Shaping India’s Beauty Landscape: Top Beauty Trends of 2024

We need no statistics to assert the influence of social media, and the integral role it plays in our day-to-day lives. Steadily, over the last two decades, we have created a digital world with its own cultural and behavioral influences, in the physical world. It is interesting to observe how social media has altered the way brands interact with consumers, from one-sided advertising to conversational communication strategies that engage consumers through the day.

While the evolution of the beauty industry in India is at a nascent stage, when compared to our counterparts like Japan, China and Korea, we are seeing a massive shift in the growing “need” for beauty products – primarily driven by social media’s ability to educate, influence and convert, all at the same instance. This is perfectly complemented by the growing accessibility of the internet nationwide and transcending demographics.

Given this current scenario, here are the Top 5 Beauty Trends of 2024, which will continue to shape the industry in 2025.

1. Ingredient is the Hero

As consumers become more educated about the various aspects of beauty and the role of key ingredients in their everyday routines, brands have shifted to ingredient-led marketing to meet consumer needs. This trend is further reflected in online searches, where an increasing number of queries are ingredient-led, for example “Best Retinol Face Wash”.

2. Stepification of Beauty

Popularized by South Korea, the step-by-step skincare routine offers a more personalized approach, emphasizing not just the use of products but also understanding how they work together to enhance skin health. This shift has led to a growing demand for curated skincare regimens.

3. Emerging New Audiences

With democratization of the internet and increased disposable income consumers in tier 2 and 3 cities are now more exposed than ever to beauty practices and trends of metropolitan areas. This makes them an emerging audience that brands are eager to cater to, given that the demand in most categories is growing at two times the pace of their metro counterparts, it most definitely is the right way forward.

4. Influencer-led Marketing

Up until a few years ago, influencer marketing was a meek subset of mainstream brand marketing strategy. However, in the last few years influencers have significantly transformed beauty trends and redefined how brands connect and interact with consumers. Contrary to celebrity brand ambassadors’ influencers create personalized, relatable content and has made beauty more accessible and approachable, with product recommendations often driving purchasing decisions of millennials and gen-z more than traditional advertising.

5. Micro-Trends

Micro-trends are bite-sized beauty sensations that capture attention on social media in an instant. Like the name suggests they are short-lived and are likely to emerge through pop-culture, or social media itself. Think "glowtouring", a glowy version of contouring, which leaves you with a supernatural, dewy finish or the tinted moisturized trend popularized by influencers. This creates an opportunity for agile brands to get creative and increase their customer base.

In a nutshell, the beauty industry is undergoing a massive transformation in India which when culminated by dynamic digital landscapes, rise of AI, and increased consumer awareness posits a multitude of opportunities for brands make an impact. It is imperative that brands don’t just talk to the costumers but listen to them as well, as they have never been clearer about their expectations from brands to be transparent and authentic.

As frog, we are the reinvention and experience partners to over two thirds of the Fortune 500. We partner with the CMOs to enable end-to-end brand relevancy from strategy, to activation while working at scale. Check out our hero credential on scaled consumer insights and our Design Mind frogcast on beauty-tech in the links below.

Consumer Insights@Scale - https://www.frog.co/work/creating-consumer-insights-at-scale

Design Mind frogcast - https://www.frog.co/designmind/design-mind-frogcast-ep-44-powering-beauty-tech-loreals-transformation

Co-authored this blog with Mira Jaganathan & Ina Laharia .

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