The rising cost of everyday essentials has Americans looking for ways to tighten their budgets. One place they’re not cutting spending is their appearance — in fact, the aesthetics market continues to grow in spite of the economy.
The market for cosmetic procedures has been climbing steadily at an average rate of around 7% year over year. Demand for minimally invasive treatments is growing about 2% faster than demand for surgical procedures.
Advancing technology in the aesthetics industry has made nonsurgical treatments appealing to consumers who once thought surgery was their only option. These advancements let people improve their appearance at a lower price point, with a shorter recovery time, and a more natural-looking outcome.
2025 Aesthetics Market Treatment Trends
- Trend: Tightening the Jaw and Neck
- Trend: Regenerative Medicine
- Trend: Neurotoxin Injections
- Trend: Feeling Natural
- Trend: Personalized Patient Experience
2025 Aesthetics Market Trends in Technology
- Trending Tech: Advanced Lasers
- Trending Tech: EBDs
- Trending Tech: Augmented Reality
- Trending Tech: Data Security
2025 Trends in Med Spa Patient Expectations
- Trending Expectation: Convenience
- Trending Expectation: Relevant Marketing
- Trending Expectation: One-on-One Attention
2025 Aesthetics Market Spending Forecast
Despite their concerns about the economy, only 15% of people who paid for aesthetics treatments last year plan to cut back. The rest plan to spend the same or more.
That’s in line with normal attrition; according to the American Med Spa Association, 73% of aesthetics patients return for regular treatments. In 2023, med spa patients spent an average of $527 per visit.
Who Is Spending on Aesthetic Treatments?
The aesthetics industry’s biggest spenders are middle-aged women, but the industry is slowly making headway with other demographics.
While nearly 90% of med spa patients are women, the number of men seeking aesthetic treatments has been creeping up year over year for decades. Men are increasingly open to laser hair removal, PRP hair restoration, and neuromodulator injections.
The industry is also appealing to younger consumers. More than half of customers in the aesthetics market are between the ages of 35 and 54, but younger people, heavily influenced by social media, are starting to show interest.
When marketing across generations, it’s important for med spas to recognize what’s driving patient interest. Gen X patients want to slow and control the aging process, while Millennials want to prevent aging and keep up with beauty trends.
Gen Z makes up a small fraction of aesthetic treatment patients today, but look for them to start buying long before they hit 35. These visual-first digital natives have been investing in skin care since their tweens. Young adult influencers are already creating content about slowing the aging process, even as they battle adolescent skin issues like acne.
2025 Aesthetic Market Treatment Trends
This year’s aesthetics market trends demonstrate patients’ interest in looking young – but also natural and healthy – as well as heightened expectations for the customer experience.
2025 Trends:
- Tightening Procedures for the Jaw and Neck
- Regenerative Medicine
- Neurotoxin Injections
- Natural-Looking Results
- Personalized Patient Experience
Tightening Procedures for the Jaw and Neck
Last year, semaglutides hit the weight loss market like a tidal wave. Of the one in eight adults who took an injectable GLP-1, nearly half did so to lose weight.
For many, the drugs lived up to their promise of rapid weight loss. But patients were not prepared for the skin elasticity they would lose with it. Sagging skin in the cheeks, jaw and neck was even dubbed “Ozempic face.”
Between these patients and those looking to combat normal signs of aging, expect to see a lot of interest this year in minimally invasive ways to restore fullness and firmness to the lower face.
The neck is another area that can betray a person’s age. Last October, the FDA approved the use of Botox to treat moderate platysma bands. The ease of treating a sagging neck with an injection will make this a sought-after treatment in 2025.
Regenerative Medicine
Consumers are increasingly concerned with the sustainability, environmental impact, and health impact of aesthetic treatments.
For instance, despite years of safe use, celebrities took to social media in droves last year to announce they were having their dermal fillers dissolved. People still want to improve their appearance, but they want more natural ways to do it.
In 2025, the aesthetics market can expect to see an uptick in demand for regenerative medicine, stimulating the body’s own repair processes.
While we still expect to see plenty of dermal filler injections, we also expect to see growing interest in fat micrografts and biostimulating procedures like microneedling and stem cell-rich plasma treatments.
Neurotoxin Injections
Injectable neuromodulators have topped the list of popular aesthetic treatments for years, and there’s no reason to think 2025 will be any different.
One reason neurotoxin injections are a perennial favorite is their appeal across generations — they can be both preventative and corrective. While most people seeking injections are over 40, they’re gaining popularity with younger people.
“Prejuvenation” – stopping wrinkles before they start – is gaining steam among Millennial and Gen Z patients aiming to get ahead of the aging process their mothers are going through.
Another reason for consistent demand is that the makers of neuromodulators don’t rest on their laurels. They’ve continued to advance the science behind their injections, meaning med spas today can offer longer-lasting results and convenient premixed liquid toxins.
Natural-Looking Results
Americans have embraced a diverse approach to what’s beautiful, emphasizing unique looks over cookie-cutter aesthetics.
That means fewer patients coming in asking to look like a celebrity and more who want to subtly enhance their natural features rather than dramatically change them.
Healthy is in, so expect to see demand for procedures that help patients project a healthy look, like fat sculpting for a toned silhouette and skin resurfacing for a glowing complexion.
Personalized Patient Experience
In the Information Age, consumers are more educated than ever. They’re looking for science-backed treatments and medical-grade skin care as young as their 20s.
