EDITOR'S COMMENT

As beauty and wellness businesses continue to navigate rising operating costs and increasing pressure on profitability, this issue explores how salons, clinics and spas are adapting their models to protect both margins and therapist wellbeing.

New research this month revealed that beauty salon material costs have surged by 90% over the past decade, significantly outpacing consumer inflation (see page 7).

With many businesses looking carefully at efficiency, staffing and long-term sustainability, it’s perhaps no surprise that touchless and therapist-light wellness experiences are gaining momentum within the spa sector.

In our wellness feature on page 38, we explore how spas are responding to both rising operational pressures and therapist burnout by introducing touchless and therapist-light wellness experiences. From sound therapy and vibro-acoustic loungers to immersive self-guided spa journeys, operators explain how these treatments can help create new revenue opportunities and ease some of the physical demands on teams, while still delivering meaningful wellbeing experiences for guests.

This issue also examines how beauty businesses are becoming more strategic commercially. On page 48, we look at how salon owners are using KPIs such as rebooking rates and average client spend to build stronger, more profitable businesses.

We also explore the growing connection between aesthetics and wellness. Our nutrition feature on page 56 investigates why creatine is gaining traction within female-focused wellness, with experts linking it to energy and healthy ageing, while on page 59 we speak to semi-permanent makeup artists supporting clients with alopecia through treatments designed to restore confidence.

We also tackle the increasing use of the word “holistic” on page 46, asking whether the term has become so broad that it risks losing the professional depth behind it.