From sexual wellness to Gen Z beauty, there seems to be a new, niche industry genre on the daily. Despite the quick and consistent appearance of new realms within the beauty and self-care industry, each of these new endeavors seems to gain a fair amount of traction and popularity, proving that markets for these new, curated brands do exist. One of the most prevalent industry trends in the last several years has been that of organic, “clean” beauty brands. As more and more consumers find themselves prioritizing healthy, holistic products, we’ve seen a significant shift in what brands are offering in response.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending the FounderMade Innovation show, where dozens of beauty brands were able to showcase their industry-shaping products and ideas. Seemingly arising out of the increasing desire for clean, healthy products, first aid–related wellness brands were all over. Brands like Checkable and All Better Co. shared their consumer-based solutions to an array of first aid and health-based issues, leading us to wonder if first aid wellness could be the next “it” genre. To find out more, we spoke to brand leaders from some of these emerging businesses to get the inside info on just why this category is on the rise.
Making Health Care Accessible
Pairing telehealth services with quick, accurate and affordable at-home diagnostic test kits, Checkable Health is one first aid–based brand that is revolutionizing the industry in hopes of making healthcare more accessible. Operating off of the principles of “test, diagnose, educate,” Checkable Health “gives consumers the freedom to diagnose symptoms and get a treatment plan from the comfort of home,” with an array of online podcasts and videos to educate users about proper testing and care to supplement options for preventing further health issues.
In terms of why Checkable came to be, brand founder and mom of three, Patty Post, was inspired by her children’s constant struggle with strep throat and the long wait times at clinics that came with it. After what felt like millions of stressful clinic visits, Post wanted to explore a simpler, more accessible solution to diagnosing and treating common ailments. “Our goal is to pair our diagnostics and screening kits with premium supplements to maintain wellness and assist in recovery and improvement in our customer’s overall health,” Post says.
“The burden and cost savings to the healthcare system is dramatic,” Post explains further. “The number of nurses and doctors has decreased by 44%, and acute non-urgent care that can be conducted in the comfort of home is a relief for the consumer and our healthcare providers.”
Checkable Health currently provides test kits for strep, vaginal pH, urinary tract infections, breast milk nutrition and breast milk alcohol content, as well as supplements to aid in bladder, digestion, sleep, stress and even hair management.
Wellness for The Whole Family
The wellness industry has been on a steady rise for quite some time now, but recently, we’ve seen more of a focus on incorporating the whole family—specifically kids—into our wellness practices. What was once a solo ritual for adults has now become a valued practice for all ages. Though we know that fostering wellness habits with children is vital to their physical and mental wellbeing, there aren’t a ton of brands that make wellness accessible for younger demographics, which is why Stacy Bernstein co-founded All Better Co.
“When we started All Better Co. it was truly out of a personal need for our own families,” Bernstein begins. “We were looking for cleaner, safer and effective solutions for some of our everyday needs like mosquito bites, scrapes, and chapped skin for example. These are the main pain points that when you run a household that we have to deal with on a daily basis, and when we went looking we couldn’t find what we wanted. So, we made our own!” All Better Co. provides an array of kid-friendly solutions to common ailments like their line of Beat the Bugs itch products as well as skin-care products specifically made to be easy and efficient for use on kids.
“Once we really started to dive into the world of first aid we realized that this is a category as a whole that really hasn’t been disrupted or touched in a meaningful way,” Bernstein explains. “We are talking about formulas, consumer-facing products and brands that have not changed or evolved in decades and, as it turns out, we have learned a lot since many of these everyday products were first developed. So, our commitment is to offer cleaner, effective alternatives that are better for you and better for the planet.”
The Bottom Line
With the wellness industry expanding and adapting in new ways on the daily, we can expect to see more and more niche genres emerging to tackle problems that the field has not given due attention to in the past. As we can see from brands like Checkable and All Better Co., a desire and a need to make healthcare and first aid more accessible, healthy and family-friendly are large factors in why this small but mighty realm is quickly on the up and up.
