevance of a solution depends strongly on selecting the right study population, life stage, and clinically meaningful endpoints. Measuring only isolated beauty outcomes is no longer sufficient. Future studies will need to better reflect the multidimensional reality of menopause by combining visible beauty parameters with wellbeing, sleep, stress, or quality-of-life outcomes.

Importantly, the strongest menopause solutions will not promise youthfulness. They will support comfort, confidence, recovery, and visible vitality throughout a major life transition.




Conclusion

Panelists

Vincenzo Zaccaria

Bionap (Active Group)

James Kyffin

ADM

Colton Clason

ADM

Lindsay Sumners

ADM

Sathya Sooryan

Arjuna Natural Animal Nutrition

Dom Orlandi

Aroma New Zealand

Alexandra Wesker

Aseno

Vincent Wood

AstaReal

Behnaz Shakersain

AstaReal

Karen Hecht

AstaReal

Claudio Isenburg

Cerbios-Pharma SA

Leah Bessa

De Novo Foodlabs

Katia Merten-Lentz

Food Law Science and Partners

Veronique Brun

Biotexia (formerly known as Fytexia)

Oliver Wolf

Gelita

David Foreman

Herbal Pharmacist Media

Armando Antonelli

Hylobates Consulting

Isabella Corsato Alvarenga

IFF Pet

Arthur C. Ouwehand

IFF Health

Renee Machen

IFF Pet

Antonella Riva

Indena

Dayna Lozon

Intertek Assuris

Brandon Walters

Intertek Assuris

Ray A. Matulka

Intertek Assuris

J.F. (Jake) Burlet

CanBiocin Inc.

Ronaldo Avella Lavado

Pda (Paul Dick Associates)

On behalf of International Probiotics Association (IPA)

Aida Gadzhieva

IQVIA

Karen E. Todd

Kyowa Hakko USA

Francesca Susca

Lallemand Animal Nutrition

Cassandre Dujardin

Lallemand Health Solutions

Mary Joe Fernandez

Layn Natural Ingredients

Jessica Simonis

Clinical Nutritionist

Rajiv Khatau

Lodaat Pharma

Greg Cumberford

Natures Crops International

Sybille Buchwald-Werner

Newday

Guus Kortman

NIZO Food Research

Thaila Cristina Putarov

Phileo by Lesaffre

Russ Kelley

Phileo by Lesaffre

Bernadette Beadle

Phileo by Lesaffre

Alicia Kasch

RIBUS

Steve Peirce

RIBUS

Maggie McNamara

Saanroo

Shaheen Majeed

Sami-Sabinsa Group

Linda Carola Baggi

Sacco Srl

Salma Zahidi

Seppic

Cem Dik

Syensqo

Laetitia d’Ursel

People Science

Noah Craft

People Science

Lindsey Wendt

Crystal Lotus Veterinary Care