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As 2025 comes to a close, Launch Digest is taking a beat to slow down and reflect on the past year. We’re breaking down 2025’s biggest trends in some of our favorite product categories in order to set the stage for some big picture predictions for 2026.
2025 saw a whole slew of major beauty launches, from the announcement of Martha Stewart’s new skincare line to Sonsie co-founder Pam Anderson’s comeback and Dua Lipa teaming up with Augustinus Bader. We tested so many new makeup and skincare products that our bathroom cabinets could double as a Sephora counter. But what trends link the breakout stars of 2025’s beauty-heavy year? And what trends do they point to for 2026?
I chatted with Stevie Nelson, Director of Product Education at TQE-beloved beauty brand Saie, about her take on the trends that defined the year in beauty. Nelson saw 2025 as the year of “intentional layering.” People leaned into layering complimentary cream and powder products. Saie saw a rise in customers layering powder/cream combos like the Saie Dew Blush and new Saie SuperSuede Baked Powder Blush. “Having a powder counterpart to set each cream product helps ensure your makeup will last longer and enhances dimension,” Stevie told me. “Your makeup looks extra perfected.” She also saw a rise in other layering techniques like underpainting and in using highlighting products on the undereye.
Looking ahead to 2026, Rachael Gallo, a licensed master esthetician and Chief Operating Officer of Silver Mirror Facial Bar, predicts that the biggest skincare trend will be “the rise of bio-stimulating ingredients.” “Products and treatments will increasingly use regenerative molecules like peptides, growth factors, and exosomes to actively stimulate collagen and cellular repair,” Rachael said. “Helping skin look healthier, firmer, and more youthful at a deeper level.”
From the sneak peek I’ve had of early 2026 launches, staying power is also a major trend. I predict we’ll see a rise in products promising a single, lasting daily application (rather than needing to be continually touched up), as well as things like setting sprays and setting powders gaining in popularity. This ties into what the experts have reported about haircare trends: people want to use products that look effortless and simplify their daily routines – we all have enough to stress about without worrying about our mascara running.
While we start designing our NYE looks to ring in 2026, here are the 5 best new beauty launches of 2025:
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Best Hydrating Product:
On the skincare front, we were so impressed by the new Mimi Luzon Fresh Face Hyaluronic Super Cream. Its formula is richly hydrating without feeling heavy, perfect for extra winter moisturizing. It’s gentle enough to soothe sensitive skin, featuring effective but non-irritating moisturizing ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, Squalane and Jojoba Oil. We also love the chic packaging and easy to use pump applicator.
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Best Tinted Lip Shine:
Kosas Wet Stick in Unbuttoned is the latest expansion of Kosas’s popular Wet Stick line. The sheer wash of color is a unique combo of hydrating lip balm and pigmented lipstick, and the most versatile lip product I tested this year. I carry one in every bag, and Unbuttoned quickly replaced Malibu as my go-to shade. Unbuttoned’s gorgeous, universally-flattering warm blush color pairs well as a hydrating layer over a lip pencil.
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Best Lip Pencil:
Lip combos dominated the beauty conversation this year. The internet dissected signature lip looks from celebrity makeup artists like Nina Park, debating the perfect lip liner to define without dehydrating. Even lip liner skeptics started reaching for lip liners to use under their lipsticks and glosses. Our favorite lip liner of the year was the ILIA Lip Sketch Hydrating Crayon. ILIA Lip Sketch was the only genuinely hydrating lip liner we tested, with a combination liner/lipstick finish. It gives long lasting color and can be worn in a more defined style or blurred out for a natural finish. For the Nina Park fans, the new neutral beige color Untitled makes a great dupe.
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Best Powder:
In addition to the Saie SuperSuede Baked Powder Blush, Saie launched the Slip Tint Undetectable Baked Setting Powder. The talc-free formula sets makeup in place for hours. Its soft, natural finish blurs pores without overly mattifying the skin or settling into fine lines. The powder is also infused with hectorite and silica to help control sebum. Unlike other pore-clogging powders, it didn’t cause break outs or skin irritation.
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Best Liquid Blush:
Scandinavian beauty brand Lumene released beautiful new shades of their Invisible Illumination Liquid Blush. The lightweight liquid blush is subtle and buildable, giving more control over intensity than other liquid and cream blushes we tested (a blessing for those of us with blush blindness). We also loved that the small bottle fit easily in a makeup bag for touch ups and doesn’t require a bulky brush to apply, making it our favorite on-the-go blush option.
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Happy shopping. Email me directly – hannah@thequalityedit.com – with any launches you’d like to see in the spotlight, or DM us over @thequalityedit.
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