Beauty in 2025 will be a tale of two halves: on the one hand, nostalgia and an AI-reactionary human touch will prevail in make-up and fragrance, while on the other, skincare and wellness will embrace break-neck advancements in technology.
Here, discover our edit of the 10 biggest beauty trends for the year ahead.
1/ Express preventative wellness
Health retreats offering full body MOTs are nothing new; what is new is that a sound, swift, preventative approach to welbeing – that can be done in your lunch hour – is becoming increasingly accessible and – if the 40,000-person waiting list for the Neko Health Body Scan is anything to go by – in demand. “You are required to do an MOT on your car, but when it comes to your body, you often need to break down before seeing a doctor,” says Hjalmar Nilsonne who, alongside the Spotify founder Daniel Ek, co-founded Neko Health, which offers a comprehensive health check and on-the-spot results at its Marylebone clinic in just one hour.
Via its own software and state-of-the-art tools, the Neko Health Body Scan uses more than 70 sensors, thermal cameras, lasers and radar to collect 50 million internal and external data points from a patient in just a few minutes. These, in turn, are looking at everything from the moles on your body and their propensity for skin cancer, to your risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. Fascinatingly, in the first year of scanning, 14.1 per cent of Neko’s patients (aged 33 to 79 and none of whom were aware of any condition prior to their visit) needed medical treatment, and for 1 per cent, this was potentially life-saving.
Courtesy Neko Health
2/ Undetectable injectables and stealth surgery
The year of peak filler blindness, 2024 saw a clear backlash to the overuse of injectables and, at the start of the year, rumour had it that there would be a return of the face lift. Then, as Lindsay Lohan, Christina Aguilera and Demi Moore stepped out, one by one, with faces that had seemingly dropped a decade but displayed no obvious signs of injectables, that same rumour mill went into overdrive, speculating over the rise of the deep-plane facelift – surgery pioneered in New York for which, until recently, the risks seemed to outweigh the benefits (and which none of the stars mentioned have disclosed having).
“The deep-plane facelift is not new – it’s been around a long time,” explains the consultant plastic surgeon Nora Nugent. “But it’s recently been popularised, in part because it’s a good technique that’s been improved and advanced.” The procedure involves sliding underneath what’s called the SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system) or ‘supporting’ layer of the skin, and working on a layer beneath, which sits above the nerves that control facial movement.
This, in the past, has come with a higher risk of nerve damage or injury than a standard face lift. But education and nuances about where you “slide under” and the direction in which you lift are leading to more surgeons practicing the deep-plane lift (for Nugent, it’s her go-to). Why? It comes with a more natural-looking, less tight effect that will hold for around a decade and, perversely, result in potentially less bruising and downtime. “I’ve had more and more patients coming in asking about deep-plane face lifts,” says Nugent, who also explains that the procedure works nicely with “deep neck” surgical work.
Randy Shropshire//Getty Images
While surgery clearly isn’t for everyone, there is a general mood for aesthetic work that is undetectable, for which the aesthetic doctor Sophie Shotter is championing a new practice, using a patient’s platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as filler. “We’re extracting and heat-treating the patient’s own blood, and that alone is re-injected,” explains Dr Shotter, meaning what’s put under the skin is 100 per cent natural. “While this can’t do everything filler can do – for instance it won’t be able to reshape your jawline – I think it’s fabulous for those who just have a little volume loss, for skin regeneration, and I think it’s going to be a game-changer for anyone who wants some volume around the eye area; it’ll become an excellent option for the tear trough,” she says.
PRP is also, as consultant dermatologist at Montrose London Dr Jonathan Kentley expands, a form of “regenerative dermatology” predicted to grow in 2025. “This focuses on using techniques to repair and restore the normal function of the skin as we age,” he says. “As well as platelet-rich plasma, regenerative techniques include exosomes and polynucleotide injections, all of which work to restore the normal function of our skin, making sure we age the best we can while looking natural.”
Dr Sophie Shotter Retexture & Rejuvenate protocol, which includes Cellenis Derma PRP filler, from £2,000; Consultations with Ms Nora Nugent can be booked here.
3/ The summer of mineral sunscreen
“Mineral-based sunscreen is definitely on the rise and going to be big in 2025,” says Bobbi Brown, founder of her eponymous brand and , both of which herald skincare as a key component to make-up looking its best. “Mineral sunscreens are great because they contain ‘clean’ ingredients, but they’re also really effective.”
Mineral, also sometimes referred to as ‘physical’ sunscreens, are those which use ingredients that sit atop the skin and literally block UV rays getting in, as opposed to chemical sunscreens, which are absorbed by the skin in order to themselves absorb and break down UV.
Consultant dermatologist Mary Sommerlad agrees that the clean beauty movement is playing into the rise of mineral sunscreen formulas. She explains that, “by its nature, this movement excludes a number of ingredients found in traditional chemical sunscreens,” some of which have been alleged to cause skin irritation or worsen breakouts – but there is, as yet, no robust data to support this. And as an extension of this conscious approach, “there are also concerns around the potential impact of certain ingredients found in chemical sunscreen on marine environments,” continues Dr Sommerlad. Oxybenzone, for instance, has been banned in Hawaii and the state of Florida among other territories due to environmental concerns.
So why haven’t we always used mineral sunscreens? Until now (and still now, to some degree) mineral sunscreens haven’t been especially user friendly; they can be thick, greasy, and leave a white cast. But last year that began to change, with Tatcha’s The Silk Sunscreen being a notable evolution of the mineral; a zinc oxide-based fluid that’s lightweight – and a pleasure – to apply but feels substantial when on, and leaves no trace. It’s also reef safe.
“Improved formulations are making mineral sunscreens more cosmetically acceptable,” says Dr Sommerlad, something that in the past – particularly for women of colour – has been an issue. “I have been impressed with some 100 per cent mineral sunscreens that are using non-nano technology [meaning it won’t penetrate the skin and is also safer for marine life] while still making very attractive formulations without a white cast. Bloomeffects Tuli Dew Shield and Glow is my standout mineral sunscreen at the moment – it’s a really moisturising and effective sunblock (SPF50) with an elegant, glowy finish.”
Many more excellent mineral formulas (currently under embargo) are due to launch this year, all of which will be reviewed over the coming months. Until then, shop our physical sunscreen picks below.
4/ The rise of neck and dec tech
The neck, and by extension the décolleté, has long been resistant to rejuvenating treatments; it’s a rogue body part where the skin is thinner, has fewer sebaceous glands, and is generally tricky to target. But that is all about to change. “This is really exciting,” enthuses Dr Shotter. “2025 is going to reap the benefits of recent studies that have been done to help practitioners understand optimal dosing and injection techniques for botulinum toxin (botox) in the neck.”
To be clear, while botulinum toxin has been administered in necks for some time, there haven’t been any clear guidelines as to best practices and, as such, best possible outcomes. “Now, these new studies have resulted in evidence-based injecting protocols (like those that already exist for the upper and lower parts of the face) that will mean much better end results,” says Dr Shotter.
In addition, topicals specially developed for the neck and décolleté are starting to produce next-level results. Industry insiders have been increasingly clamouring for Trinny London’s The Elevator, packed with peptides alongside patented technology that helps restore the connection between the skin’s layers, which work together to lift, tighten, smooth and firm. New from , meanwhile, is a formula that combines potent plant extracts with algae and hyaluronic acid (HA) for skin that, in clinicals, was shown to appear stronger and firmer. Similarly and Décolleté cream, formulated with peptides – one of which mimics the freezing effects of botox – as well as multi-molecular HA, was put through robust testing and shown to drastically reduce wrinkle depth.
