Retailer Space NK anticipates strong double-digit growth in the color cosmetics category, building on 2025. There has been triple-digit sales increases for products like eyeliners. During the holidays, makeup was the biggest gifting category for the retailer, with the highest unit growth at 80% and further indicating the demand for color cosmetics in the year ahead.
“What we’re seeing now is a real shift back toward individuality and having fun with makeup again. People are more confident experimenting, and on social media, especially, having a unique edge really cuts through,” says Emily Montila, makeup manager at Space NK. She names Refy and Victoria Beckham Beauty as top-performing makeup brands.
Kulfi Beauty, the South Asian-inspired beauty brand that launched at Space NK last year, predicts that color cosmetic sales will be even stronger this year. “There’s been so much sameness with minimalist, clean, old-money aesthetics, and people are ready to break out of that,” says brand founder Priyanka Ganjoo.
Big hair
Netflix’s Stranger Things may have come to an end, but its impact on hair trends continues. According to Spate, searches for “80s haircut” and “curly shag” have increased by 14.9% and 39.4%, respectively, year-on-year ended November 2025.
Celebrity hairstylist Larry King, whose clients include Jared Leto and Sienna Miller, says he’s seen the trend transported into his salons and red carpets. “I think it’s because of social media and it’s coming from a lot of youngsters that have been locked into nostalgia — ’80s hair has been driven by nostalgia,” King adds.
He points to another growing trend coming through his salon: gray blending, a technique that uses fine highlights, lowlights and glosses to soften contrast and create a natural, dimensional finish with the client’s natural hair color and desired shade.
At King’s salon, gray blending accounted for 80% of consultations from January to December 2025. Spate also stated that searches for “gray blending” have grown 73% year-on-year since December 2024.
“Gray blending has become a defining service at the salon, reflecting a broader shift away from heavy, opaque color and toward more nuanced, low-maintenance techniques,” King says. “People want their hair to reflect who they are now. Gray blending allows us to enhance natural pigment rather than erase it, which means fewer appointments, healthier hair and a result that feels intentional instead of corrective.”
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