beauty pulse
SLG Brands Annual Beauty Report 2026
Beauty Pulse 2026 builds on the research first published by
SLG Brands in 2025.
For 2026, the sample was increased from 350 to 500 UK women aged 18-44*.
Key questions from 2025 were repeated to allow year-on-year comparison,
alongside new questions covering changes in product discovery and research,
price and value, beauty motivations and wider wellbeing.
Lucy Beresford
Chief Executive Officer
SLG Brands
Jonathan Dee
Marketing Director
SLG Brands
Becky Eastgate
Head of Global Brands
SLG Brands
Helen Frankland
Senior Brand Manager
SLG Brands
The experts behind the second
SLG Annual Beauty Report
*Attest Survey, 25 August 2026, 500 females 18-44
SOCIAL MEDIA & BEAUTY
The pressure is growing, but so is awareness of the risks
AI & AUTHENTICITY
Knowing what is real is becoming harder
INCLUSIVITY & REPRESENTATION
Gen Z is asking more of the beauty industry
TRUST & PRODUCT CLAIMS
Beauty claims are facing greater scrutiny
HOW PEOPLE RESEARCH & BUY BEAUTY
As trust becomes harder to earn, the search for
evidence is growing
BEAUTY, CONFIDENCE & WELLBEING
Beauty is about confidence and self-care as
well as appearance
HOLISTIC BEAUTY
Beauty priorities extend beyond functional
product benefits
PRICE & VALUE
Value for money matters more than it did a year ago
SUSTAINABILITY
Simple solutions & avoiding unnecessary ingredients
are coming to the fore
THE FUTURE OF BEAUTY
The generation growing up with these challenges is
ready to shape what comes next
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14
18
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26
28
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Lucy Beresford CEO
SLG Brands
When we published Beauty Pulse
in 2025, we wanted to understand
how women were feeling about a
beauty industry being reshaped by
social media, changing expectations
around representation and the rapid
development and deployment of
AI technology.
A year later, our research shows that many
of those pressures remain.
Social media continues to be an important
source of beauty education, but comparison
and pressure have increased. Trust in brand
claims has fallen. Opposition to AI-generated
models has grown. And consumers are
asking for more realistic imagery and
better representation.
But what I find most encouraging in this year’s
research is how consumers are responding
to these dynamics, by carrying out deeper
research, relying more on peer reviews,
questioning what they see and consume in
terms of brand content, and becoming clearer
about what they expect from beauty brands.
This is particularly apparent among younger
women: the true digitally native generation.
They experience some of the strongest
pressures from social media, yet they also
show a real awareness of its potential
effects, especially as AI accelerates. They are
increasingly questioning what is real, strongly
rejecting the use of AI-generated models and
asking the industry to be more representative.
So, while Beauty Pulse 2026 highlights
challenges the industry still needs to address,
it also gives us plenty of reasons to be positive
about the empowering effects of our industry
in the lives of our consumers. Consumers
are more questioning, more informed and
increasingly clear about the beauty industry
they want to see.
SOCIAL
MEDIA
THE PRESSURE IS GROWING, BUT
SO IS AWARENESS OF THE RISKS
& BEAUTY
Social media continues to play a major role in beauty. In 2026, 44% say
it has helped them learn more about beauty products and techniques,
but the pressure they felt to look a certain way or compare themselves
with others has increased. 38% say social media makes them compare
themselves with others, up from 28% in 2025.
The proportion saying it creates pressure to look a certain way has risen from 24% to
29%. The effect is strongest among 18-24s: 43% say social media makes them compare
themselves with others and 37% feel pressure to look a certain way.
At the same time, this age group shows a clear understanding of the risks. 65% of 18-24s
are concerned that beauty and social media could negatively affect young people’s
self-esteem and worry it could pressure them to grow up too quickly.
of 18-24s worry about
the impact on younger
people’s self-esteem
65%
say social media makes them
compare themselves with
others +10% since 2025
38%
What this means for beauty brands
Younger consumers are affected by social media and they are increasingly
aware of the pressure it creates. In an industry where attention can be
short-lived and loyalty and engagement is critical, brands need to consider
not only what the content shows, but how it makes audiences feel.
