The Top 19 Beauty Trends of 2025

Consumers increasingly search for ingredients rather than brands

When it comes to skincare products, shoppers are increasingly searching for ingredients rather than brands.

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 squalane, 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.

Sun protection products expand beyond traditional sunscreen

With the growing focus on anti-aging and proactive skincare, consumers are looking for ways to have everyday full coverage, not just on normal areas where you'd put sunscreen, but all over.

As a result, sales of everything from SPF lip balm to sunscreen for the more sensitive facial areas, like the eyes, are on the rise.

Men’s makeup sees a rise in demand

While makeup is strongly associated with femininity, there's an ongoing cultural shift where male consumers are increasingly buying beauty products. It was only a few years ago when men's moisturizer was looked upon as taboo — now there are dozens of men's skincare brands.

In contrast to women's products, marketing for male cosmetics mainly focuses on utility. A product description on a male cosmetics site reads, "Your eyes tell a story. Don't tell a tired one. Use our Wake Up Eye Stick with Caffeine to help de-puff the bags under your eyes."

These brands also push back against the stigma by using models with highly masculine features - thick beards and defined facial features. They also typically use masculine branding, black and red colors alongside bold and all caps text.

Shower and sink water quality is a growing skincare 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.

Authorities usually purify drinking water supplies by adding a small amount of chlorine. While research says the chemical is largely harmless to consume at dilute concentrations, many people say they don’t like the smell or taste. It’s what’s in part led to the popularity of Brita filters and similar products.

Showering or bathing in chlorine also causes an unwanted side-effect: dry skin and hair. Given that consumers spend over $10B a year on moisturizing, 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.

Virtual try-ons and use of tech for shade matching

The key purchases for consistent makeup users like foundation or concealer involve experimentation and so have traditionally been bought in-store. Online instead serves mostly as a replenishment channel in the beauty industry once a customer knows what they want. In fact, for female teens, a demographic that spends more time online than almost any other, 90% prefer to make beauty experimentation purchases in-store rather than online.

However, companies like Il Makiage are using technology to match users with the right shade of these products, making it easier for consumers to find their perfect match.

At-home devices enable professional skincare on a budget

The staggering 98% drop in LED bulb prices over the past decade has allowed for new types of consumer products and is eroding 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 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.

Clean beauty & ingredient transparency

Rising consumer demand for total transparency and simplicity in their skincare products has greatly influenced the shift towards ingredient-based shopping rather than brand-based shopping.

Parents driving preventive skincare routines for kids

Parents are embracing preventive skincare for children, mirroring adult trends that promote proactive maintenance and age-specific protection.

Brands are pushing gentle, hypoallergenic formulas that avoid harsh chemicals in favor of plant-based emollients and microbiome-friendly ingredients.

By targeting younger consumers, these brands aim to cultivate lifelong customers and establish early skincare habits. They’re also emphasizing that multi-step routines not only enhance beauty but also promote mindfulness.

Rising K-pop influence fuels global Korean skincare demand

Korean skincare’s global appeal is fueled by the cultural influence of K-pop and K-dramas, which have popularized aspirational beauty ideals like “glass skin.”