In the beauty industry today, trends are carefully created. Major brands collaborate with top influencers, stylists, and media outlets to name and shape the next big moment, while smaller brands often thrive by quickly adapting and making trends their own.

As the clean girl aesthetic, hybrid products, and Y2K nostalgia continue to dominate in 2025, the real question for 2026 is how indie beauty brands can stay relevant and profitable by leveraging these trends. We asked PR experts to share their insights on the micro-trends set to last, the strategies that work, and how everyone can prepare for the year ahead.

Below are the experts' insights.

• Leverage the annual trend report Pinterest Predicts
• Reinterpret trends rather than copy them
• Take a unique formulation or sustainable process and make it a must-have “movement”
• Develop an entire persona around one impact statement
• Build a brand thesis big enough to bend trends to it
• Winning is about changing the story and not chasing micro trends
• Anchor your brand in real values and traditions

Leverage the annual trend report Pinterest Predicts

Emily Reynolds, Owner at R Public Relations

"Trends are great, but no brand should jump on every trend–only the ones that align organically with the brand identity already built. One way to predict and stay aligned with trends is to leverage data collected by social media platforms, especially Pinterest. Pinterest Predicts is an annual report that the platform puts out, which very accurately reflects trends for the year to come. Internal and external research can help define what trends make sense for you to leverage."

Reinterpret trends rather than copy them

Leah Miller, Marketing Strategist at Versys Media

"The smartest emerging trend use I’ve seen comes from brands that reinterpret trends rather than copy them directly. For instance, instead of chasing the full Y2K package, one startup skincare brand we advised drew on early 2000s visual cues but modernized their messaging with today’s minimalist skin-first values. That made it fresh and helped them reach both Gen Z and late millennials.

To stand out among celebrity brands, indie names should focus on credibility and personality. Build a founder story that brings something new to the table. Maybe it’s ingredient expertise, a cultural influence missing from mainstream beauty, or a raw and real point of view. Then tie it into short-form content where micro-trends surface first. Social media is where the PR moment begins now, not where it ends.

To position as a trend leader, indie brands can flip the playbook. Start by beta-testing a trend with micro-creators or loyal customers to see what sticks, then push the narrative in press and social at the same time. One indie lip care brand we worked with tapped into the 'glazed lip balm' trend before it had a name. Once the phrase caught on, we had already seeded product content on TikTok and had beauty editors ready with samples. Being first doesn’t always mean being loud. Sometimes it means being early and thoughtful.

Lastly, lean into moments that offer flexibility, like hybrid products or functional beauty. These create space for brands to innovate differently, which is what indie does best."

Take a unique formulation or sustainable process and make it a must-have “movement”

Delbert Baron Lee, President at Wynbert Soapmasters Inc.

"Here at Wynbert Soapmasters we built a nine-figure business not by riding trends but controlling the production and ingredient pipeline. Indie brands completely misunderstand the agility factor. They think it is about speed to react. In fact what makes them agile is dictating the trends based on the unique things they can do in their production environments that big corporations with tightly managed supply chains cannot. The 2026 winners will be brands that take a unique formulation or sustainable process from raw ingredients and make it a must-have “movement.”

Indie brands must actively stop playing the game of speeding response to micro-trends. They should anchor their PR strategy around a defendable product truth. If they have a proprietary cold-fusion-effect emulsifying technique, they should not merely point it out on the ingredient panel. They must create and define the “cold beauty” trend in the market identifying their unique process as the base case for this market movement. This turns a manufacturing format into a market-leading position while creating a distraction whereby others in the category must address an insider narrative they did not create and easily replicate.

We employed this thinking when building out the PR launch for a new soap based on a byproduct from a local fruit processor. We did not act like it was “another fruit-scented soap.” We created a PR campaign surrounding the theme of “circular beauty,” highlighting the supply chain innovation. The result of this was our positioning as sustainability leaders in the space rather than simply “another” clean beauty brand. For indie brands the most powerful trends for 2026 will revolve around supply chains and the manufacturing floor not the TikTok feeds."

Develop an entire persona around one impact statement

Gabrielle Marie Yap, Culinary Entrepreneur at Carnivore Style

"In my world of flour and sugar, not foundation and serum, the playbook for launching a unique indie brand is exactly the same. It is my experience from creating food concepts as well as being a pastry sous chef that there is one rule to win against industry giants: you must have a story that is uniquely yours and can’t be imitated easily. With the inability of marketing to generate dollars becomes an obvious dramatic bluff, but there is nothing you will find more valuable than that FACT when fighting for attention in the crowded social feed space. The fighting for space on the grocery shelf is the same as the battle for attention till it goes woosh, and the victor is always the strongest story.

