New research reveals a great divide in beauty, health & wellness, with executives and consumers at odds

New York, NY, Sept. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

• Gen Z and Millennial men are subscribing more and spending more time and money on BHW than any other demographic
• The beauty industry is ignoring what women actually want—and leaving billions on the table in the process
• Physicians are second-most important referral channel behind friends and family; influencers rank last
• The pharmification effect: GLP-1s have changed expectations for time to results for all categories of BHW
• The medspas explosion: Nearly 13,000 medspas now match McDonald's locations in the U.S.

 A comprehensive new report from global consulting firm AlixPartners and CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women) reveals a seismic shift in how Americans engage with beauty, health, and wellness (BHW). The industry has evolved from a discretionary luxury into an identity cornerstone, with nearly 13,000 medspas dotting the U.S. landscape—a number that now rivals the country's count of McDonald's locations.

More surprising still, the executives running these companies are fundamentally misunderstanding their consumers. Consumers are way ahead, and executives are struggling to keep up, relying on old-school tactics such as partnerships and influencers to extend reach when consumers are asking the brands to do it themselves.

“The Extract: Beauty × Health × Wellness 2026" surveyed 1,000 consumers and nearly 130 BHW executives to understand where executives nail the consumer, and where there is a delta of understanding. What emerged is a portrait of disconnect between what executives believe their customers want and what those customers are actually doing with their time, money, and trust.

Lindy Firstenberg, Co-Leader, Beauty × Health × Wellness Practice, AlixPartners, commented:
"As BHW has adapted into an all-encompassing project for the consumer, their discovery channels, their budget prioritization, and interest in emerging tools and trends have totally changed, but the average executive has yet to catch up. Beauty, health, and wellness are no longer a treat, or merely 'self-care'; The Extract shows that BHW is an ongoing project for the consumer with its own standalone budget line. As consumer spend moves beyond the traditional limits of the industry, referral sources have shifted, a trust challenge has arisen for brands competing in a pharma-fied field, and men have an increasingly important presence in the big tent."

Male Revolution: Young Men Are 'Maxxing’ 
Perhaps the most overlooked story in beauty and wellness is the arrival of young men. In 2024 alone, 1.6 million American men underwent cosmetic procedures—with cheek implants up 3.6% year-over-year, neuromodulator injections up 4.3%, and skin resurfacing up 6.1%. But the spending data tells an even bigger story. Gen Z and Millennial men are 2.7 times more likely to spend $500+ monthly on BHW than the general population. Nearly half (49%) spend more than 1.5 hours daily on BHW, versus 28% of everyone else. 60% of the "first-to-know" early-adopter consumer segment are male—a demographic once largely absent from the beauty conversation. Men have joined the chat, the report concludes. They're not dabbling. They're committed, strategic, and they’re driving market growth through subscriptions and protocols.

A Generation of Female Health Left Behind
While menopause care has attracted investment and celebrity attention, the research reveals executives are missing women’s greatest needs: vaginal and sexual health. Thirty-four percent of women say low libido and sexual health are drastically underrepresented compared to executive investment. 37% say vaginal and intimate health are underserved. The FDA has approved 26 erectile dysfunction medications for men. For women with low libido, there are two.

BHW has stepped into the void, the report notes, attempting to solve female health issues extra-medically through supplements, topicals, and shortcuts—while missing the biggest unmet needs entirely.

Elana Drell Szyfer, President, Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), commented:
“There is a huge trust gap. Consumers want results faster than is sometimes possible and, at the same time, are skeptical of product claims, some going off-label or into the grey market to pursue their goals. The industry has answered this conundrum with more personalization, an abundance of marketing spend on influencers, and AI-enhanced service, but here's what's really interesting: women are telling us they want human support. They want to be known by someone who understands their skin, their age, their life stage, and they don’t trust paid actors. That's not the model most businesses run. But it's a massive opportunity for brands willing to listen."

