2026 is shaping up to be a bigger and bolder year when it comes to beauty.
The return of big ’80s curls arrived just as Netflix’s Stranger Things came to a close, which premiered 10 years ago, with a nostalgia for vibrancy and expressionism.
Makeup is getting its own makeover, as painted faces, heavier blush, lip liner and mascara reemerge. It’s a trend that calls back to 2016, when consumers were contouring and playing with cosmetics.
At home, consumers are also experimenting more with science-backed skincare, delving into trends like red light therapy and cellular wellness.
Here are the beauty consumer trends to watch in 2026.
Biohacking was a 2025 buzzword, as consumers explored ways to biologically tweak their health. Now, it’s all about “cellness”, or the wellness of cells. It’s an evolution of the wellness industry’s emphasis on longevity, which broke through as a dominant trend last year. McKinsey reports that up to 60% of consumers view healthy aging as a “top” or “very important” priority.
Conversation around aging has become part of everyday life for consumers and companies alike. In mid-2023, Dior Beauty launched a scientific board dedicated to the reverse aging of the skin, with 12 experts stemming from research universities across the US, Europe and more. The LVMH-owned brand is putting more power behind its skincare category as the market gets increasingly competitive. “We aim for longevity, it’s the result we want; but reverse aging is how we do it, it’s an action,” says Marie Videau, beauty research and innovation director at LVMH. “That’s the point of the board, we want to be very precise on how we are going to do things.”
The latest craze is epicelline, an ingredient derived from vine tea leaves designed to target age-related changes in skin cells, reverting skin to perform just as it did earlier in life, says aesthetic surgeon Jonquille Chantrey, who founded Manchester clinic Øne Aesthetic Studio. The ingredient is used by Nivea in their Cellular Epigenetics Rejuvenating Serum, which launched last summer and was in the making for 15 years.
“Consumers are increasingly focused on staying healthier for longer and are embracing a more positive approach to aging. This shift is clearly reflected in skincare, where the focus is moving toward long-term skin health, vitality and resilience, rather than simply correcting visible signs of aging,” says Jennie Hylton, head of Nivea Face UK.
Since the rise of GLP-1s in 2025, consumers have become increasingly comfortable with at-home injectables. In 2024, we saw NAD+ pens from brands such as Body Brilliant and Intuisse gain popularity, but now, consumers are taking on the jobs of aestheticians at home. Vita Vitae’s micro-needling device, which consists of two syringes, similar to the application to GLP-1s, is promising to help with lifting, plumping and restoring radiance.
More brands are veering toward active ingredients such as exosomes as a means of meeting demand for longevity and positive aging. Spanish skincare brand Germaine de Capuccini is launching its Expert Lab Tec-Exosome System cream the first week of February. “Exosomes are a powerhouse for enabling your skin to age well. They work on calming inflammation, boosting collagen, elastin production and repairing tissue damage,” Gina Baker, skincare expert at Germaine de Capuccini, says. “Consumers are coming away from the ‘overdone’ look. They are seeking solutions that will provide results but also prepare the skin to look naturally radiant in the years ahead.”
The call for exosomes is heightening. Related searches, page views and conversion have all increased by an average of 38% at beauty e-tailer Cult Beauty. “[This signifies] a customer who is becoming far more educated around advanced skin-regeneration technologies,” says Cult Beauty skincare buyer Hannah Grimes.
Clean beauty is taking a backseat. Statement lipsticks, strong eyebrows and pigmented blush are on the rise. According to consumer trends agency Spate, searches for “peel-off lip stains” rose 388.9% year-on-year from December 2024 to November 2025, while searches for “plum mascaras” increased 292.6% during the same period; “bold makeup” has grown 22.2%, followed by “fun makeup” at 17.5%, and “alt makeup” at 16.7%, all year-on-year since December 2023.
“People are craving personality again. We’ve spent years in this very minimal, hyper-polished beauty era where everyone is chasing the same face and the same skin. I think people felt bored and restricted, which then empowered them to experiment with colors, shapes, textures and to just have fun with it,” says makeup artist and TikTok creator Frankie Darling.
Retailer Space NK anticipates strong double-digit growth in the color cosmetics category, building on 2025. There has been triple-digit sales increases for products like eyeliners. During the holidays, makeup was the biggest gifting category for the retailer, with the highest unit growth at 80% and further indicating the demand for color cosmetics in the year ahead.
“What we’re seeing now is a real shift back toward individuality and having fun with makeup again. People are more confident experimenting, and on social media, especially, having a unique edge really cuts through,” says Emily Montila, makeup manager at Space NK. She names Refy and Victoria Beckham Beauty as top-performing makeup brands.
Kulfi Beauty, the South Asian-inspired beauty brand that launched at Space NK last year, predicts that color cosmetic sales will be even stronger this year. “There’s been so much sameness with minimalist, clean, old-money aesthetics, and people are ready to break out of that,” says brand founder Priyanka Ganjoo.
Netflix’s Stranger Things may have come to an end, but its impact on hair trends continues. According to Spate, searches for “80s haircut” and “curly shag” have increased by 14.9% and 39.4%, respectively, year-on-year ended November 2025.
Celebrity hairstylist Larry King, whose clients include Jared Leto and Sienna Miller, says he’s seen the trend transported into his salons and red carpets. “I think it’s because of social media and it’s coming from a lot of youngsters that have been locked into nostalgia — ’80s hair has been driven by nostalgia,” King adds.
He points to another growing trend coming through his salon: gray blending, a technique that uses fine highlights, lowlights and glosses to soften contrast and create a natural, dimensional finish with the client’s natural hair color and desired shade.
At King’s salon, gray blending accounted for 80% of consultations from January to December 2025. Spate also stated that searches for “gray blending” have grown 73% year-on-year since December 2024.
“Gray blending has become a defining service at the salon, reflecting a broader shift away from heavy, opaque color and toward more nuanced, low-maintenance techniques,” King says. “People want their hair to reflect who they are now. Gray blending allows us to enhance natural pigment rather than erase it, which means fewer appointments, healthier hair and a result that feels intentional instead of corrective.”
