The Top 19 Skincare Trends of 2025

Sun protection products expand beyond traditional sunscreen

With the growing focus on anti-aging and proactive skincare, consumers are looking for ways to protect all areas of their skin, from lips to eyes and beyond.

Shower water quality a growing focus

Filtering drinking water is not a new idea. But what about shower and bath water? That’s the idea behind the growing interest in the Jolie filter.

Given that consumers spend over $10B a year on moisturizing, and that hydration is one of the fastest-growing new skincare trends (and hair trends), it’s easy to see why a filter that removes chlorine would be a tempting investment.

In fact, Jolie pitches its product as a financial investment: “Women who invest in their appearance spend an average of almost $3,800 a year on beauty-related expenses…if you are combining your products with unfiltered water, you're foiling your investment in your appearance.”

As for the business model, Jolie’s customers first buy a special showerhead, then start a three-month rolling subscription for replacement filters.

Brands lean into demand for ingredient transparency by using foods and vitamins consumers already know

As demand for ingredient transparency is on the rise, some companies are leaning into ingredients they know consumers are already comfortable with, rather than seeking out new obscure ones.

The health and beauty industry enjoys a multiplicative proliferation of potential products: every combination of an ingredient and a form factor can lead to a new kind of skin or hair care product. Caffeine eye cream is a recent example of this. In eye cream, caffeine isn't meant to be a stimulant; the goal is to take advantage of its other effects: constricting blood vessels makes eyes look less puffy. In fact, this product is self-reinforcing: high caffeine consumption can degrade sleep quality, leading to baggy eyes. So caffeine is part of the solution as well as part of the problem.

The internet’s wealth of information on beauty increasingly makes it easier for consumers to become skin care experts. This means that, in some ways, beauty jargon is less and less effective at wooing customers. More brands are consequently leaning into ingredient transparency.

For any new ingredient, part of the sale process involves convincing customers that it's safe to use. This is easier when a known ingredient is being added to a new product. This also explains why so many beauty products use foods or essential oils as a key component. Consumers increasingly want to know exactly what they’re putting on their faces, and caffeine is a popular choice because it’s something they already put in their bodies.

Given this trend toward ingredient transparency, brands started differentiating from their competitors by naming specific ingredients on their product listings. This inadvertently created an SEO opportunity for smaller brands to enter the space since many customers were then searching Google for ingredients rather than brands. In the caffeine eye cream business, some sellers have doubled back, by highlighting the origin of the caffeine (organic coffee beans, or green tea), not just the chemical compound, capturing interest in organic skincare trends. Since caffeine itself is cheap, a more natural and upscale source is a unique selling point.

Consumers increasingly searching for ingredients rather than brands

Ingredient-focused shopping has become one of the most defining current skincare trends, as consumers care more about what’s inside their products than the brand name.

As skincare information becomes more ubiquitous, consumers are employing this new knowledge and searching for ingredients directly, running alongside rising consumer demand for total transparency and simplicity.

Brands have taken notice of these shifts in consumer behavior and many have found that by focusing on ingredients like beef tallow, they can cater to both sides of the market – the novices who are looking for simple solutions, and the beauty aficionados who feel they can be their own at-home chemists by focusing on single-ingredient products.

Consumers push back against scars

The rate of C-section baby deliveries around the world has grown more than 300% over the past 30 years alone.

This drastic growth is in part due to medical billing. Doctors are paid about 15% more to deliver babies via C-section than via birth canal, as the operation is then classified as a major surgery. And because C-sections take less time, doctors can perform more of them per day, leading to greater earnings.

As C-sections become much more common, consumers are increasingly trying to reduce scarring. Scar tape, traditionally prescribed after plastic surgery, is growing in parallel with C-sections – they are one of the many reasons consumers list seeking out the product.

Some are even also using the product at night to reduce wrinkling, making scar tape a key product in the growing movement towards eliminating visible scars.

At-home devices enable professional skincare on budget

The staggering 98% drop in LED bulb prices over the past decade has allowed for new types of consumer products and is eroding at the economies of scale that hold the salon industry together.

Not to be confused with surgical face masks, LED face masks are an increasingly popular treatment and a standout among the latest skincare trends, where a face mask with embedded LEDs bombards the skin with light, allegedly reducing acne. This would have been a ridiculously expensive product a decade ago, but the LED price drop helps these face masks replace what used to be an in-person treatment. Instead of spending $25 to $85 per session at a salon, users can order a single mask for $100 and get as many treatments as they want. And not only have LEDs gotten cheaper, but the lights have also gotten significantly longer-lasting.

The rise in popularity of LED face masks is also another case of the kit trend, where an in-person service gets replaced by a kit that can be used at home, alongside things like lash lift kits, beard growth kit, ebike conversion kits, fertility testing kits, and more.

DNA testing fuels personalized skincare advancements

Modern consumers increasingly demand customized solutions and DNA-based skincare—one of the most promising future skincare trends—meets this need by offering routines tailored to individual genetic profiles. This scientific approach not only elevates traditional beauty rituals into evidence-based regimens but also helps people identify and address potential risks early, such as tendencies toward acne, premature aging, or sensitivity.

The appeal lies in transforming skincare into a data-driven, self-optimized process that resonates with the culture of personalization and the "quantified self" movement, one of the largest health & wellness trends.

Kids skincare on a rapid climb

In 2023, Sephora reported that the number of its customers aged 9 to 12 had doubled over the past five years. Social media's role in shaping this trend is undeniable, with over 80% of teenagers reportedly watching beauty tutorials online.

This growing focus on beauty among (pre)teens has fueled the explosion of brands like E.L.F., a leader in Gen Z skincare trends, which saw its revenue surge by a staggering 77% in 2024 to $1.02 billion and now commands 35% of the female teen market.

Kids’ beauty products typically consist of gentler, more hypoallergenic formulas to reduce the risk of irritating younger, more sensitive skin.

Some argue that beauty routines offer kids an opportunity for self-care and personal expression. But others are concerned that introducing complex beauty routines at a young age can send the message that looking good requires constant effort—and spending. This not only fuels self-consciousness as kids begin comparing themselves to curated ideals, but also normalizes costly habits that may be more about pressure than play.

Rising K-pop influence fuels global Korean skincare demand

The global cultural influence of K-pop and K-dramas have influenced a range of industries, fueling Korean skincare trends like ‘glass skin’ and even sparking Korean-inspired alcohol trends.