Only 18% of Women Rank Health as Best Use of Their Money
Nearly 75% of women aged 35–54 rank health as their top priority, yet only 18% call it the best use of their money, according to LYMA's P.O.W.E.R. Index with The Future Laboratory.
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The takeaway
- Only 18% of women name health as the highest-value use of their money, though nearly 75% of women 35–54 rank it as their top priority (LYMA P.O.W.E.R. Index).
- 56% of women struggle to distinguish science-backed products from science-washing; 86% of women over 55 say clinical proof matters more than brand cachet.
- 57% of women are tired of the word 'longevity'; 80% always check ingredients when buying new beauty or wellness products.
Nearly three-quarters of women ages 35 to 54 rank health as their highest priority, yet only 18 percent name it as the highest-value use of their money. That figure comes from LYMA's new P.O.W.E.R. Index report, created with The Future Laboratory. Only one-third of women even describe health spending as an "investment."
The report documents a persistent gap between what women say matters and what they will pay for. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to call the same health and wellness expenditure an "indulgence" rather than an "investment." The report also found that 61 percent of women ages 18 to 45 feel they are expected to age well without being given the tools or information to do it.
LYMA founder Lucy Goff, speaking on The Beauty Authority, said the findings resonated with her personally. "As women, as a working mom, my kids always come first," she said, adding that her business often comes next. "I feel as though I come in third in a lot of places." Part of changing the conversation, she argues, is giving women more justification to put their own health higher on that list.
Science-Washing Clouds Product Claims
The report identifies a credibility problem across the category. Fifty-six percent of women say they find it difficult to distinguish products backed by real science from those that simply borrow scientific language. The report cites unsourced studies and vague "expert-backed" claims as examples of what it calls science-washing. That skepticism intensifies with age: 86 percent of women over 55 say clinical proof matters more than brand cachet.
Goff puts the responsibility on brands. "If you are selling a moisturizer, speak about the clinical proof of your products as a moisturizer," she said. "Don't market it as a longevity cream." Her position is that claims should stay within what a product has actually been shown to do.
The word "longevity" itself has become a liability. Fifty-seven percent of women surveyed said they were tired of hearing it. At the same time, 80 percent say they always check ingredients when buying a new beauty or wellness product, and 72 percent believe the industry focuses too heavily on the next exciting innovation instead of established products with proven results.
"We've got to treat longevity as a scientific word and not a marketing term," Goff said. If a product uses the term, there should be evidence behind exactly how it relates to longevity.
Skin as a Read on Whole-Body Health
The report connects hormones, stress, sleep and skin rather than treating each as an isolated concern. Its "Whole-System" principle asks whether an intervention recognizes interconnected biology, noting that hormonal, dermatological and neurological changes rarely happen independently of one another.
Goff sees skin as the visible entry point. "It's the only organ that you can see that ages," she said. Changes in skin can be one of the first things women notice when sleep, stress or other aspects of health feel off.
Confidence Over Appearance
When asked to choose between a treatment that changes how other people see them and one that changes how they see themselves, 72 percent of women chose the latter. Sixty-seven percent said they value the confidence that comes from knowing their body is in excellent health over confidence based on appearance. Among Gen X women, that figure jumps to 73 percent.
Financial security ranks as the biggest priority for the next five years for 37 percent of women, more than three times the number who choose physical appearance. The report reads this as evidence that women already understand long-term value but do not always apply that framework to health. The same shift shows up in how women approach menopause and aesthetics.
The P.O.W.E.R. Framework
The report's proposed solution is a five-part checklist for evaluating a health or wellness purchase. P is Proven: is there credible science? O is Outcomes: does it deliver a meaningful result? W is Whole-System: does it account for the interconnected nature of women's health? E is Empowering: does it leave you more informed and in control? R is Return: does it create lasting value rather than a short-term result?
Goff hopes that scrutiny pushes beauty and wellness toward greater transparency. "I think we need to move to a world of honesty and take a bit of hysteria out of the beauty industry," she said. For consumers, that may mean asking one simpler question before buying the next big promise: what has this actually been proven to do?
Source: NewBeauty
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Market editor covering media and advertising at Eurasian Beauty Journal.
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