The Beauty industry is splitting into two extremes: the hyper-scientific and the deeply primal. Navigating AI's influence, the rise of longevity tech, and a consumer base that is tired of being polished is a critical challenge. How do you stay relevant when beauty is simultaneously engineering and rebellion?
VML's "Future 100: 2026" vertical cut on Beauty provides the clarity you need. We analyze the 10 key trends shaping the industry, from the rise of AI storyworlds to the consumer craving for sensory indulgence. This report offers a strategic roadmap to connect with consumers, innovate with purpose, and build your brand in a transformative era.
The Future 100: Beauty Trends & Insights 2026
VML’s Future 100 vertical cut reveals the top 10 trends in Beauty including AI, Longevity tech and Seditious beauty to guide your brand strategy in 2026.
From AI-driven longevity tech to defiant self-expression, the beauty landscape is being reshaped by technology and a desire for primal connection.
Top trends in Beauty from our Future 100 report include:
#52 Edible allure
As appetite-suppressing medications become more common (17% of people have taken them), consumers are seeking sensory pleasure elsewhere. Beauty is filling the void with food-inspired textures and scents that offer indulgence without the calories.
#60: Apocalyptic glamor
In an unstable world, beauty has become a form of resilience. Consumers are using makeup as defiant armor, embracing stark, unsettling looks and metallic adornments that project strength and power in challenging times.
#73: Beauty longevity tech
The conversation is shifting from anti-aging to life optimization. Portable diagnostic devices and AI-driven formulations are empowering consumers to manage their skin health at a cellular level, moving beauty from a topical hope to a systemic solution.
Download our 2026 Future 100 Beauty vertical cut here:
The biggest shift is a split between hyper-scientific optimization (Longevity tech, Skincare wear) and primal, defiant self-expression (Seditious beauty, Apocalyptic glamor). Brands must learn to navigate this dichotomy.
AI is creating synthetic influencers, enabling hyper-personalized longevity tech, and powering the creation of new immersive brand storyworlds. 67% of Gen Z believe AI will allow for more creative and progressive beauty futures.
It’s a reaction against homogenized beauty standards and a way to express identity and resilience. With 72% of people believing beauty is about authentic self-expression, unconventional looks are expanding the very definition of beauty.
Watch our Future 100 video
Welcome to the 12th edition of “The Future 100” – VML’s unparalleled research report examining key global trends. This report features our latest projections, interviews with top industry experts, exclusive statistics and global consumer insights for 2026 from a proprietary 16-country survey.
About The Future 100 report:
After another year marked by economic upheaval, polarizing political currents and environmental setbacks, 2026 will be a year for building resilience, courageous creativity and redrawing the boundaries of what’s possible. From the personal to the planetary, from human engineering to geoengineering the climate itself, a new class of creators and collaborators is multiplying potential in ways we are just beginning to imagine.
Helping to shape these worlds are AI tools that democratize world building and new economic models for building empires. As both creativity and AI go global, voices from Buenos Aires to Busan are challenging Western dominance and creating tools that reflect their own cultures.
Amidst this “metamorphic” current, the desire for human connection remains unmistakable. In the year ahead, human impulse will shape brand strategies, influencing the top marketing trends in 2026, and draw people back to immersive, high-impact experiences that demonstrate the value of authenticity and unlock infinite possibilities.
Download your copy of our 2026 Future 100 report here:
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