5 personal care products that solved real problems in 2025
We may earn revenue from products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn even more >
In a market saturated with wellness products that promise to fix your whole life but rarely deliver much, this year’s self-care winners stand out for actually solving real problems. The Class of 2025 represents true inclusivity and thoughtful design, from a breast pump that goes old school to improve its portability, to world-class headphones that double as hearing aids and workout coaches. These products don’t just follow trends or throw around pseudo-scientific buzzwords. Instead, they’re tackling overlooked challenges with smart engineering: making perfume bottles easier to grip, transforming exhausted parents’ sleep routines, and redesigning recovery gear so athletes can soothe strained muscles on the go. Each winner proves that meaningful innovation happens when companies take into account real user needs and use that knowledge to make great products.
(Editor’s note: This is a section of Popular Science’s 38th annual Best of What’s New awards. Be sure to read the full list of the 50 biggest innovations of 2025.)
Grand Prize Winner, Personal Care
Willow Wave Manual Breast Pump: Modern mobility meets manual pumping
Learn more
The portable breast pump market has exploded in recent years, allowing parents to express milk without tethering to a plugged-in device or getting tangled in a tube. Some options now incorporate the entire pumping mechanism into a form that can slip into your bra, promising a level of discretion that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago. But most come with an important caveat: They are noisy. Motor noise can make pumping that might otherwise go unnoticed on a video call or in a quiet office virtually impossible. The Willow Wave solves this problem by replacing a buzzing motor with an old-fashioned manual pump mechanism, but without sacrificing the mobility that makes portable pumps so appealing in the first place. Building on the company’s experience creating the first portable electric pump fully integrated into the bra, Willow has reinvented what a manual pump can be. The Wave fits completely over a standard nursing bra. Its ergonomic handle prevents hand fatigue when pumping and connects via a 34-inch adjustable tube, giving users true freedom of movement and full control over their device’s hospital suction power. The result is a portable pump that’s finally quiet enough to use anywhere, even during that morning video meeting.
Hyperboot by Nike × Hyperice: recovery that follows you
Learn more
Compression boots have rightly become a fashionable recovery tool, but most require you to remain seated during treatment. The Hyperboot offers a nomadic alternative in the form of a battery-powered shoe. It combines Hyperice’s Normatec dynamic air compression with targeted heat therapy, all in a portable form that lets you recover while standing, walking, sitting, or traveling. Air compression pushes heat deeper into the tissues of the ankle and Achilles tendon for more effective treatment. Whether you’re walking between meetings or traveling from marathon to marathon, the Hyperboot provides professional-grade recovery without requiring you to stop and sit down. It’s the kind of multitasking recovery tool that busy athletes and weekend warriors have been waiting for.
Rare Eau de Parfum by Rare Beauty: A perfume designed for everyone
Learn more
Most perfume bottles prioritize aesthetics over accessibility, forcing those with limited mobility to overcome fiddly caps and stiff spray mechanisms. Rare Beauty founder Selena Gomez, who lives with lupus-related arthritis, wanted her brand’s first foray into fragrance to do better. The bottle features an easy-to-grip shape and a low-force spray mechanism that makes application easier for people with limited mobility or strength. The oversized pump can be squeezed with any part of your hand or even your arm, eliminating the need for precise finger pressure. Beyond accessibility, the scent itself offers unusual versatility: wear it alone or combine it with the brand’s scented balms to personalize the scent to suit your mood or occasion.
Apple AirPods Pro 3: The world’s best-performing headphones can also make you feel better
Learn more
Apple’s latest AirPods Pro would likely gain a spot somewhere on the BOWN list for their improved active noise cancellation and improved sound sealing only. But the earphones’ health and wellness features have made them a must-have for self-care. Apple’s smallest heart rate sensor ever sends invisible light into the ear at a rate of 256 times per second to provide accurate workout metrics without a chest strap. The Apple Intelligence-enabled Workout Buddy feature delivers personalized mid-session motivational messages, while the sensor fusion of built-in accelerometers, gyroscope and custom photoplethysmography sensor tracks heart rate, calories burned and progress across up to 50 workout types. AirPods Pro 3 also deliver an end-to-end hearing health experience. Users can take a scientifically validated hearing test and then use the Hearing Aid feature to adjust for mild to moderate hearing loss. Meanwhile, hearing protection uses machine learning to prevent further hearing damage, reducing ambient noise 48,000 times per second. These aren’t just great headphones; it’s a complete health companion that also delivers impeccable sound.
Ozlo Sleepbuds: the sleep tracker that actually helps you sleep
Learn more
Sleep tracking devices are everywhere, but most only give you data. Ozlo Sleepbuds take a different approach by combining comfort-focused hardware with advanced noise-masking technology and genuinely useful information. Designed to stay comfortable all night long, even for side sleepers, the tiny earbuds let you stream soothing content, audiobooks, meditations, or your favorite playlist as you fall asleep. Using built-in biometric sensors to detect when you’ve fallen asleep, they automatically switch to a noise-masking sound that blocks out snoring, traffic and other disturbances. The charging case also acts as an environmental sensor
PopSci Outdoor Gift Guide 2025
