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


Questions
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The New Era of Beauty Claims
Where do you see the next cycle of beauty claims heading? What specific benefits are consumers searching for today, and where do you predict the market will move over the next five years? Any exciting innovations you want to share in this regard?
The intersection of GLP-1 with Hair & Skin
With the global rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, consumers are experiencing rapid metabolic shifts that often trigger hair loss and "Ozempic skin". How do you see the nutricosmetic segment evolving to support the intersection of beauty and weight management/metabolic health?
Holistic Beauty & The "Well-Beauty" Journey
Real beauty isn't just skin deep. What innovations are you developing to bridge beauty and wellness (e.g., neuro-beauty, mood/stress support, beauty sleep, or the gut-skin axis)? Which ingredients or concepts are currently shifting from other health categories into the nutricosmetic space?
Redefining Beauty Rituals
Topical beauty influencers have set a high bar for self-care beauty rituals—how is the nutricosmetic segment catching up? From delivery formats and flavor profiles to fragrance and texture, what is needed to evolve ingestible solutions into a truly joyful daily ritual? And where do you experience the most challenge in this respect?
The K-Beauty Influence
South Korean trends continue to redefine topical skincare. How are these K-Beauty principles being translated into the nutricosmetic industry?
Integrated "In & Out" Journeys
We are moving away from isolated products toward "integrated journeys." What evidence supports the superior efficacy of oral-topical pairings? Furthermore, how can nutricosmetics be better integrated into the dermatology space, accompanying at-home or in-clinic procedures? Is there a difference between different regions in the world?
Nutricosmetics as a Platform for Inclusivity
Skin is the most visible representation of our diversity. How do you research, develop, and market ingredients in a way that thoughtfully addresses differences in gender, ethnicity, and life stages? Any trends you are seeing or innovations you are excited about?
AI & The Feasibility of Hyper-Personalization
In the era of AI, how close are we to truly personalizing "beauty from within"? What are the greatest challenges and opportunities you see in developing ingredients and creating supplements truly tailored to an individual’s unique needs and biological data? Any other uses of AI in this space that you are excited about?
Sustainability & Clean Beauty 3.0
How is your organization addressing the demand for upcycling and "Clean Beauty 3.0"? Are there specific innovations in ingredients, technologies, or research methodologies that you believe the industry must adopt to meet the next generation of eco-conscious consumers?
The Next Phase of "Skinification"
We have seen the "skinification of hair," but where is the future of haircare headed? What "root cause" claims are consumers most seeking, and what is the next category you anticipate will undergo a similar "skinification" transformation?
Precision Solutions for Menopause
With the surge in perimenopause and menopause-specific products, how can we more accurately tailor solutions to women in these stages? What has the industry missed, and how can we better serve this demographic?
References and notes
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
References and notes
- Gupta AK, Teasell EM, Economopoulos V, Mirmirani P. GLP-1 therapies and hair loss: A systematic review of current evidence and implications for counseling. Sci Prog. 2026 Apr-Jun;109(2):368504261444578. doi: 10.1177/00368504261444578. Epub 2026 Apr 17. PMID: 41998799; PMCID: PMC13100445.
- Paschou IA, Sali E, Paschou SA, Tsamis KI, Peppa M, Psaltopoulou T, Nicolaidou E, Stratigos AJ. GLP-1RA and the possible skin aging. Endocrine. 2025 Sep;89(3):680-685. doi: 10.1007/s12020-025-04293-w. Epub 2025 Jun 11. PMID: 40498168; PMCID: PMC12370548.
- Mozaffarian D, Agarwal M, Aggarwal M, Alexander L, Apovian CM, Bindlish S, Bonnet J, Butsch WS, Christensen S, Gianos E, Gulati M, Gupta A, Horn D, Kane RM, Saluja J, Sannidhi D, Stanford FC, Callahan EA. Nutritional priorities to support GLP-1 therapy for obesity: a joint Advisory from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American Society for Nutrition, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Jul;122(1):344-367. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.04.023. Epub 2025 May 30. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2026 Apr 7:101303. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101303. PMID: 40450457; PMCID: PMC12612741.
















































