Blood and beauty: time for the industry to cater to the menstrual cycle?

We have seen a rising interest in the menstrual cycle as an area of potential for the wellness trend.

One controversial area has been that of apps that track a user’s period in order to offer insights that can help with avoiding unwanted pregnancies.

While this has proved a divisive technology as a contraceptive​, the insights it collects (body temperature, potential hormone levels based on the time through a user’s cycle, and so on) could be applied much more safely to beauty and personal care needs.

Mintel​ has suggested that skin care regimes that ‘go with the flow’ and respond to the varying beauty and personal care needs throughout menstrual cycle could be a new area of big potential for beauty and personal care.

Sarah Jindal, Senior Innovation and Insights Analyst, Beauty & Personal Care, has acknowledged, “As education and awareness increases, consumers are realizing more than ever before the importance of hormone cycles when it comes to skin appearance and skincare​.”

Subscription: monthly cycle​

A subscription-based model offer one great avenue for brands to tap into the idea of menstruation based skin care and beauty, as the model perfectly fits the monthly nature of the menstrual cycle.

Toun28, a startup from South Korea, is one picked out by Jinal. It provides freshly-formulated, customized skincare products designed for particular areas of the face based on an individual skin diagnosis, delivered on a 28-day cycle.

Le Parcel and Lola are two other subscription box services dedicated to the menstrual cycle, along with PMS Package, which delivers period products along with snacks, bath and beauty products.

“There is a huge opportunity for brands to partner with these services to drive the message of hormonally-linked skincare issues, and match them up with solutions that can expand beyond just one week out of the month,” ​suggests Jindal.​

“Brands should embrace the openness with which today’s consumer approaches their monthly cycle and be more targeted.”​

She picks out Amareta skincare, a brand that promotes the idea that hormones are the ‘biggest factor’ in determining skin health and appearance, and so customises its beauty offering to each phase of the hormonal cycle.

The trend has not yet been explored to its full potential, and it seems the opportunity for brands to innovate in this area remains a strong one.