Cosmetics Business has unveiled the top 5 skin care trends for 2025. 

According to Cosmetics Business, consumers are investing more in their face care routines as they become intertwined with wellness, trading up to premium products for even some of the more basic steps, like cleansing.

Consumers are investing in additional steps, and the result is reflected in the strongest performing segments in skin care across Europe currently. These include lip treatments (+48%), facial mists (+18%) and toners (+17%), which, according to Circana, outperformed the market in 2024 versus 2023.

Prestige lip treatments were equally a bright spot in the USA market, despite overall sales only achieving modest 2% growth last year.

The UK's skin care market, on the other hand, saw prestige sales rise by 12%, ahead of mass market products which were up 8.6% according to exclusive data from Kantar, for the year ending 5 January 2025.

Trends:

Trend 1: Milky toners

• A format that has rebooted the traditional toner segment by prioritising skin hydration and strengthening the skin barrier to boost the complexion and create the much-coveted dewy glow that consumers are seeking.
• The milky toner trend is showing no signs of slowing down either: Spate forecasts strong search growth of 49.2% through 2025 as more consumers flock to the format.

Trend 2: Fragrance returns to face care

• Fragrance-free formulations have dominated facial skin care for well over a decade.
• Facial skin care launches are turning against the tide and embracing the use of fragrance once again, recognising the benefits that fragrance can bring to both their formulations and consumers.

Trend 3: The future of barrier care

• Following the over-use of exfoliating acids, the concept of protecting and repairing the skin barrier started to gain traction on TikTok in 2021.
• Since then, brands have ushered in a vast assortment of skin barrier-boosting innovations that have changed consumers’ skin care practices, as well as the wider industry landscape.

Trend 4: Peptide lip treatments

• Over the past year, lip treatments have taken the trophy as the fastest-growing segment in skin care, with new data from Circana citing value growth of 48% across Europe in 2024, and even more impressive growth of 69% in the UK specifically.
• The boom reflects the wider focus on lip products across make-up, with lip oils, balms and lip liners all seeing strong uptake among consumers over the past couple of years.

Trend 5: Face mists

• As summer 2025 approaches, face mists pose a “huge opportunity” for skin care brands, according to beauty retailer Space NK and market research company Circana.
• The segment exploded last year, finding value growth of 42% in the UK as the number of launches almost tripled.

For the full report, visit cosmeticsbusiness.com.