Viral Wellness & Being On Trend

Author

Izzy White
July 21, 2024

Hi!!! Welcome!! This is a newsletter that has taken the IRL weekly trends briefing, and transformed into the written word. All this information is a weekly digest of current news, trendy soundbites and sharp insights so that you can quit reading and still sound smart. Gathered from articles, newsletters, reports, and TikTok: It's like Blinkist for culture.

Long Form

The ‘newest’ branding of deinfluencing is now ‘underconsumption’. This style of content often arises when people are trying to take a stand against polished, perfect content and show a more ‘authentic’ side of people's lives. We’ve seen this with Day in the Life videos that are ‘realistic’ or ‘normal’, which are great but unfortunately, they don’t work long term. People want to see inspiration on their feeds, they can handle pockets of normal and authentic, but not from someone they don’t connect with. Creators are already posting rage-bait style content with the language of underconsumption such as throwing out products or doing a large thrifted haul. The moral of the story is, to either have a great personality and be authentic, or be aesthetically pleasing - you can be both, but you can’t be neither on the internet. Makes a lot of sense when you consider revenge spending as well and general recession vibes.

How Are You Auramaxxing?* (definitely read)

If you don’t understand Auramaxxing, this article is for you. It’s a great summary of what is happening in the world of ‘auras’ and how it’s a rebranded version of what the media has always told people - you should always improve yourself. One of the key creators Aaron, says “Auramaxxing is just taking care of yourself and also knowing who you are as a person first before you try to show other people.” This is a great approach to what it is, however, many people especially men are turning it into an incell-esk moment where they become everything they think women want them to be without actually speaking to any women. This includes women not showing their bodies as much online because of negative aura, and for men, it’s about staying in shape… it’s pretty easy to see where this pipeline lies. Aura can still be a lighthearted topic that brands can speak to, but it’s only a matter of time before this ‘trend’ becomes a brand proposition for young men.
Extras - Teen Boys Beauty Routine & Boyhood is Trending. Speaking of incel’s, this article speaks to the far right pipeline that you can find online.

Consumers require their wellness routines to be supported by science and data, something that is not as black and white as people wish it to be. This article talks about the possible role that tracking could play in the beauty industry. So, rather than simply taking an online quiz for what supplements are best for you, your tracked data would be provided and interpreted accordingly. It sounds great in theory, until you consider the potential for obsessive behaviours that come with tracking oneself, almost overriding intuition because a smart device told you otherwise. There is a lot of opportunity for brands to tap into this space, but finding the ethical approach is where difficult will lie. 

Short Form

Weekly Question

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