They’re less likely to be convinced by a generic sales pitch and expect to have personalized treatment options laid out for them.
What’s more, they expect this level of personalization at every touchpoint with a med spa, not just during their appointment.
Med spas that design a positive patient experience will see greater patient retention, more spend per patient, and more word-of-mouth referrals. Trends to watch include:
- Using technology to streamline and personalize patient communication. From online scheduling to chatbots to a portal where patients can communicate asynchronously with their provider, make it easy for customers to get the answers they want when they want them.
- Personalizing marketing so that patients get only the emails, texts, and promotional messages relevant to them and their history with your practice.
- Bundling complementary procedures and products or creating membership subscriptions. For example, consider creating a customizable anti-aging bundle of injections, skin resurfacing, and skincare products.
2025 Aesthetics Market Trends in Technology
One reason the aesthetics market continues to grow is because its technology continues to advance. Newer tools deliver better outcomes at a lower cost with less recovery time, making aesthetic treatments an attractive option for people who may have hesitated in the past.
Trending Tech: Advanced Lasers
Laser treatments are among the most popular aesthetic procedures. The latest technology in CO2 lasers delivers highly customizable and targeted solutions for a variety of conditions.
The most popular laser procedure is laser hair removal. Since it trails only Botox as patients’ most common first procedure, it’s important to make the experience as positive as possible, so those patients continue to come back for more treatments as time goes on.
The market demand for laser skin resurfacing is also on the rise. In 2023, the most recent data available, more than 1 million laser skin resurfacing procedures were performed.
Trending Tech: EBDs
EBDs, or energy-based devices, are noninvasive tools that use energy to stimulate changes in the skin. These include tools used for red light therapy and body contouring.
EBDs appeal to patients who are uncomfortable with chemical or surgical procedures. Because they stimulate the body’s own responses, they feel like a more natural way to enhance one’s appearance.
Many med spa patients have done their homework — they researched tools and techniques before ever making their appointment. Be prepared to answer specific questions and give detailed information about the tools in your practice.
Trending Tech: Augmented Reality
There is no reason in 2025 for patients to have to imagine the results they can expect from their aesthetic treatment. Interactive visualization platforms enable med spa clinicians to show them an augmented reality picture of the likely outcome.
Besides boosting patient confidence, an AR image puts the patient and provider on the same page and helps set realistic expectations for a procedure.
Trending Tech: Data Security
Data security continues to be a pressing issue in health care. Protecting patient data from theft and ransomware is both a smart business practice and required for HIPAA compliance.
Med spas require an additional layer of data security in their systems. In addition to health and financial data, a med spa’s records include patient photos, which hackers may also steal and hold for ransom.
It’s critical to choose an EHR and practice management system with robust security protocols, designed to protect your patients and regularly updated to protect your practice from bad actors.
2025 Trends in Med Spa Patient Expectations
Modern consumers expect businesses to go out of their way to provide convenient, personalized experiences. This is especially true of the aesthetics industry — people view med spas as more of a luxury indulgence than a medical facility, and they expect the experience to match.
Trending Expectation: Convenient On-Demand Access
Customers want access to their relationship with a med spa whenever it’s convenient for them. They don’t want to be forced to call during business hours or wait in line to make a payment.
Even with a small staff, your med spa can provide this level of access by taking advantage of advanced practice management tools. Integrated, specialty-specific med spa software makes everything from scheduling an appointment to paying a balance smooth and painless.
Trending Expectation: Relevant Marketing
People are constantly bombarded with marketing messages. It’s a common complaint of modern life, but most people actually don’t mind marketing — as long as it’s relevant.
Modern marketing software helps med spas target their marketing with data. When you know where patients are coming from, their demographics and the procedures most in demand, you can tailor marketing campaigns to match.
Marketing automations integrated into your med spa practice management software help you engage with current patients, with messages triggered by patient actions.
For example, an email explaining ongoing skin rejuvenation can automatically go out to a patient at a scheduled interval after a facelift. An automated appointment confirmation for neuromodulator injections might include a discount code for a subscription to skincare products.
Trending Expectation: One-on-One Attention
Cost-conscious customers can be enticed to try a med spa through promotions, bundles, and discounts. In order to get those patients coming back and paying full price, practices need to deliver a luxurious, one-on-one experience.
The most important factor in building patient loyalty is building a relationship. A provider can’t do that if they spend just minutes with each patient — especially not if most of that time is spent looking at an iPad.
Use technology to automate documentation and other tasks that might prevent you from giving a patient your full attention. The right tool can streamline workflows for every part of your practice, enabling you to see more patients while simultaneously giving more face time to each one.
Med Spa Success in 2025 and Beyond
Keeping up with trends, delivering excellent patient care, and running an efficient practice can feel like a neverending marathon. Nextech can lighten the load with practice management technology specifically tailored to the unique needs of med spas.
The Nextech med spa platform empowers clinics to maximize patient engagement and operational efficiency. Get more done, faster and more accurately, without overloading your team.
Want to see how Nextech can help your med spa grow? Request a demo of our powerful technology.
About the Author
Robin Ntoh is VP of Aesthetics at Nextech. A recognized expert in the business of elective healthcare and aesthetics, Robin has seen success in the launch of both her own consulting company and the addition of consulting services for Nextech — serving more than 400 clients. Her 35+ years include small- to mid-business management as well as executive leadership for one of the leading aesthetic HCPs, Nextech.