Indie brands must STOP chasing after waves of momentary trends, but actively create their own trends by developing an entire persona around one impact statement. To me, it is a signature ingredient story. In my culinary work, this would be a rare heirloom grain or that unique fermentation process. In a beauty brand’s product it might be a sustainably harvested botanical, such as, developed by a specific community or the process proprietorship of a method of cold-press extraction. PR and Social Media should become enthusiastic about instilling the message about this point to the market, most persistently from ALL angles [educating the market about this one thing transforms the core differentiator into a micro trend all must follow.].

I have watched small home bakers of mouth-watering goods develop a cult following and growth of their business, not through making every trendy pastry, but through making a complete “personality” of making ONE specialty, such as: a laminated brioche from a specific local butter. This is what makes their total personality, the story. As an indie beauty brand, the creativity flows from this principle of discipline, as it positions your brand as a leader in the industry with a clear message providing real demand (not reactive to trends spawned through corporate marketing forces)."

Build a brand thesis big enough to bend trends to it

Jon Morgan, Co-Founder at Venture Smarter

"At Venture Smarter, we advise our direct-to-consumer startup clients that chasing micro-trends is the fastest way to go through capital with nothing to show for it. The fundamental obstacle for an indie brand is not reacting shorter but building a brand thesis big enough to bend trends to it, not the other way around. Profitability in a saturated market comes from having a distinct point of view that builds a loyal customer base far more desirable than short-lived viral impulses from trend-hoppers.

Indie brands have to stop being trend-hoppers and tune into reviewing trends vicariously through their unique brand filters. Instead of developing a product that meets Y2K aesthetic aspirations or a sub culture's desires, take a look at the trend-spawning contemplation that includes that urge for authenticity or its pride of belonging and develop a concept that defuses that core. Instead of being a reactionary tactic, it is a strategic move to address brand synergy while positioning the brand as a thought leader embracing the 'why' of the trend, become the source for a particular type of customer willing to buy whose value system is similar, but at a position of supplier quality.

We worked with a small cosmetics founder who was constantly trying to keep pace with TikTok color crazes. Her customer acquisition costs were astronomical. We changed her company's strategic priority to the brand's core obtuseness of 'expressive minimalism.' When a bright new color trend would emerge on the horizon she would formulate a cadre of where to use a single color dot of it, mixed in with a generally appealing minimalistic stratagem. This enhanced the credentials of her brand, kept her 'in the game,' and ultimately reduced her marketing budget by forty percent while extending customer life."

Winning is about changing the story and not chasing micro trends

Jason Vaught, Director of Content & Marketing at SmashBrand

"I want to reiterate that when you're an indie brand, winning is about changing the story and not chasing micro trends. The emerging brand that copies what is popular looks reactive and will always lose the speed game against the CPG companies. To establish yourself as a leader, you must take your PR and make the founder or brand the authority on the trend. Stop sending product press releases and pitch the media with a story based on an opinion. The pitch should go something like this: "Why the micro trend is happening and what people are getting all wrong about it.” This establishes you as the expert voice immediately.

After you have established the authority figure, you then position your product as the definitive answer to the problem you just established. So if the trend is plant-based milks, your story should not be that you are participating in the market. Clearly, this is about the flavor profile or texture problems that the current offerings present and yours being the answer to that issue. Your brand is not really following the plant-milk trend. The PR story is that you are correcting it, owning the story and positioning your brand as the true innovator in the field."

Anchor your brand in real values and traditions

Mimi Nguyen, Founder at Cafely

"In 2026, indie beauty brands better not just ride their way to whatever’s trending. They have to become the story that people talk about. PR is not just about marketing, but also about building real trust. Anchor your brand in real values and traditions, make trends feel personal, rather than just a surface-level one. For instance, Cafely saw what makes Vietnamese coffee special and shared that story with the world. We didn’t get big overnight, but we told our story well.

Beauty brands can also do the same. If you happen to be aligned with a trend like “skin minimalism” or “hybrid beauty,” connect it back to your origins. Show people where your ingredients come from, talk about your culture, or explain how your process is ethical. Social media is not only a megaphone, it’s a place where you listen and actually get better because of people saying what they think.” When indie brands collaborate with their followers, such as creator collabs and user-led challenges alike, they aren’t duplicating trends but the one setting them."

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