Consumers no longer see the pursuit of beauty and that psychological wellbeing as independent of each other. In consumers’ minds, both have become deeply interconnected, with wellbeing representing both a route to, but also a consequence of, feeling beautiful.

Psychological wellbeing is the result of a complex interplay of three distinct but interrelated domains. An important aspect of psychological wellbeing is Domain 1 – Subjective Feeling (i.e., conscious reflection upon one’s own state of wellbeing). Yet, affective processes that are key to wellbeing can also occur in the absence of conscious experience. Therefore, in order to capture psychological wellbeing fully, one also needs to include Domain 2 – Physiology (i.e., peripheral and brain measures) and Domain 3 – Behaviour (i.e., implicit) measures.

Practitioners have found that measures of psychological wellbeing developed in academic and clinical contexts often fail to capture the nuance and extent of wellbeing impacts of cosmetic benefits in healthy consumers. To be appropriate in the cosmetic context, measures need to a) focus on aspects of wellbeing that are relevant, b) be sensitive enough to quantify the small but meaningful fluctuations in psychological wellbeing that we observe in (healthy) consumers, and c) focus on issues which consumers aim, and are able, to address via cosmetic products.

Recent developments in the measurement of psychological wellbeing in the cosmetic context will be presented that span the three domains of Subjective Feelings, Physiology and Behaviour. These advances enable a more relevant and holistic quantification of the psychological wellbeing benefits provided by cosmetic products, supporting both scientific understanding and consumer-centric innovation.