Consumers Are Shaping a New Age of Optimization in Beauty

In partnership with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), BCG presents the second edition of its Beauty Consumer Study.

In 2025, we examined the next generation of beauty consumers through a comprehensive survey of US teens and their families. This year, we focus on the way the industry’s boundaries are expanding beyond traditional categories, redefining the shape of the beauty landscape.

Based on a survey of approximately 5,000 US adults, this report explores how consumers are shifting their engagement with beauty beyond traditional categories like skincare, hair care, and makeup and moving into aesthetic procedures and performance & longevity.

At the center of this evolution is a highly engaged segment we call “Optimizers”—around 6% of US adults, or about 15 million consumers—who have used at least one product or service in all three categories over the past 12 months.

By combining multiple beauty solutions, Optimizers are building more comprehensive, outcome-driven routines—offering us a forward-looking view of how beauty is evolving and where the market is heading.

Beauty is expanding beyond its traditional boundaries.

The consumer approach to beauty is evolving into a broader ecosystem of procedures and treatments. Greater accessibility, improving efficacy, and declining stigma are accelerating the use of these solutions. (See Exhibit 1.) Optimizers are at the forefront of this trend: they enter new categories faster and engage more deeply than the average beauty consumer. (See Exhibit 2.)

For Optimizers, beauty extends beyond appearance into performance. Around 80% of this group say beauty is about how they feel both physically and mentally, and around 70% are open to innovative and non-traditional beauty solutions.

Traditional beauty remains the foundation, while new solutions deepen engagement.

Core beauty categories continue to anchor Optimizers’ routines, even as they adopt more aesthetic procedures and performance-driven solutions. As the average beauty routine becomes increasingly advanced, procedures and solutions are incremental steps that reinforce traditional beauty use cases and drive deeper engagement in that category. (See Exhibit 3.)

Their spending reflects this cross-category engagement, with Optimizers dispersing around $3,000 annually across the beauty ecosystem. About one-third of this is dedicated to traditional beauty—reinforcing its foundational role, even as new categories grow.

The broader wallet of non-traditional spend shows us the changing role these categories are playing in the beauty routine. For example, aesthetic procedures—from injectables and cosmetic surgeries to laser skin resurfacing and hair transplants—are becoming a regular feature in Optimizers’ beauty routines, with around 70% viewing them as a core or maintenance step. Similarly, about 60% of Optimizers who purchase cosmetics also invest in targeted supplements, signaling the growing role of internal well-being and preventative medicine in beauty.

For Optimizers, the path to purchase is built on extreme efficacy and credibility.

Optimizers cast a wide net for discovery but are very discerning about what informs their purchases. Social media and influencers still play a meaningful role in awareness (about 40% cite them as a source of discovery), but they are less likely to drive conversion: only about 1 in 20 Optimizers cite social media as their most trusted source of research. Instead, they validate decisions through higher-credibility inputs, including medical professional recommendations and a brand’s proven efficacy or scientific validation.

In addition, AI is increasingly filling the gap between discovery and decision. With about 75% of Optimizers already using AI for research and about one in four treating it as a primary source, AI is becoming a meaningful part of how this consumer filters options, validates claims, and chooses solutions across a more complex beauty ecosystem.

What’s next?

As the market evolves, the winners will recognize where the next layers of growth are taking shape and move early to connect them. The Optimizer offers a view into that future: a consumer who is already building across categories, blending maintenance with intervention, and redefining beauty as a broader system of care. For brands and retailers, the opportunity is not just to participate in that shift, but to help shape it.

Explore the full report to understand how Optimizers are reshaping the future of beauty—and what it means for brands and retailers.