What 100 Beauty Brands Taught Me About the New Definition of Beauty
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
By Nikki Lindgren
Founder & Managing Partner of Pennock Digital Partners
Beauty has changed more in the last few years than it did in the decade before, and not because of a single trend, specific brand dominance, ingredient breakthrough, retailer, or platform. Though GRWM videos, gen alpha brand launches, the dominance of Rhode, Ulta vs Sephora wars, or TikTok Shop would lead you to think otherwise.
Beauty has changed because consumers hit their breaking point and rightfully so.
For years, beauty was defined by polish. Minimalism. “Effortless” perfection that was anything but effortless. Pilates chic, glass skin, curated morning routines filmed from pristine bathrooms.
It looked calm, aspirational, and controlled. It portrayed beauty as something you achieved by fixing yourself fast, quietly, and ideally without anyone noticing the work. That aesthetic worked when social feeds were smaller, attention was cheaper, and aspiration still felt attainable.
By late 2025, we saw a very real shift. Beauty got messy again. Raw. Human, often referred to as the ‘dopamine hit’. And that shift showed up everywhere from ad creative outperforming when it felt unpolished, to founders becoming more visible than celebrities, to customers responding better to honesty than optimization.
I’ve helped over 100 beauty brands grow their DTC business, and the most important change I’ve observed isn’t aesthetic, it’s philosophical. Consumers are no longer responding to hacks, shortcuts, or miracle claims. Confidence is being built through routines and personal progress, and that kind of confidence can’t be engineered or rushed.
One of the biggest myths being retired right now is the idea that consumers trust inauthentic influence, usually driven by celebrities and macro-influencers. The era of creators schlepping products they don’t use just to earn a commission is losing oxygen fast. Audiences know when someone is renting trust versus earning it. Vague claims, perfect lighting, and forced enthusiasm don’t convert the way they once did, especially in paid environments where scrutiny is higher and patience is lower.
What’s replacing that model is far more intentional: curated collaborations with smaller creators who have real proximity and credibility, founders showing up imperfectly, and brands letting their customers do the talking. Increasingly, the strongest creative isn’t scripted, it's observed. Trust has become the true currency of beauty marketing.
At the same time, the definition of beauty itself has softened. Instead of selling transformation, the brands winning right now are selling the relationship between the customer and their skin, their body, their routine. We’re moving away from “before and after” narratives and toward “with and over time.” Longevity has replaced anti-aging, and that’s not accidental; it reflects a consumer who wants to participate in the process, not escape it.
Beauty rituals are being reframed as confidence builders, not insecurity amplifiers. For a long time, the industry thrived on urgency: fix this, shrink that, erase signs of aging as fast as possible. But consumers are tired of feeling like a problem to solve. As more people move offline, step back from constant comparison, and reassess what wellness actually means, beauty routines are becoming slower, calmer, and more grounded.
This shift isn’t a trend, it's a correction. Beauty is no longer about fixing people faster; it’s about supporting them longer. And the brands that understand that won’t just perform better in the next era they’ll help define it.
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