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Beyond the Bubble Bath: Rethinking Wellness Across Categories
The Wellness Tropes Are Tired
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘wellness’? For many of us, wellness conjures up images of bubble baths, green smoothies, and yoga mats. And while those things can be good for us, the average consumer in 2026 has moved on – for many of us, these symbols feel either too surface-level or disconnected from real needs.
But today’s wellness is not just limited to empty symbolism. Instead, it is layered: it’s about emotion, intention, identity. And perhaps most importantly, wellness looks different depending on the context.
As a market research agency rooted in neuroscience and psychology, we help brands uncover how wellness manifests implicitly and emotionally – and we find that it often plays out in surprising ways.
In this post, we explore how wellness is showing up (and evolving) across four sectors: cosmetics, media, food, and drinks.
Cosmetics & Personal Care: From Performance to Presence
In a time of uncertainty and threat, how we view beauty is becoming more emotional. Over my last 12 years of working at Mindlab and working with several beauty brands, I’ve seen the goalposts shift. Beauty and cosmetics companies are finding a new emphasis and raison d’etre, moving on from “fixing flaws” to “feeling like myself” – and even everyday beauty rituals are being reinterpreted as grounding, expressive, and affirming.
This shift is also being validated by industry forecasts. Mintel’s 2026 Global Beauty & Personal Care Predictions Report suggests that by 2030, beauty experiences will be judged not only by visible results but by their ability to “regulate mood and evoke emotion”. This aligns with what we see in our implicit testing: consumers are embracing skincare, fragrance, and haircare as ways to regulate mood, reinforce identity, and enjoy sensory self-connection. And we have seen this shift in emphasis also be reflected in a shift in messaging.
Brands nowadays are moving away from transformation, towards care, intention, and permission. The need is no longer to stop looking like yourself, but rather to bring out individual features and a natural looking finish. Even relatively new trends such as clean beauty are constantly evolving into emotionally intelligent beauty – extending the initial focus on long-term health, safety and skin kindness to a broader idea of being kind to one’s self.
But what are the implications in making sure wellness is reflected in how cosmetics brands present themselves, and how new products are positioned? Texture, ritual, and sensory cues matter, especially when it comes to signalling calm, joy, or confidence.
It’s also important not to be too literal. ‘Wellness’ isn’t a product claim – it’s a feeling state, and there are many ways to bring out a feeling of well-being in the consumer. Authenticity is still key when it comes to delivering wellness, and finding that unique angle to deliver a break from one’s everyday reality can truly make a brand shine.
As with any emotive aspect of decision-making, implicit emotional associations are powerful here in unpicking ‘wellness’ – consumers may say they want “natural,” but respond most strongly to cues of confidence, calm, and vitality. Go beyond self-report to uncover what wellness can look like for your brand.
Media: Escape, Regulation, and Emotional Shelter
While you might think that cosmetics and personal care has always been a category closely related to wellness, regardless of its exact definition and expression, I couldn’t blame you for seeing ‘media’ as the exact opposite. When media has been reported on in relation to well-being, this has often happened in a negative way – setting unrealistic expectations and destroying our body confidence.
But as we are entering a new phase of our understanding of wellness, the role of media content has also shifted. From encouraging and enabling binging, a new role of the media in ‘soothing’ us is playing a bigger and bigger role.
Content is no longer just for stimulation – it’s also for emotional regulation.
This shift becomes abundantly clear when looking at new (and newly focused) genres of media delivering wellness right into our homes. From slow TV to ambient soundscapes, cosy gaming to ASMR – even nature documentaries are seeing a resurgence in a time when we are looking for more and more ways to calm our nervous system.
But this emotional regulation strategy is not all ‘fluff’ and quick fixes. A new emphasis has been placed on mental health messaging, and new forms of media make this type of content more accessible and non-preachy than ever, often in a peer-led style.
When it comes to modern media, wellness isn’t the topic – it’s the tone:
People seek out content to provide relief from overstimulation. So in many ways, the tone of voice, pace, and framing matter more than the exact content or category that’s being consumed.
When it comes to delivering wellness in the media, you may need to fight against some of your natural instincts to be seen and heard. Content that supports wellness often flies under the radar, and that is absolutely fine – it doesn’t shout, it calms. Brands that get this right don’t just deliver entertainment. They deliver emotional relief.
Food & Drink: Nourishment Without Narratives of ‘Lack’
As we’ve already seen across the other categories discussed so far, the idea of wellness in food is expanding. It’s no longer just about cutting out, but rather a reframe of what food brings you: an acknowledgement that rather than sustenance and quick rewards, food can also deliver warmth, nostalgia, culture, and connection.
Rather than providing physical nourishment alone, wellness food nowadays provides emotional nourishment. Over the last decade or so, we have seen a clear shift from the idea that wellness in foods means health through virtuosity, to it being truly satisfying, joyful, and grounding.
Although they have always played an important cultural role, comfort foods are now being reframed through a wellness lens. Slow-cooked meals, food rituals and functional ingredients all provide a well-deserved break from our busy lives and break our established, fast-paced cycles.
When it comes to food wellness, brands that succeed don’t moralise – rather, they humanise. Language and design highlighting wellness need to reflect emotional reward, not just nutritional value.
Alcohol: Wellness Without Abstinence
This idea of wellness in food also bleeds into the alcohol industry, and allows brands to claim ‘wellness’ in a way that was previously not accessible to them. Challenging the black-and-white thinking around wellness also allows consumers to challenge the black-and-white thinking around alcohol consumption.
Not long ago, the prevalent narrative linked drinking to indulgence, while hailing full sobriety as an ultimate aspect of wellness.
Emerging narratives are more nuanced than that: Instead of celebrating abstinence only, they introduce concepts of mindful drinking, savouring, and emotional congruence.
In communicating their positioning, we see more and more brands leaning into celebration and sociability, offering well-being without withdrawal. But the emergence of more and more non- and low alcohol options has also been an interesting trend to witness. While initially positioned as a serviceable, subtle alternative to having a drink in public, the newest alcohol free and low-alc options have been developed to be genuinely appealing and indulgent.
Many consumers are now also embracing zebra striping as a way to enjoy the moment while moderating intake. In the UK, Drinkaware reports that 44% of adults now choose no- or low-alcohol drinks to moderate their drinking, up from 31% in 2018. This approach reframes balance as an act of mindfulness rather than restriction, further normalising moderation as part of the modern drinking culture..
This shift comes from a simple idea, which is important when it comes to designing both product options and comms strategies: Consumers want choice, not moral judgement.
When it comes to the drinks industry, we know that emotional benefits matter above and beyond functional ones. Helping contribute to an environment of relaxation, connection and joy is far more important than ABV.
And in our studies, implicit testing has shown time and time again that permission, reward, and social resonance can outweigh functional health benefits in driving consumer choice.
Wellness Is Contextual
Wellness doesn’t look the same in every category – but across sectors, we’re seeing a common shift:
- From external appearance to internal experience
- From discipline and control to emotional congruence and ease
Wellness Needs Nuance
Brands that treat wellness as one-size-fits-all risk missing the emotional nuance consumers are seeking. When wellness is seen as emotional support, not just health output, new opportunities emerge in almost every category.
