Dear Beauty Industry, Let’s Return to Mother Earth
Recently, billionaire Richard Branson beat Jeff Bezos to space, the first in a new race to own space tourism. And just like that, space is cool again. The beauty industry is also smitten with space, exploring it as the final frontier in skincare. That’s right – while we haven’t even solved most skincare issues on Earth, there’s been talk about rocketing off to solve them for the galaxy and beyond.
ICYMI, here are some examples of all the buzz. Clinique’s iconic Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion made it to the Smithsonian museum as the first moisturizer used by astronauts in space. There’s chatter about how humans will age in space and brands are attempting to leverage aeronautics technology to develop anti-aging formulas. And last fall, Estee Lauder teamed up with astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) to film a marketing campaign for its iconic Advanced Night Repair serum. So, where is this buzz coming from and how did we get so far from mother earth?
First, there’s alot going on in the global psyche. An ongoing pandemic and continued challenges like climate change have created a ton of uncertainty that makes our safety on earth feel compromised. Billionaires are also paving the way for elite space tourism and there’s sci-fi-esque talk of eventually colonizing other planets. Even more importantly, NASA encourages private-sector spending and new partnerships looking to commercialize and experiment in space as a part of its strategic objectives (oral care is one recent example). Space might be less of a final frontier for cosmetic/skincare formulation and more so for marketing. But what is the beauty industry if not brilliant and aspirational marketing?
While we can’t foresee what cool innovation might be out there, reality reminds us how removed (not to mention borderline comical) beauty in space is for the average person and consumer. The majority of us won't be traveling to space in our lifetime, and such a trip will only be accessible to a tiny percentage of the population; the entire notion is pretty elitist. Not only that, but space tourism implies that you won’t be spending prolonged periods of time in outer space to warrant the current buzz.
There is already a considerable amount of established research on human physiology/skin morphology in space, including issues like thinning skin among astronauts, who are in space for a long time. But it’s unlikely that those kinds of issues will be solved by a fab skincare routine or hero product. As demonstrated by the Clinique moisturizer, astronauts have fared just fine with existing skincare, and space-specific claims are still TBD. There could be some changes to how formulas are tested to ensure stability in space, but this might be a factor for the most premium of products. If you look at these anti-aging tips from astronauts, they’re not really straying from the prevailing skincare wisdom and technology. Where they experience more severe skin issues, standard beauty products may not be the solution; they might require clinical interventions instead.
There’s no doubt that NASA has inspired and helped develop several game-changing technologies in consumer goods as well as health and medicine, and that this is a significant R&D opportunity for the big brands. So while we can’t predict the future, there are plenty of solvable problems to focus on right here on earth -– including beauty sustainability and addressing common, age-old dermatological skin problems such as acne, dark circles, eczema, and hyperpigmentation. And as we move towards democratizing beauty, the current elitism of addressing skin in space feels like a step backwards -– though if any of you do make it to space anytime soon, let us know how your earthly skincare routine fared there. For now, we’d love it if the beauty industry exercised some ground control to focus on what’s relevant and step up innovation where it’s needed the most.