In 2026, beauty still talks the language of inclusion, but the industry is quietly dismantling the infrastructure that makes it accountable. In short, beauty’s commitment to inclusion is holding up better as a brand value than as a business practice.
The findings come from The MBS Group and CEW UK, which tracked diversity and inclusion across the beauty industry in 2021, 2023 and 2026 through quantitative data and interviews with senior leaders. (Results were released in June 2026. Scroll down for methodology notes.)
LGBTQ+ inclusion is a relative bright spot, per the report, though this conclusion comes primarily via anecdotal insights, rather than data points. Meanwhile, the authors note that, on store shelves, shade range expansions—such as foundations scaling from 40 to 50 options—have successfully moved complexion inclusivity from a marketing campaign to a core product mandate. At the same time, the language of inclusion has blossomed across the hair and skin care sectors.
Yet formal diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategies, budgets and targets have collapsed since 2023.
Companies with D&I budgets have fallen from 69% of the industry three years ago to just 21% today, while businesses setting formal goals have dropped from 62% to 29%.
The proportion of beauty companies maintaining a coordinated D&I strategy fell to 57% in 2026, dropping below its 2021 baseline of 75% and far beneath the 87% peak seen in 2023. Measuring the issue is also less common; the percentage of companies actively collecting D&I data dropped from 80% to 64%.
The leadership picture is stark. Female CEO representation among the top 20 global beauty companies has been cut in half, from 15% in 2023 to 7% in 2026. Male CEOs currently control 60% of the broader market.
In the same time frame, female CFO representation stagnated at 20%.
Beyond the C-suite, female representation on executive committees fell to 35% in 2026, down from 41% in 2023 and 54% in 2021.
Furthermore, female representation at the board level sits at 37% in 2026, which, despite dropping from 44% in 2023, still marks an improvement over the 33% baseline established in 2021.
This leaves the top decision-making roles disproportionately male despite a predominantly female workforce and consumer base.
In addition, ethnic minority representation on boards has fallen from 17% to 9%. Even more striking, representation was 25% in 2021.
The report concludes that this situation is unlikely to improve without companies setting concrete targets, collecting data and dedicating budgets to D&I, stalling the industry's pipeline of diverse talent.
Methodology & Sponsorship Note: This report was produced through collaborative research and analysis by The MBS Group (a B Corp executive search firm advising consumer-facing sectors) and CEW UK (Cosmetic Executive Women UK). Tracking industry shifts across 2021, 2023 and 2026, the findings combine quantitative data collected from beauty businesses with qualitative insights gathered from extensive interviews with dozens of founders, CEOs, presidents, HR directors and senior leaders across multinational, independent, and private-equity-backed beauty brands.
