Skincare, fragrance and wellness led the beauty market in 2026. Throughout the year, the market has shown consumers' ever-changing needs and demands. As the industry prepares for the new year, all eyes are on what 2027's beauty landscape will look like.
Global strategy and management consulting firm Kearney released its comprehensive 2027 beauty outlook report, which forecasts an increasingly fragmented beauty market where the industry is shape-shifting faster than it’s growing.
In June 2026, Kearney surveyed 2,500 beauty consumers across five global markets (France, the United Kingdom, China, Japan and the United States) to understand the consumer shifts and expectations driving the sector.
The report analyzes top trends that will shape the future of the beauty market, evolving customer demand and loyalty and the continuing shift from brand- controlled communication to advocates and AI.
It's clear that physician backing can give a brand a sense of expertise that inspires consumer confidence. The report breaks this down further, identifying a major indicator that today’s consumers are also hyper-serious about results.
Consumers expect credible proof and they want experts to help them navigate the market. To put this into perspective, more than two-thirds of consumers said they want a dermatologist to serve as a trusted advisor or primary decision-maker, ahead of beauty brands, salon professionals and retailers.
Bar chart showing dermatologists are consumers' most trusted beauty advisors at 67%, followed by beauty brands at 62%Kearney’s beauty outlook 2026 study (n = 2,500; n = 500 per market)
For brands like La Roche-Posay, Rhode and Nutrafol, dermatologists build the integrity and reputation of reliability. This indicates that marketing alone can no longer guide consumers' purchasing choices.
Beyond credibility, advocacy, AI and personalization stand at the intersection of marketing and influence.
Advocacy has become the largest area of advertising and promotion spend for many major beauty companies. Consumers hand authority to whoever they judge to be authentic, relatable and credible. While sponsored content on social media can provide monetary advocacy, genuine, sustained partnership, built on real fit between the voice and the brand rather than fame alone, builds demand that compounds.
Forward-looking planning can help enhance a brand's influence; however, AI is behind various ways consumers discover and research beauty. 68 percent of consumers are already using AI for at least one beauty task, rising to 83 percent in China, led by learning about products, comparing them and getting personalized recommendations.
Stacked bar chart showing AI usage for beauty research by country, with percentages for discovery, research, both, and neither categoriesKearney’s beauty outlook 2026 study (n = 2,500; n = 500 per market)
To keep consumers coming back, loyalty building is forecasted to be earned and strengthened with every purchase. Through this philosophy, consumers seem more committed to what works, not to the name on the label. Brands that are mindful of consumers' notion that trust in one product doesn't equate to loyalty in an entire range or assortment from a brand.
Looking ahead, loyalty, credibility and science have stood behind consumers' purchasing choices for quite some time. It's factors like AI research, efficacy and consumers seeking deeper expertise that are shaping the 2027 beauty landscape. The leaders that are adaptable to new developments and open to getting to know their buyers on a deeper level will mold a new understanding of consumers.
