What skin and beauty trends can we expect to see in the media and on the shelves in 2025? Skincare writer Jocelyn Bailey shares what's on her trend radar.
🕒 6 min read
1. Think slow, move fast
That's what the marketing experts are calling this trend, but the short and sweet definition is simply, 'Prevent and protect'. It means taking a long-term view of skincare in order to slow and minimise visible ageing. The shift is especially noticeable among younger age groups who are coming to realise that a lifetime of Botox and filler can be replaced with a less expensive (and less painful!) preventative plan using skincare.
This vital yet simple philosophy involves gentle cleansing, scrupulous daily UV-protection, plus moisturising products that nourish, preserve and treat. It also means using active ingredients such as collagen-building peptides, skin-renewing retinol and damage-minimising antioxidants.
Built on this prevent and protect philosophy, Daily UV Defence SPF50 contains UVA/UVB filters and antioxidants niacinamide and super-active vitamin C. Together, they fight free radicals, reduce wrinkles, and stimulate the skin's natural production of cushiony collagen and hydrating hyaluronic acid.
2. Comfort with sensorial satisfaction
Think of this like an extension of the 'hygge' (the Scandinavian word for cosy comfort) trend with which we're already familiar. In beauty terms, it combines luscious textures with a sense of emotional wellbeing, perhaps through pleasurable aromatherapy oils or some other therapeutic benefit.
Consequently, soothing and comforting textures have become super-important, making the right products feel like the skincare equivalent of a soft coat. Replenish Body Butter is an excellent (and blissful) example, as it features indulgently rich shea butter, cocoa butter and sweet almond oil, so feels sumptuous yet still absorbs easily.
Alternatively, for the complexion, there's the fabulously plush and silky Replenish Instant Skin Perfector, which has collagen-boosting plant oestrogens as well as optical diffusers to instantly blur lines, wrinkles and pores. More than 90% of testers said their skin looked smoother and felt softer in one week.
3. Evergreens
Pleasure and 'hygge' aren't only to be found in product textures, but also in familiarity. This may apply to both the simplicity of an uncomplicated routine and also to the easy comfort of classic, long-loved products and ingredients.
So despite the recent vogue for complex 12-step beauty programmes from Asia (most notably Korea), lots of users began to feel that so many products were not only unnecessary but could also upset a sensitive complexion, or even cancel each other out. The sheer number of products involved also meant a considerable outlay.
As a result, it's perhaps not surprising to see skincare users increasingly returning to a more simplified, practical regime of effective cleansing, daytime protection, and night-time nourishment.
This becomes especially valued when within the products are trusted evergreen ingredients, most notably antioxidants (especially vitamin C), collagen, hyaluronic acid and, of course, peptides, which deliver high-performance results.
A top pick for this trend is the bestselling Replenish Collagen Boosting Serum, which contains antioxidant vitamin C and two different collagen peptides in a hydrating, silky formula.
4. Smarter not harder
Dubbed '(My) Knowledge is Power,' by Mintel, the market research experts, this mix of knowledge, tools and technology is part of a move towards AI, often in the form of personalised, customised advice and tech wizardry. It could involve devices that can detect and analyse damage or pigmentation below the skin surface, or tools that precisely custom-match make-up with skin colour, or even apps that deliver personalised make-up tutorials.
The phrase can also apply to the ways in which we use our skincare products to get the best results (such as applying cleanser for longer for more thorough results, or layering a serum underneath your moisturiser) as well as the use of tools like gua sha stones and high-tech microcurrent devices to lift and tighten.
5. Focus on eyes
The eyes may be the windows to your soul, but they're a pretty obvious focal point in other ways too, and caring for them is a key trend for 2025.
Since the skin around the eyes is thinner and more sensitive than elsewhere, it's the area that shows signs of ageing first. To keep them looking fresh, they need nurturing ingredients that not only protect and preserve, but also firm, smooth and hydrate.
Formulated especially for mature skin, Replenish Eye Serum lifts, firms and rejuvenates, and also tackles puffiness, dark circles, crows' feet, lines and wrinkles using antioxidants and phytoestrogens. According to leading dermatologist Dr Anjali Mahto, oestrogen-mimicking plant ingredients are 'an exciting frontier in skincare,' and are expected to develop further in 2025.
6. Farm to table
Recent shopping habits show that while 'clean beauty' may have begun as a niche area, sustainability and ethical practices have become a huge priority for all of us. We now pay more attention than ever to ingredient technology and ethical practices and we like to see information on all sorts of relevant initiatives, ranging from biodegradable packaging, regenerative farming and marine conservation to new ways of blending nature and technology.
The clean beauty trend also reveals an ever-growing preference for natural ingredients that still deliver powerful results. These ingredients can sometimes be surprisingly familiar, such as nutrient-packed superfoods that are already renowned for their antioxidant, anti-ageing, complexion-smoothing benefits. The Skin Nutrition supplement contains vitamins as well as blackcurrant seed oil, flaxseed oil, grapeseed oil and omega 3 fish oils, in order to boost the complexion.
Healthspan's vitamin C skincare range (including Vitamin C Serum and Vitamin C Face Cream) are also packaged in bio-based tubes, derived from sugar cane. This greener source of plastic helps to reduce greenhouse gases and is 100% recyclable.
7. Wellness infusion
This trend is proof of an increasingly holistic approach to wellness via multi-purpose beauty products and treatments that simultaneously benefit body, mind and spirit. Think of it as where beauty and wellness meet, thanks to formulations that not only enhance skin, hair and nails, but manage to contribute to overall wellbeing, too. It means we can expect to see more skincare infused with energising, relaxing, detoxing and other health benefits.
There are two top related picks from Healthspan's range. First, Collagen Glow for hair, skin and nails, which contains two different types of marine collagen (type I and type III), plus health-supporting vitamins C and E. The other is the soothing CBD Balm, which uses broad-spectrum CBD oil from legally grown EU hemp and features relaxing lavender, calming chamomile and deliciously scented essential oils.
With nourishing coconut oil and vitamin E, it's as ideal for soothing muscles and joints as it is for a dry, irritated skin – and perhaps an irritated soul, too.
