Bon Voyage: how beauty brands can redefine the future of wellness travel
“Travel Wellness in a COVID-19 world is all about minimizing anxiety before, during, and after the trip,” Edyta Satchell, Founder and CEO of Satchelle Global Travel Wellness and Finelle.com, tells Cosmetics Design.
“It's about preparation and protection through healthy habits, self-care, beauty (yes!), confidence, and so much more,” she says.
Satchell tells this publication, “people keep defining travel wellness as a trip to a health spa, yoga or meditation retreats, or medical tourism. All of those things are a part of traveling with a focus on health and well-being.” But really “Travel Wellness is multidimensional. It's about balance and bringing out your best self. It’s about the nutrition, beauty, [and] managing stress before, during, after travel.” And this version of wellness travel—or Travel Wellness, as Satchell prefers to call it—is important at all times, not only during a pandemic.
Rethinking wellness travel for 2021 and beyond
Satchell, who has some 20 years of experience in the travel industry, is certified as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach as well as in oncology esthetics, and has studied beauty industry essentials at the Fashion Institute of Technology, sees a lot of potential for beauty brands to do things differently in the retail space and in the product development space.
She believes that beauty consultants, brand representative, and in-store staff could be better prepared to help consumers address their skin care, hair care, and personal care needs when it comes to travel. With the right information, these pros could offer guidance and products that directly address the needs of clients as they deal with pre-travel stress, in-flight conditions, and destination climates, she says.
And Satchell tells Cosmetics Design that it’s time for beauty makers to upgrade travel product kits too: “it’s not about throwing three beauty products into a box and label it ‘travel kit’. Consumers can buy three mini-size products by themselves, so it’s not about the mini sizes,” she says. “It’s about the careful selection of the products that a traveler needs before, during and after travel based on the environment they live in, their age, skin, type and trip destination.”
Ideas and innovations for the future of travel wellness
As a consultant, Satchell listens to, learns from, and leads brands and companies to develop products that are missing in the market. Brainstorming a bit during her interview with Cosmetics Design she suggested several products that could help meet current and future consumer travel needs: “Face covering masks that hydrates your face on the plane. Body thermometer with a lipstick or mascara attached on the other side. Mini-size beauty supplements that can be drunk on the plane. Plastic bags for beauty products and food. There is a reason for all these products and I always have more innovative ideas,” she says.
And she wonders if there is room for improvement in product stability testing. “Also, let’s start testing how product react in super cold environments. Our luggage travels in the 'cargo class' and this compartment is never heated.” Or perhaps it’s a matter of more consumer education about stability testing in beauty.
Speaking directly to brand leaders, Satchell explains, “I want to you to be the first to go beyond just creating a box of three mini-size products and call it a travel kit. Frequent travelers desperately need you. They need your advice.”