The Influencer Paradox: What Executives Believe vs. What Consumers Do
Here's where the data gets uncomfortable for the industry: executives are massively overinvesting in influencer marketing. When asked how consumers discover BHW products, executives consistently ranked influencers as a top channel. But when consumers were asked directly, influencers ranked 5th, behind:

• Friends and family: 45% of consumers vs. 30% of executives—a 15-percentage-point gap
• Healthcare practitioners: 38% vs. 16% of executives, a stunning 22-point gap
• Social media ads: 37% vs. 24% of executives
• Searching online: 32% vs. 23% of executives

Influencers barely registered at 32%—essentially tied with online search, yet represent one of the largest marketing budget allocations in the industry. The gap conceals a fundamental difference in how 'community' is viewed. Brands see it as a distribution channel. Consumers treat it like a validation mechanism. What consumers actually want: peer recommendations, healthcare practitioners they trust, and community spaces. Not the carefully curated aesthetics of social media influencers.

The Pharmification Effect: When GLP-1s Reset Everything
The rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic has done more than fuel rapid weight loss conversations. It has fundamentally altered consumer expectations about speed, efficacy, and what's possible. Fifty-one percent of consumers say GLP-1s have "raised or reset their expectations" for BHW products and treatments. Yet only 25% of executives believe consumers expect immediate results from everyday items, while 27% of consumers actually do. This expectation mismatch creates vulnerability: executives are planning slow clinical timelines while consumers demand rapid transformation.

The medspas explosion: when self-care becomes infrastructure
The proliferation of medspas signals something profound: beauty, health, and wellness have transcended the category of indulgence. They're now woven into the fabric of daily life, rivaling fast food in sheer commercial footprint. Consumers are voting with their budgets. 63% percent rank health and wellness as their top discretionary spending priority—above travel, fashion, and entertainment. For Baby Boomers, the nearest competitor is the home and living category. For Gen Z, it's travel. Nothing else comes close.

Catherine Nekavand, Co-Leader, Beauty × Health × Wellness Practice, AlixPartners, commented:
"Our study has made it abundantly clear that we're seeing a fundamental recalibration: BHW has become an identity purchase. More than half of consumers find it so, and 95% of executives agree. This shift from indulgence to routine has shown remarkable resilience through inflation and recession. BHW used to compete with travel, fashion, and dining for consumer dollars. Now, they're competing with the mortgage and the grocery bill. Consumers are saying: 'This is non-negotiable.' The real question is whether executives fully appreciate how fundamentally consumers’ hierarchy of priorities has changed, and once that shift becomes clear, it changes how you think about categories, innovation, investment, and ultimately how you organize the business.”

The Medpas Economy Is Already Here
The emergence of 13,000 medspas signals that the future of BHW isn't in traditional retail. It's in the "magic medspa" model—concierge medicine meets wellness center, offering diagnostics, custom compounds, IV drips, and integrated practitioners. Companies like Lanserhof have pioneered this model, and the Extract research suggests this is where consumer loyalty and spending will concentrate. The implication for brands: the traditional beauty counter is becoming obsolete. The future is integrated, personalized, and practitioner-led.

What This Means for the Industry

1. Understand that young men are not dabbling—they're dominating: marketing to women alone leaves half the growth on the table.
2.  Stop betting on influencers: Invest in healthcare practitioners, community spaces, and peer recommendations.
3. Trust is scarce: Consumers want human connection and expert validation, not algorithms and filters.
4. Speed matters: GLP-1s have reset expectations. Consumers expect results faster than clinical timelines suggest is possible.
5. The BHW category is rapidly converging: Consumers no longer think in silos of skincare, supplements, fitness, or sexual health. They want integrated solutions.

About the research
Between May and June 2026, AlixPartners and CEW conducted an online survey of 1,000 consumers (49% men, 51% women, ages 18+) and 127 BHW executives. The research examined spending behaviors, time use, discovery channels, and attitudes across beauty, health, and wellness sectors. 
Read the full report: The Extract: How Beauty, Health, and Wellness became a consumer occupation.

About AlixPartners
AlixPartners is a results-driven global consulting firm that specializes in helping businesses successfully capitalize on opportunity and address critical challenges. Our clients include companies, corporate boards, law firms, investment banks, private equity firms, and others. Founded in 1981, AlixPartners is headquartered in New York and has offices in more than 20 cities around the world. For more information, visit www.alixpartners.com.

About CEW
CEW is the Beauty, Health and Wellness industry’s leading membership organization supporting and advancing women by providing the education, connections, and recognition necessary to elevate and advance careers. Our 8,000 member global community includes professionals from emerging talent to C-suite executives across brands, fragrance houses, media outlets, suppliers, and retailers.

Ed Canaday
AlixPartners
+1 917 434 5075
scanaday@alixpartners.com