Brands have a responsibility to keep shifting the message from perfection
and “something to fix”, towards self-expression and enjoyment.
Real people and real routines brought to life through a vibrant mix of
faces and personalities can help beauty feel more relatable & inspiring.
SOCIAL MEDIA & BEAUTY
10
11
AI &
AUTH
ENTI
CITY
say real or minimally edited
imagery is very important
46%
of 18-24s oppose
AI-generated models
78%
say beauty brands should
not use AI-generated models
+8% since 2025
74%
12
KNOWING WHAT IS REAL IS
KNOWING WHAT IS REAL IS
BECOMING HARDER
BECOMING HARDER
As AI and image editing become
increasingly sophisticated, consumers
are placing greater importance on
authenticity in beauty.
Opposition to AI-generated models
has grown significantly. In 2026,
74% said beauty brands should not
use AI-generated models, up 8% since
2025, with opposition highest among
18–24-year-olds at 78%.
The demand for real imagery is strengthening
too, with 46% now saying unretouched or
minimally edited imagery is ‘very important’.
Perhaps most interesting is the awareness among
younger consumers of how difficult it can be
to know what is real. Among 18–24-year-olds,
only 22% say they can ‘definitely tell’ when
beauty imagery has been edited.
Rather than suggesting a lack of understanding,
this points to a generation that is highly aware
of the increasingly blurred line between real
and artificial imagery and of their own ability to
be misled by it.
What this means for
beauty brands
Consumers are setting clearer
boundaries around AI and artificial
imagery. If brands use AI, transparency
matters. There is a risk that AI images
will draw on stereotypical and outdated
definitions of beauty. Therefore showing
real people, realistic imagery and
owning this in your communications
remain key to building trust and
demonstrating a more progressive
approach to inclusivity and authenticity
within a rapidly evolving, digitally
altered age.
13
INCLUSIVITY
REPRESENTATION
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15
GEN Z IS ASKING MORE OF
THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Only 16% of respondents say they
always feel well represented by the
beauty industry, down 10% since 2025.
The demand for better representation is
particularly clear around body shape and size,
where 64% say greater inclusion is very or
extremely needed, +7% since 2025.
The need for better disability inclusion has
also increased to 63%.
Younger consumers set the highest
expectations. 38% of 18-24s say better
skin-tone representation is ‘extremely needed’,
while 37% look for better representation of
body shape and size.
INCLUSIVITY & REPRESENTATION
of 18-24s say better skin
tone representation is
extremely needed
38%
say better body shape
and size inclusion is very
or extremely needed
+7% since 2025
64%
What this means for
beauty brands
Representation remains
an area where consumers
expect more. Younger
consumers in particular are
likely to keep pushing the
industry towards broader and
more realistic representation.
Inclusivity needs to be
woven into every touchpoint,
from shade ranges and
product development to
casting, imagery and
creator partnerships.
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17
TRUST &
PRODUCT
CLAIMS
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Full trust in beauty-brand product claims has fallen from
10% in 2025 to 5% in 2026.
This does not mean consumers believe beauty products never work.
73% say products sometimes deliver on their claimed performance.
But only 8% say they always do, compared with 15% in 2025.
The result is a consumer who expects evidence rather than simply
accepting a claim at face value. And increasingly, they are taking it
upon themselves to find that evidence.
say products always
deliver on their claims
-7% since 2025
8%
are often sceptical
36%
fully trust beauty
brands’ product claims
-5% since 2025
5%
What this means for
beauty brands
The ability for the consumer
to distinguish between fact
and opinion is becoming more
difficult with the role of social
media in product discovery
& education. Make proof part
of the storytelling, bringing
clinical results, consumer
testing and ingredient
efficacy to the forefront of
brand communication.
BEAUTY CLAIMS ARE FACING
GREATER SCRUTINY
19
HOW
PEOPLE
RESEARCH
BUY
BEAUTY
AS TRUST BECOMES
HARDER TO
EARN, THE SEARCH
FOR EVIDENCE
IS GROWING
use user reviews
to judge safety
and effectiveness
58%
of 18-24s use social platforms
more often to search for
beauty products
44%
spend more time looking at
reviews and ratings
39%
20