Welcome to Glossy’s Wellness Week. In daily feature stories, Glossy will break down the trends transforming the way consumers are thinking about, and spending on, wellness. And on Thursday at noon ET, we’ll host the Glossy’s Wellness Leaders Forum, a virtual event diving deep into wellness’s new era. Join us.
Last week, Estée Lauder, one of the largest beauty and skin-care companies in the world, announced the appointment of Dr. Matthew Walker to a brand new role: global science sleep advisor.
It was an acknowledgment of something the wellness industry has been realizing for a while: Sleep is a big deal. Across the industry, legacy companies like Estée Lauder and Procter & Gamble are betting big on sleep, introducing new products and making key hires like Walker. Meanwhile, new startups are gaining ground through a bevy of sleep-related products, from supplements to night lights to sleep balms and night masks.
The sleep economy, which covers everything from bedding and mattresses to wearable sleep devices and supplements, was valued at a record $585 billion, according to the non-profit Sleep Foundation. Venture capital pouring into sleep tech doubled between 2017 and 2021, and that investment is now paying off. People, and Americans in particular, are spending a lot on getting a better night’s rest. The reasons are manifold. Stress from the pandemic and increasing political and economic uncertainty is a likely culprit behind 37% of Americans reporting poor sleep in 2023.
“In my circle of business leaders and busy professionals, a few decades ago, they would wear their sleep deprivation with pride to signify how hard they were working,” said Tim Rosa. Rosa is the CEO of sleep wearables company Somnee, which was founded in 2017 and named one of Fast Company’s Next Big Things in tech last year. Rosa is the former CMO of Fitbit, which helped popularize sleep trackers, and Somnee counts Estée Lauder’s Dr. Walker as a co-founder.
“Now, it’s much more common for CEOs and others in high-pressure careers to build their wellness routines around sleep hygiene. That’s especially as the increased adoption of popular consumer wearables from Apple, Fitbit and Oura have made it easier than ever to understand how lifestyle choices correlate to sleep outcomes,” Rosa said. “From longevity to immune function and cognition, to exercise performance and muscle growth, there’s more awareness around how sleep impacts our short- and long-term wellness, and brands are trying to capitalize off this interest with a range of new products like supplements, wearable technology, mattress covers and much more.”
Somnee is one of the more prominent products to emerge in the sleep wearables space. It’s a headband that connects to an app on your phone, purporting to alter your brain waves in the 15 minutes before sleep to improve your restfulness. It’s been reviewed favorably by CNET and GQ, among others. And it’s joined by a vast number of other sleep-focused startups, like the red light therapy company Bon Charge, the wearable supplements company Barriere and the popular earplug creator Loop, all of which have launched in the last few years. They range in price from under $25 for earplugs to hundreds of dollars for wearable tech.
More than a few brand founders that Glossy spoke to for this story expressed similar sentiments about what’s driving the interest in better sleep — namely, that the world is a stressful place, and people need to recharge.
“It’s happening because we’re all more burned out than ever, and it’s catching up to a lot of people,” said Catarina Tucker, founder of the recently launched weighted blanket startup Snuggle Sense. “Sleep isn’t just about feeling rested anymore; it’s about mental clarity, emotional balance and longevity. That’s why we’re seeing beauty brands, wellness brands and even tech jumping into the space.”
It’s also becoming more common for brands in this space to employ medically licensed professionals like Dr. Walker to both advise product development and act as educational spokespeople for the brand. Dr. Chad Eldrige, a sleep and wellbeing advisor for the Swedish bedding brand Hastens, said that just as there are more factors negatively impacting people’s sleep, there is also more information available about how to improve rest. Influencers on TikTok, in particular, have popularized the idea of sleepmaxxing, a collection of tricks, hacks and practices to improve sleep.
Sleepmaxxing content often focuses on the aesthetic benefits of improved rest, including reducing facial puffiness. But there’s debate about how many of the tricks seen in sleepmaxxing content are really effective. Red light therapy, for example, has few scientific studies backing up its sleep effects, while hacks like temperature control and blue-light reduction have more solid scientific support. Claims that a product can help one sleep have even stepped over the line legally, with P&G currently facing a class action lawsuit over its claims that its sleep aids are “natural.”
“There has been an influx in the amount of information being shared that stresses the importance of sleep and how it impacts all aspects of your life, including health, performance, cognition and stress management,” Dr. Eldridge said. “Now that people are aware of this, they are more apt to put a large focus on their lifestyle and how they support themselves to improve sleep so they can reap the massive benefits.”
