We catch Shiyan Zering, Senior Research Analyst, Mintel, after unlocking what’s next in beauty and personal care at Beautyworld Middle East.

Zering took the stage at the leading beauty event in the region to unveil the top 3 trends for 2026.

– Metabolic Beauty is a focus on consumers moving away from surface level aesthetics to a deeper inside out approach to wellness. It’s about connecting skin health and overall wellness through bio-intelligent tech, wearable devices, diagnostic tools. But they need the results simplified for them, measurable, seen, felt, and benefits that they can understand as science gets more nuanced and more advanced.

– The second trend is Sensorial Synergy, Zering continues, about how beauty engaging all five senses is going to become more central to innovation. It’s also a way that consumers value a product and not just experience it, so that brands can justify bigger pricing.

– Beyond The Algorithm: The Human Touch Revolution is about consumers growing tired of AI driven protection. They want raw human creativity and transparency amidst heightened criticism towards AI generated content.

And what’s the most relevant of those 3 for brands and brand owners?

– Sensorial Synergy is probably the easiest one to tap into because you can consider it from all angles: from retail, in-store spaces, and e-commerce, all the way down to product innovation, considering how you are engaging with consumers by tapping into all five senses as much as possible.

You’ve also predicted how these trends will develop both now, and in 5 years from now. It’s gotta be hard to predict what’s next in 5 years when it comes to AI, given that it’s hard to predict what’s coming there in 5 days…

– I think we’ve taken what the understanding is now and the growing concerns which are about trust, transparency, sustainability, and just lack of understanding in general. Even if AI starts to advance further in 4 to 5 years’ time, consumers might still be slower in understanding so that their perceptions may stay exactly the same way that it is now. And that is distrust in content, but also understanding that product innovation is going to be bettered in turn because of AI innovation.

And metabolic beauty, is that the next holistic beauty?

– Yes. For consumers, holistic feels intangible and not understandable. Metabolic beauty is really focused on beauty integrated into health more connectively — long term vitality, health, and tackling root causes of your aging as opposed to surface symptoms. Those are being done through professional grade products and professional treatment. There are things that consumers can actively do in terms of engaging, tapping into the longevity trend in beauty.

And perhaps it’s also closely connected to the wellness trend, which also makes it even more relevant.

– For sure. Absolutely, Zering concludes.