Journal

The beauty industry has seen a metamorphosis of sorts lately. Blame the pandemic or simply the changing interests and needs of consumers, but not one member of the prestigious beauty industry can deny the colossal volume of learning and unlearning that has happened in the past few years, across the board. Today, skincare isn’t just about a hyaluronic acid serum; in the same way self-care (and beauty at large) isn’t just about the face anymore. The focus is also targeted on body care. You won’t find the curation of body care products in any store—physical or online—to be boring and basic any longer, and will definitely spot more than just one aisle of them. That’s how far body care has come—as a concept and as a routine.

Ria Bhatia, a beauty columnist, believes so. Here’s why.

What’s led to the rise of body care?

If you think about it, we’ve always indulged in body care, perhaps since we’ve been little kids. At times when face cleansers, serums and moisturisers didn’t exist, our shower areas always hosted a bathing bar, coconut oil and a body lotion. But that’s about it. We never expanded our horizons in this case even though we evolved tremendously when it comes to skincare and makeup. But all thanks to the increased exposure to sun and environmental exposure, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating and (obviously) years of neglecting your body—it’s all showing up on the body in the form of body acne, dullness, uneven skin and pigmentation. Even skin irritation/sensitivity.

During the pandemic, I observed a little pustule-like bump on my back. Soon, they multiplied. They were itchy and painful, to say the least. They may or may not have been bacnes, I couldn’t visit a dermatologist in the lockdown so never got a solid diagnosis. But the beauty enthusiast in me thought, “What could be the causes?” and pores clogged with gunk, lack of exfoliation and nourishment were common factors that occurred to me. The next obvious thing? I started oiling the area and using an AHA-infused body wash. I also used a physical scrub once the bumps began to settle down. And, I’m happy to report that the area is healed, nourished and completely healthy and bump-free today.

It’s fair to say that the pandemic, and over two years of spending time in solace has done some good too, it has pushed us towards embracing body care like never before. It has been reported that the demand for body scrubs went up by 15% during the months of COVID. From skin-deep exfoliation to body oils—we’ve invested in ‘em all and experienced results so mind-blowing, that body care just became the ‘it’ thing in the past few months. Apart from this, we must also consider the increasing attention on body concerns like body acne, keratosis pilaris, unhealthy texture, etc that has blurred the lines between skincare and body care, resulting in the introduction of actives in body care products.

The (current status) and future of body care

Well, the stars are definitely in its favour since body care is only booming by the day. Today, there’s very little difference left between the categories of skin and body care products. Be it a serum or scrub, mask or oil—there’s every product for your body with a formulation so potent and rich, you just won’t get enough.

Actives, botanical and marine ingredients have all made their way to mighty body care gems that will leave you (and your body) hooked to them. Take some of Aminu's bestsellers in the body range for instance: Sea Salt Scrub, Vit C Body Oil and Nordic Mud Mask—each of them is determined to treat your body and senses every time you slather any.

Body care has finally gotten off the backseat and seems to give categories like hair, makeup and skin a tough competition. And so, it’s easy to guess that the future is bright for body care. Besides at-home body care, we also envision in-salon body treatments to go big. From facials for the body to clean-ups, deep tissue renewals and rejuvenation, the body treatment sector is only going to become more elaborate.

Final verdict

Body care has *finally* gained the credit it always deserved. From acne to dullness, texture to roughness and pigmentation to dryness, there are body cleansers, lotions, serums, creams, butters, treatments, oils, scrubs, masks and so much more to explore and indulge in. And yet, this is just the beginning.

Second image from Freepik.