This Is Our Official 2026 Beauty Trend Forecast
you heard it here first
By Ava Barker | 15th January 2026Between scent stacking, the return of eyeliner, and Hailey Bieber’s Rhode landing at MECCA, it’s clear: beauty is heading into another big year.
So, after many hours spent scouring Sephora, deep-diving Pinterest, and googling hair tutorials we’ll never actually follow, we’ve consulted the crystal ball to bring you the crème de la crème of 2026’s beauty trends.
What’s coming?
A clear shift away from ultra-curated perfection and into something looser, softer, and far more experimental. Think less polished, more undone. After years of contour-carved faces and filter-level flawlessness, beauty in 2026 is finally blurring the edges.
This year’s forecast calls for gothic makeup moments, healthier-looking skin, and — yes, spoiler alert — the hotly debated side part making a comeback.
Mirror, mirror on the wall… want to know the hottest beauty trends of them all? Read on for our predictions for 2026’s biggest beauty moments.
Goth girl glam
What started with exposed under-eye bags has now transitioned to full-on gothic-inspired glamour. Think cool-toned shadow, dark lips, cool-toned shades, and smoked-out eyeliner. Sultry and intense, these looks were here, there and everywhere on the Golden Globes red carpet, with Charli XCX’s sultry cat eye and Jenna Ortega’s barely-there brows leading the charge.
Darker on the liner, lighter on the lip
In true Y2K fashion, we are creating dimension on the lip like never before. Taking a page from Lily Rose-Depp’s book, in 2026, we are opting for a lip liner that is at least three shades lighter than the lippy. Opt for a deep berry shade on the outer lip, then go in with your tried-and-true nude to perfect this 2000s diva-coded look.
Bare nails
Recession indicator or not, bare nails are having a moment on TikTok. With it’s chic, low(ish)-maintenance appeal and an emphasis on nail and cuticle care, this trend is the natural progression of the makeup-to-skincare shift we’ve been seeing over the past few years. (Side note: if you’re in the middle of an annual Sex and the City rewatch like I am, you might’ve noticed that Carrie Bradshaw is the OG of this trend).
Natural blush
Forget blush blindness – 2026 is the year of the natural flush. Think pinched cheeks and a subtle, sexy, I-just-spent-the-day-frolicking-in-a-field glow. Be it peach, berry, or pretty-in-pink, whatever your tone, find the shade for you and get the blush going. We also think liquid blushes are going to have a moment this year, so watch this space.
Ghost lashes
Ghost lashes – or barely-there lash looks – were one of the biggest beauty trends of 2025, and with scores of celebs going mascara-free and designers like Fendi and Max Mara ditching the tubes backstage, it’s safe to say this trend is here to stay in 2026.
Messy hair, don’t care
Texture, texture, read all about it! While a slick-back bun is a tried-and-true staple (especially before wash day), the 2026 beauty pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction of the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, as a more undone, lived-in look is set to dominate.
Side parts
A point of contention in the Gen Z vs. Millennial discourse, we are here to say, the side part is officially cool again, and it’s flooding both high fashion runways and Instagram feeds. For those resistant to 2010s fashion trends slowly creeping back into the spotlight, fret not and lean in. Above all, the side part offers versatility, channelling 2000s indie sleaze à la Gabriette, while also delivering an updated ‘90s bombshell energy, as seen on the ever-so-flawless Jennifer Garner at the Golden Globes.
Straight brows
The straight brow is shaping up (see what I did there?) to be one of the hottest brow trends of 2026, popularised by K-beauty and Gen Z celebs like Tyla and Manon, so pick up those tweezers and go crazy, girl.
Body skincare
Bringing facial-grade actives below the neck, luxury body care is the beauty industry’s newest frontier. This year, it’s time to build on those self-care rituals and give your skin (not just the skin on your face) the TLC it deserves. This includes lymphatic drainage body sculpting, which – if you’ve seen the befores and afters – looks like a total gamechanger.
Au naturel
The ultra-matte look? Been there. The “glazed doughnut” craze? Done that. In 2026, we’re meeting in the middle for skin that actually looks like skin, with a barely-there, slightly blurred base that still allows natural texture to shine through. Natural beauty is emerging as a quiet rebellion, with more people dissolving their fillers, embracing their real skin texture, and stepping back from the homogenous ‘Instagram face’ look. Going sans-makeup or wearing it so lightly that it’s translucent will also continue to have its moment – see: Pam Anderson.
’90s soft glam
In-demand at the minute? ’90s soft glam. And we are looking to none other than celeb makeup artist Nina Park for inspo. She is currently nailing 90s-inspired soft glam, with her it girls like Addison Rae, Margaret Qualley, and Zoë Kravitz sporting her signature blurred lip – you know, that effortlessly lush, just-been-kissed look – paired with subtle eyeliner on the red carpet. Delish!
The bixie
On the scene in 2025, but taking over in 2026, the bixie is the cut of the season. While her vintage Balenciaga coat and Miista boots were all anyone could talk about after her husband Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral swearing-in, we shouldn’t overlook Rama Duwaji’s scene-stealing ‘do – the utterly chic offspring of a bob and a pixie cut, dubbed the ‘bixie’ and poised to inspire a wave of copycats well into 2026.
Imagery: @victorianordmark/ @ru3yray / @brycescarlett
