Blazing products in the category promise a mild to spicy warming effect as beauty shoppers pick up products that go beyond blah. Among the steamy skincare releases are Iota’s Superchili+ Body Mask; Maëlys’ B-Tight Lift & Firm Booty Mask, B-Flat Belly Firming Cream, B-Flex Lift & Firm Arm Cream and B-Sleek Outer Thigh Stretch Mark Cream; Prakti’s PaviPure Warming Detox Mask; and Mount Lai’s Warming Bamboo Charcoal Cleansing Balm. Another warming topical skincare launch from a self care-focused beauty brand will launch next week as well. They arrive on the market as a recent survey from marketing and communications agency VML shows 63% of global consumers want multisensory experiences from brands.

Maya Regan, trend editor at trend consultancy Stylus, says, “We are increasingly seeing sensorial experiences being incorporated into beauty routines to enhance ambience, better deliver well-being benefits and provide transformative moments of pleasure that offer joyous relief from the stresses of everyday life as well as this wellness-driven sensoriality, and both playful and comforting textures are booming in beauty thanks to smart formula innovation geared towards feel-good consistencies, sophisticated finishes and delightful experiences.”

The concept of sensorial beauty that interacts with several senses—mostly smell, touch and sight, but sometimes hearing, too—and heightens the elements that prompt them to elicit an emotional response gained momentum during the pandemic as people cocooned in their homes hunted for beauty products to boost their wellness routines. As the line between beauty and wellness continues to blur, more brands have cottoned on to the concept to deliver products with the maximum holistic benefit bang for consumers’ bucks.

Regan suggests savvy beauty consumers seek products that try to make them feel good and look good. “They are looking for enhanced product experiences and transformative moments of pleasure via sensorial elements in their beauty routines,” she says. “Intriguing textures like warming or cooling sensations not only provide an engaging wow factor, but also stimulate the senses, uplift emotions and combat stress.”

Most users feel a mild to intense tingling heat after they slather Iota’s Superchili+ Body Mask on their bum, thighs, breasts and abdomen. The sensation is not the product’s only attribute. Taking 50 iterations to perfect, its formula is intended to help firm skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines. Superchili+ Body Mask turns to the food world for its spiciness, which comes from Sichuan chili pepper. In the food world, spicy sauces are all the rage, and Superchili+ Body Mask indicates the trend is being translated in beauty.

“Many of us love the experience of spice from the inside out,” says Iota co-founder Monique Meneses, who points out clinical studies on the Sichuan pepper show it minimizes rough skin texture. “Eating spice can trigger the release of endorphins and dopamine, making us feel euphoric. I wanted to reimagine that thrilling, sensorial experience from the outside in with a first-of-its-kind body mask treatment featuring one of my favorite spices.”

Since Superchili+ Body Mask made its debut in August, Menenses says the response to it has been “overwhelmingly positive.” One online reviewer of it wrote, “I felt like I was wrapped in a heating blanket.” Menenses says, “Most are intrigued by the sense of wonder and playfulness it brings to body care.”

Maëlys’ firming products—all four best sellers for the brand and available at retailers like Ulta Beauty and Target—use vanillyl butyl ether (VBE) to produce a skin-warming effect. Along with the sensorial benefit, Jessie Reder, SVP of product development at the brand, says the effect aids in preparing the skin to better receive other active ingredients in Maëlys’ firming formulas, “which may contribute to the visible longer-term results.”

How dramatic can the results be? Dermatologists caution against expecting heat-stoking ingredients will radically change results. Brendan Camp, a dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology, agrees with Reder that warming products may improve the absorption of active ingredients due to the dilation of superficial blood vessels. However, he emphasizes there’s “limited evidence that they are any more effective than traditional types of products and are unlikely to replace tried-and-true skincare.”

Steve Xu, a dermatologist at Northwestern Dermatology and founder of personal care brand Geologie, says the warming feature in body care products “essentially acts as an enhancer…I do think it’s a cool idea to use heat as a way to get more actives into the skin that otherwise would not penetrate.”

Warming agents have been a feature of topical muscle salves for decades—hello Icy Hot—but beauty brands today are elevating them beyond pharmacy staples. Luxury CBD skincare brand Galyna’s latest launch is Soothe Pain Relief Cream. The product is formulated with CBD and enriched with vitamins A, C and E, but it’s the menthol in the cream that provides a cooling sensation followed by a warming effect.

Marnie Peterson, chief scientific officer at Galyna, explains menthol yields a cooling effect by interacting with desensitizing nociceptors in the skin or nerve endings that can send pain signals to the brain when triggered by external stimuli. Formulated with lavender oil for calming, Soothe Pain Relief Cream is designed for muscle aches, but also to address pain and tension from migraines, period cramps and arthritis.

Brands often purport that warming ingredients cleanse as they destress. Traditional Chinese Medicine-rooted skincare brand Mount Lai’s Warming Bamboo Charcoal Cleansing Balm was developed to cleanse and detoxify in part because of the gentle warming sensation produced by the charcoal in the product. With Prakti’s PaviPure Warming Detox Mask, founder Pritika Swarup sought to bring a relaxing and luxurious touch to the masking process.

“Unlike traditional clay masks that dry to remove impurities, often leading to tightness, dehydration and irritation, our mask offers a soothing, comforting experience while deeply purifying the skin,” she says. Of the warming effect, she adds, “It instantly opens up the pores, making it easier to extract deep impurities from the skin.” In addition to Parkti’s e-commerce site, PaviPure is sold at Credo and Goop. Swarup says the retailers loved the warming sensation of the mask and felt the experience “aligns with [Prakti’s] holistic approach to skincare.”

Xu is skeptical of the detoxification claims, but acknowledges they’re plausible. “Warming masks create peripheral vasodilation of the blood vessels on the skin in the area the masks are placed,” he says. “This leads to increased blood flow. Increased blood flow brings certain cells that can scavenge for damage and provide a detoxifying effect, but this depends on the amount of heat, how long it’s applied and what exactly is being detoxified.”