Key takeaways
- Rewired Wellness is driving demand for high-tech, personalised beauty solutions.
- Consumers increasingly trust AI for health advice and seek clinical-level efficacy.
- Global health spending will hit $6.9 trillion by 2026, creating opportunities for tech-integrated beauty products.
- Other trends include Comfort Zone, Fiercely Unfiltered and Next Asian Wave, reshaping consumer expectations.
Data and analytics and research company Euromonitor International has revealed its top four global consumer trends for 2026, which it expects to shape behaviour over the next year and beyond.
One of these trends, ‘Rewired Wellness’, is already having a significant impact on the beauty and personal care industry and is likely to influence product R&D in the coming years.
Rewired Wellness: the rise of tech-driven beauty solutions
According to this prediction, shoppers are increasingly moving away from traditional routines and embracing clinical-level, high-tech solutions as everyday wellness tools.
Euromonitor International’s consumer data shows that three in four consumers now track their health using an app or device – with 35% actively seeking new prevention or treatment methods due to dissatisfaction with current approaches.
There is also growing demand for precision, efficacy and speed. Nearly half of those surveyed (49%) said they were willing to pay a premium for scientifically formulated beauty products.
Euromonitor International also highlighted that global consumer expenditure on health goods and medical services is projected to reach $6.9 trillion in 2026. Therefore, it urges beauty and personal care brands to innovate with hyper-personalised, tech-driven solutions that integrate seamlessly into daily life, offering both immediate and long-term benefits.
Nick Stene, Senior Global Insight Manager for Consumer Health, noted that 54% of global consumers aged 30–39 see Generative AI as at least moderately trustworthy for health advice – according to Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Health and Nutrition survey, conducted in 2025.
“This is not just limited to younger audiences,” said Stene. “Health services worldwide face the scale pressure of an ageing population, and AI specialises in spotting patterns humans would miss. This is a logical step change where AI has an increasing role to play and some victories ahead.”
Stene added that while we are not yet at the stage where AI advisors are trusted as much as medical professionals, that day of parity may well come.
“There is a critical role for humans ongoing in consumer health, but when we see home kits for blood and other fluid testing, apps, devices and trackers penetrating more homes, we glimpse the scale and ‘always-on’ health monitoring that becomes possible when AI enters the equation,” he said.
Other key consumer trends shaping beauty in 2026
The other trends include:
- Comfort Zone: Consumers are carving out calmer, values-aligned and balanced lives to cope with seemingly perpetual chaos.
“Consumers will focus on what they can control to remain grounded, reclaim balance and build a foundation for long-term resilience,” said Euromonitor International. “Their new standard is less but better, as they embrace simplicity, emotional clarity and practical routines.”
- Fiercely Unfiltered: More consumers will seek rawness, reality, bold self-expression and radical honesty.
“Brands should move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches and shift strategies towards authenticity to demonstrate genuine understanding of diverse identities, while staying true to their own ethos,” said Euromonitor International.
- Next Asian Wave: East Asian influence continues to gain ground.
This trend highlights that perceptions of Chinese brands are shifting, as they blend affordability and innovation with intuitive, digital-first experiences.
“Companies need to understand the strategies of these Asian competitors, monitor cultural trends and adopt tech-enabled models that deliver fast, authentic and forward-looking solutions,” said the firm.
