Spreading Clean Beauty

Water retention is a key consumer concern during the pandemic

Sedentarism is certainly a marked condition of the 21st century – and the global pandemic hasn’t helped the situation. Today, the average American adult spends about 6.5 hours a day sitting, an increase of roughly an hour a day since 2007. It goes without saying that during the quarantine this figure increased, as people worked, shopped, and socialized via a computer screen. Naturally, this leads to uncomfortable side effects, such as back and shoulder pain, bloating, tired legs, and water retention, which leads to cellulite.

This is but one of the side effects of the pressures of the COVID-19 outbreak, which in tandem, has brought emotional discomfort. Since the start of the pandemic, 31% of British adults reported feeling anxious at least three times a week. This was even more pronounced for under-25s, 49% of which said they felt very stressed (Mintel, 2020). This has led to a distinct rise in self-care, as consumers look to alleviate anxiety.

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These twin effects of the pandemic – sedentarism and stress – present an important opportunity for the body care segment. Consumers want comforting, healing products that help them unwind while tackling body shape concerns. Here, we look at the key features of an anti-cellulite, anti-water retention product for the COVID-19 moment.

How does water retention cause cellulite?

We’ve already introduced that a sedentary lifestyle has links to common body shaping concerns. It’s commonly recognized that water retention is caused by excessive periods sat down, for instance, after long haul flights. Equally, it can be triggered by hormonal changes or too much salt in your diet. 

The appearance of cellulite is linked to the build-up of excess fluid in tissue. This has an effect on blood and lymph circulation, which in turn, makes it more difficult to burn fat. This build-up of toxins attaches to the larger fat cells, contributing to the appearance of cellulite. Subsequently, managing the causes of water retention is essential to mitigating cellulite – however, there are body care ingredients that can help.

Anti-cellulite hero ingredients

Consumers have turned to cellulite creams to reduce the appearance of ‘orange peel’ skin for some time now. Common ingredients include caffeine, which although when consumed can worsen cellulite, topical treatments can improve its appearance. 

However, these concepts need to be re-aligned for the COVID-19 era. Now, consumers are looking for comforting, natural ingredients to address body shaping concerns, and meanwhile, soothe and comfort the sense. 

For instance, many big body care brands have been marketing escapist, and hug themes to denote self-care (Mintel, 2020). Equally, gastronomic ingredients are coming to the fore, as consumers perceive natural, familiar formulas as safer than synthetic ingredients. Hero ingredients like cocoa and guarana are appearing on labels for anti-cellulite products, re-shifting focus to natural alternatives that sound good enough to eat.

Combining nature and science to combat cellulite

Certainly, natural ingredients communicate a powerful message of safety to consumers – but increasingly savvy BPC buyers want products to be scientifically proven. This is especially the case in a pandemic context, where society is placing renewed faith in scientists. For instance, 33% of millennials think it is important that beauty brands have a scientific basis (Mintel 2020).

Provital’s ingredient Provislim™ meets this demand for natural, scientifically proven body shaping products, while also tapping into the gastronomic beauty trend. Provislim™ is a natural-origin active ingredient (fisetin and frambinone, derived from raspberries and strawberries) that activates basal lipolysis at rest. In addition, these ingredients promote adrenaline-induced lipolysis during exercise, enhancing lipolytic effects by 36%, thus stimulating the breakdown of cellulite. 

Exclusive to Provital, this active ingredient does not contain preservatives, so the final product can be labeled as 100% of vegetable origin, with the exception of water. This innovative product earned Provital the BSB prize for cosmetics and raw materials in 2011.

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