For the past several years, the beauty industry has been the darling of the consumer goods market. A seemingly endless appetite for newness fueled a period of remarkable expansion, with the sector posting a robust 7% annual growth rate from 2022 to 2024. Brands could launch, scale, and sell based on a formula that seemed almost foolproof: find a famous face, create a viral moment, and watch the sales roll in.
But that era of effortless growth is over. Today, the global beauty industry, valued at $441 billion, is showing signs of cooling. A combination of market saturation, economic uncertainty, and a savvier consumer base has transformed the once-clear path to success into a challenging puzzle to solve. The old rules no longer apply, and brands are being forced to adapt to a landscape where hype is no longer enough.
The most surprising and impactful shifts, revealed in the latest “The State of Fashion: Beauty” report from The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company, are not isolated trends. They are interconnected symptoms of a single, massive consumer mindset shift towards demanding demonstrable value. These trends are not just changing the market—they are fundamentally redefining the rules for brands and consumers alike.
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1. The Founder Is No Longer the Face of Success
Contrary to the last decade’s dominant trend, a public-facing founder is now one of the least important factors for consumers when making a beauty purchase. The era of building billion-dollar brands on personality alone appears to be waning as shoppers prioritize substance over story.
The data reveals a stark reality:
- Only 13% of consumers cite the brand founder as a key reason for buying their most frequently purchased brand.
- Product quality (39%) and price (24%) are vastly more important drivers of consumer loyalty.
The business impact of this shift is equally clear. The report highlights that only three founder-led brands established in the last two decades have successfully scaled beyond $1 billion in sales. This is the clearest signal yet of a maturing market saturated with options. Consumers are now forced to use product performance as the primary filter to cut through the noise, making a founder’s story a secondary, “nice-to-have” detail rather than a primary purchasing driver.
The challenge with having those types of very visible female founders is that, in a way, you’re limiting your brand.
— Nicola Kilner, Co-founder of Deciem
This skepticism of personality-driven brands is mirrored in a growing distrust of another long-standing industry signal: the high price tag.
2. “Premium” Is No Longer a Magic Word
Consumers are actively dismantling the long-held belief that a higher price tag guarantees higher quality. A staggering 63% of shoppers do not believe premium beauty products are higher-performing than their mass-market counterparts, a perception that has fundamentally altered the value equation across the globe.
This skepticism has fueled the rise of accessible “masstige” brands and the “dupe” phenomenon, where consumers actively seek out more affordable alternatives to high-end favorites. The report finds that over half (53%) of global consumers are open to buying dupes, demonstrating a clear shift toward value-conscious purchasing.
The implication is universal: brands across all price points must now prove their worth. Luxury brands can no longer rely on a prestigious name alone; they must clearly communicate their value through tangible benefits like groundbreaking innovation, unique ingredients, or a superior user experience.
If you look at luxury brands today, if you look at the communication, it’s much less fluffy marketing. It’s much more claims, data, proven efficacy. Consumers are saying, ‘Yes, I really need to pay much more, but give me a reason for that.’
— Vincent Warnery, CEO of Beiersdorf
Just as they’ve grown wary of premium price tags, consumers are also tuning out another source of manufactured authority: the paid influencer.
3. The Influencer’s Influence Is Fading
While social media remains a crucial part of the beauty ecosystem, the direct sway of influencers in driving purchases is eroding under the weight of consumer skepticism. The endless scroll of sponsored posts and affiliate links is losing its power on a more discerning audience.
According to the report, the importance of influencers in inspiring beauty purchases has declined by 8 percentage points in the US, China, and Europe between 2023 and 2025.
Adding crucial context, the report notes that despite the saturation of digital channels, “physical stores” and “friends and family” remain the top two sources for beauty inspiration and brand discovery. This signals a consumer flight toward authenticity. The preference for tangible, trusted validation stands in stark contrast to the transactional nature of the paid influencer economy. An overreliance on this strategy is becoming less effective, pushing brands to shift focus back toward building genuine brand stories, fostering authentic community, and creating compelling in-store experiences.
This search for authenticity isn’t just changing how consumers shop for beauty, but what they consider beauty to be in the first place.
4. Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep—It’s a Wellness Category
The traditional boundaries of beauty are dissolving. Consumers are rapidly broadening their definition of the category to include products and services once considered separate, such as wellness, personal care, and aesthetic treatments. Looking good is becoming inextricably linked with feeling good.
This expansion is creating significant new growth avenues, as evidenced by consumer interest and adoption across several wellness-adjacent categories:
- Beauty Supplements: 41% of consumers currently use them, and nearly half of non-users are interested in trying them.
- Aesthetic Injectables: 11% of global consumers have had a treatment in the last year, with another 28% expressing interest.
- Spa Services: Engagement is remarkably high, with 34% of global consumers using these services regularly and an additional 38% using them at least occasionally.
The blurring lines between these categories present a major opportunity for brands that can credibly offer products and services that connect outer appearance with inner well-being. The future of beauty is holistic, and brands that embrace this expanded definition will be best positioned for growth.
Conclusion: A New Value Equation
The beauty industry is in the midst of a profound transformation, shifting from an era of hype to an era of substance. This change is being driven by a more educated, skeptical, and value-focused consumer who demands more than just a famous face or a high price tag. Old formulas for success are no longer a guarantee of growth.
As the puzzle of modern beauty gets more complex, the brands that thrive will be those that solve for a new equation of value, efficacy, and authenticity. The question for everyone is: In this new landscape, what is beauty truly worth?
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