From Glass Nails to Blurred Lips, These Are the 6 Beauty Trends Defining 2026
It's a big year for beauty, and according to experts, these are the key beauty trends of 2026 that will define the year ahead.
A new year is here, and as a beauty editor, I'm naturally curious as to what beauty trends 2026 will bring. As a beauty journalist with over a decade of experience studying hair trends and skincare trends, meticulously spotting emerging makeup trends and nail trends, whilst having a nose for upcoming fragrance trends, I can safely say that 2026 is bringing plenty of exciting beauty trends to get excited about.
Working at Who What Wear UK means I get to see exclusive previews of launches, try the best new beauty products and have access to the leading experts across the beauty industry. All this to say, I can spot upcoming trends from a mile away. We can expect to see more advancements in skincare and aesthetics, a shift to soft-focus lip liner, and our shiniest, glossiest manicures yet. As for fragrance, we're seeing a continuation of minimalist scents, and for hair, you can expect to have a lot more fun, with some exceptionally chic hair accessories this year.
Ahead, I've consolidated the emerging beauty trends that will be everywhere in 2026. From hairstyles to skincare ingredients, aesthetics to makeup and fragrance, and the beauty trends making a comeback, these are the defining beauty trends you can expect to see a lot more of during 2026.
1. Glass Nails
I see more and more neutral nails and milky manicures dominating my feeds, and coupled with new nail innovations, we can expect to see nails become even more glossy in 2026. Sheer nail polishes, such as nail perfectors, are the equivalent of glass skin for your nails. With their translucent finish, they act like "no-makeup makeup" for your nails, perfecting the nail bed with just a couple of coats with a lacquered gloss.
The trend has gained momentum since celebrity manicurist Harriet Westmoreland launched her own line via her brand, Westmoreland Cosmetics, which has collections of polishes, aptly named Glass Gels and Glass Polishes, late last year. "All the shades have a sheerness, so you can layer different colours in between. So you could do a layer of peach, milky and peach again. They just look so juicy, glossy and glass-like that you can't go wrong mixing them and layering them," she says.
Meanwhile, Manucurist's Active Smooth line comes in an array of sheer tones to complement all skin tones whilst strengthening your nails, and Essie's latest launch, the Glass Nail Polishes, delivers a sheer tint of colour to the nails, much like stained glass windows.
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2. Amino Acids
According to Eleanor Hartley, founder and director of Hart Medical, amino acids will be a defining skincare ingredient for 2026.
"We know the beauty industry loves a buzzword, and whilst amino acids have been around in skincare for a very long time, we will undoubtedly see a rise in the use of these biochemical building blocks to support regenerative aesthetics in 2026," says Hartley.
"2025 was all about polynucleotides and represented a huge step forward in regenerative aesthetics. In simple terms, if we consider polynucleotides as the recipe, then amino acids are the ingredients," she explains. "Every collagen fibre, elastin strand and enzyme is built from amino acids, so without sufficient raw materials, our collagen-stimulating treatments (like microneedling, polynucleotides or Sculptra) achieve very little. Stacking amino acids with your collagen stimulators enhances your skin's capacity to respond to these regenerative treatments."
Whilst you'll need to head to an aesthetics clinic for these treatments, amino acids are also cropping up in lots of new skincare launches, too.
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3. Blurred Lips
As a beauty editor, I'm privy to hearing about launches months before they launch, and if they are anything to go by, we can expect blurred lips to be a major makeup trend for 2026.
Google searches for blurred lips are up 300%, and with makeup artists such as Nina Park popularising the look with her signature blurred lip liner looks, all signs are pointing to this trend gaining momentum in the year ahead. Featuring a soft-matte finish, these lip products deliver a sheer wash of colour to leave lips looking just-bitten.
Thankfully, several products deliver the effect in one swipe. Violette_FR's Bisou Balm is a sheer, matte lip balm that bestows a soft-focus blur to your lips for a Parisienne-inspired mood, whilst Rhode Peptide Lip Shape is like a contour for your lips to sculpt without harsh lines. Lastly, Merit's Signature Lip Blush imparts a just-bitten blur when patted onto the lips.
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4. French Hair Accessories
French hair is amongst the most timeless when it comes to hair trends (it never truly goes away). And whilst claw clips may have dominated as the fashion set's go-to hair accessory in recent years, as a hair-obsessed beauty editor, I'm seeing the chicest tastemakers instead opt for French-inspired hair accessories for 2026.
From French pins that allow you to coil your hair into an effortless French twist in seconds, to French hair combs that secure your hair into an undone half-up, half-down hairstyle, you can expect to see more French hair accessories in 2026. In fact, Google searches for French pins are up 1275% alone right now.
The most beautiful French pins, combs and sticks often come in weighty chrome or lacquered in classic tortoiseshell, which also look like an objet d'art on your dressing table. But thankfully, you don't need to trip to Paris to acquire one. From designer hair accessories to high-street finds, I'm seeing more and more French-inspired tools everywhere right now.
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5. Smart Fillers
As for treatments, Hartley predicts that smart fillers will be a defining 2026 aesthetics trend, which helps to kickstart your own collagen with biochemical signals.
"Newer, hybrid 'smart fillers' providing intelligent, biostimulation to create a more natural and autologous structural support will continue to replace the overused hyaluronic-acid dermal filler," says Hartley. "Bio-stimulators use biochemical signals to stimulate the body's own collagen production, which in turn supports volume loss and improves structural integrity of both the skin and deeper facial tissues.
"Whilst PLLA (poly-L-lactic-acid) and CaHa (calcium hydroxyapatite) have been around for decades, newer formulations of these biostimulators with enhanced safety profiles have taken a frontline in the aesthetic clinician's tool box over the past year, and will continue to do so in 2026," she says.
"Swiss formulated product Juläine LASYNPRO technology uses a gentle biostimulatory mechanism to activate the skin's own collagen production, restoring tightness and erasing fine lines, even in the eye area," she adds. "I predict this will be seen more frequently in the office of top aesthetic clinicians this year."
You will need to visit a qualified medical practitioner to access smart fillers. However, there are also plenty of at-home skincare innovations that help to kickstart collagen production.
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6. "Transparent" Perfumes
Fragrance has been one of the fastest-growing sectors in the beauty industry, and one emerging fragrance trend for 2026 is the rise in "transparent" perfumes.
Much like the skin scents that have gained popularity in recent years, these glassy scents have a transparent quality to them, with notes of skin-like musks and airy aldehyes, enhancing your own skin chemistry without overwhelming your senses. They're fragrances you wear, rather than fragrances that wear you.
Take new fragrance brand Artifact, which crafts fragrances with neo-adaptive technology to ensure its scents work with your skin chemistry, with slow-release notes that wear close to the skin but linger for hours on end. It's a trend that perfumers predict will be big news in 2026, too. "Subtle, intimate scents feel like an extension of oneself, with soft musks, airy florals and subtle woods," says Almira Armstrong, founder of Atelier Lumira.
Romy Kowalewski, founder of 27 87, agrees. "We'll see fragrance as part of self rather than performance. Fragrances designed for intimacy and adaptability, rather than theatricality," she says.
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