There’ll be no more scratching our heads, wondering which bottles of high-percentage single actives work together without overwhelming the skin. Multi-ingredient formulas in just one product will take away the guesswork.

“Blending formulas with complementary ingredients is on the rise, delivering results through harmony rather than intensity,” Maëlle says. “2026 is moving away from the era of ‘the higher the percentage, the better’ and realising that skin responds best to synergy, not shock therapy. The future of actives is balanced, layered, and barrier-friendly – not maxed out.”

This idea of a smarter minimal routine is timely as new research from Olay shows that 81% of UK women aged 35+ say a simplified skincare routine is more appealing, with nearly two thirds admitting they’ve skipped or cut short their skincare routine because it’s overly complicated.

Good examples of blended formulas include Medik8 Niacinamide Peptides for reducing oil production and the look of pores; Olay Super Cream, 5-in-1 moisturiser with SPF30 in a single step and Origins Plantscription Triple-Action Youth Cream, which combines peptides to help smooth fine lines and natural extracts to repair the skin barrier.

Lip balms will be an affordable luxury

The phenomenon insiders have dubbed the “lipification of beauty” shows no sign of slowing down in 2026. Lip balms have moved beyond old-school salves such as ChapStick, Vaseline and Aquaphor to brands such as Rhode and Summer Fridays going TikTok-viral and Gisou’s Honey-Infused Lip Oil becoming the haircare brand’s number-one SKU.

Collectible limited edition flavours, nostalgic scents, accessibility and skincare-like ingredients instead of petroleum are driving the boom, while tinted versions are like catnip for the girls who don’t want to do a full beat of makeup.

There are plenty of new lip balm launches slated for 2026 (many currently under embargo) but what we can tell you is that only last week Rare Beauty entered the chat with the new Find Comfort Lip Butter, while Nars has expanded its wildly popular Afterglow Lip Balm to nine new shades and Dr Dennis Gross’ DermInfusions Plump + Repair Lip Treatment soothes chapped lips with hyaluronic acid and plumps with peptides.

Get ready for peptides 2.0

There’s no getting away from the fact that Ozempic is changing the face of skincare. Cosmetic doctor and plastic surgeon Dr Ash Soni acknowledges that the amount of patients he’s seeing in clinic on Mounjaro or an equivalent GLP1 medication has risen – as have requests to tackle the skin laxity and volume loss that often accompany the drug’s dramatic body changes.

In clinic, this translates to a boom in “regenerative aesthetics” – treatments such as exosomes and polynucleotides that encourage your own cells to produce more skin-plumping collagen and to repair itself. Similarly, a new generation of intelligent peptides in serums and moisturisers are set to emerge in 2026 for both those on Ozempic to lean into, as well as anyone concerned with improving the quality of their skin in general.

“Peptides have been a huge thing over the last year but, in 2026, innovative peptides that stimulate collagen topically and improve the health of the skin are going to be key,” says Dr Soni, who namechecks Alastin’s Restorative Skin Complex. “Some of the best skincare brands are really honing in on this and formulating peptides that will optimise the quality of the skin and complement collagen-stimulating injectables too.”

For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR’s Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.