The Wellness Industry Won’t Heal You

When Self-Care Turns Inward: Labubus, Skincare, Retreats, and the Market for Comfort

What do you do when you feel anxious, off-center, or overly stimulated by everything around you?

More often than not, the answer these days is: taking some me-time. Right, why not? Taking care of yourself, pampering your needs, staying in, lighting a scented candle, signing up for a sound bath session, or venturing to a retreat that promises to help you find closure, help you let go, and reemerge as a healed human being. This search for care is genuine, but the way it is packaged, sold, and delivered—or lack thereof—deserves closer attention.

Brands, more than anyone, have long understood their place in this. They see the market opportunity of those who are struggling to keep themselves sane or at least functioning, in what Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman called “Liquid Modernity”—a time characterized by instability, lack of cohesion, and precariousness of bonds.

In response to these times, people are looking for ways to manage genuine anxiety, overstimulation, and loneliness. …