Top Beauty and Wellness Trends on the West Coast

From the newest health-related startups in Silicon Valley, to the latest yoga trends in sunny LA, we compiled a list of the top beauty and wellness fads on the West Coast. Some of these activities and products have been around for years but have begun to surge in popularity in the past few weeks or months. Others are distinctly 2020, incorporating the technology and sensibility of our age to help consumers navigate their daily lives in a healthier way. Read on to learn about the top beauty and wellness trends on the West Coast!

Home Delivery for Private Health Concerns

One of the biggest wellness trends in Silicon Valley is the home delivery model for healthcare products. A host of new startups are finding discrete ways to tackle clients’ most taboo health concerns, according to Fast Company. Some highlights include Willow, a company that manufactures sleek incontinence underwear, and Blume, a company that delivers menstrual products to tween and teen girls. The home delivery trend reflects client’s desire for privacy, especially when it comes to more awkward health issues.

Boutique Acupuncture Spas

Another wellness trend Fast Company highlights are boutique acupuncture spas. Rather than a clinical atmosphere, these medical spas employ “modern midcentury furniture … and chic vanity areas” to give the spaces a stylish, zen-like quality that draws customers in. Many of these companies are focused on streamlining the entire process of learning about and receiving acupuncture in a chic environment. For quick and easy appointment booking, you can find an acupuncturist in your area here.

Ear Seeds

Ear seeds are a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine that’s gaining popularity in the States. LA-based lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow swears by the treatment, as does actress Penelope Cruz and supermodel Kate Moss. Ear seeds are based on the same concept as acupuncture, that by stimulating certain pressure points, you can improve the flow of energy through your body and address a variety of health concerns. 

The process involves “inserting small seeds into the ear in order to stimulate pressure points” in order to address a range of health conditions, according to Healthline. Touted for a wide variety of benefits, from addiction to insomnia, stress, chronic pain, and infertility, you can read more about the treatment here. You can make an appointment to try ear seeds here, or book a visit with a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner in your area.

Stretching and Fitness Recovery

Stretching has a variety of health benefits, including improved flexibility, lowered risk of injury, recovery after an intense workout, and relaxation. One of the biggest fitness trends on the West Coast this year are stretching studios, where clients can get stretched by a professional. Having a professional stretching “differs from self-stretching or even yoga in its effectiveness,” according to Fast Company. Many clients will leave a session feeling a noticeable improvement in their range of motion. They can also resume their regular workout routines with greater peace of mind, as deep stretching helps prevent injury. You can find stretching services here.

Sound Baths

Music has been used for healing purposes for thousands of years, from Tibetan sound bowls to Australian didgeridoos. Scientific studies have affirmed the effect of music on patients’ health. It’s been found to “lower blood pressure, decrease pulse rate, and assists the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for digestion and some metabolic processes,” according to Allure.

One of the hottest wellness trends on the West Coast right now are sound baths. No actual bathing is involved; instead, these meditation classes incorporate ambient sound that helps participants reach a deeper meditative state. The result is a relaxing, enveloping experience that’s more accessible to less-experienced meditators or want to feel ultra-relaxed. You can book a sound bath here.

Anxiety Coaches

One of the major new wellness trends on the West Coast are anxiety coaches. These are one-on-one coaches who help clients manage their anxiety on a day-to-day basis. They aren’t certified therapists. Instead, an anxiety coach’s job is to help clients manage their anxiety in between sessions and to coach clients in their immediate daily life, according to Refinery29. They provide support, accountability, and strategies for dealing with the mental health condition. One group of anxiety coaches even produces a podcast that provides more general coaching and advice for those who don’t book one-on-one sessions.

Kundalini Yoga

If you walk into a yoga studio in most places outside of India, it’s likely the instructors will be teaching a hatha or vinyasa class, the two most popular schools of yoga. Kundalini is a less-known branch that emphasizes the spiritual and energetic traditions of yoga alongside the physical and mental health benefits. With a greater emphasis on the movement of energy within the body, kundalini is practiced almost completely with the yogi’s eyes closed.

Combining rigorous exercise, chanting, and meditation, kundalini has a reputation as a more mystical, esoteric branch of yoga that can have profound effects on the spiritual lives of its followers. Kundalini was brought to the West Coast at the height of the hippie movement in San Francisco in the 1960s. San Francisco is still home to one of the most famous kundalini schools in the country.

In the past few years, though, kundalini has experienced a resurgence of popularity on the West Coast. Many millennials are embracing New Age spirituality and mysticism to cope with the unique pressures of life in 2020, and comedian Russell Brand even opened his own kundalini studio in LA. You can learn more about kundalini here.

Death Doulas

In many developed countries, the process of dying has become especially sterile and institutionalized. While many patients approaching the end of their life need care that’s only available in a hospital, that environment can feel isolating for many. What’s more, many patients need support as they navigate the existential and psychological burden of reckoning with their own mortality. Enter the death doula.

End-of-life doulas are spiritual and emotional counselors who assist patients through the dying process. While many doulas assist mothers-to-be through pregnancy and childbirth, end-of-life doulas help their clients maintain a sense of calm at the other end of their lifespan. On the West Coast, where states like Oregon and Washington were at the forefront of death with dignity movement, end-of-life doulas are increasingly popular. The trend has also caught on in the Midwest, where The Guardian recently profiled a man in Minnesota about his experience with a death doula.