Key Takeaways:
The language of 2025 says a lot about the state of culture. Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year, "vibe coding," captures a mindset increasingly familiar to the beauty and wellness industry: the move from technical precision to intuitive co-creation powered by AI.
Just as vibe coders “program by feeling,” beauty brands are learning to create by sensing. Brands are using generative AI, data, and social signals to decode what consumers feel rather than what they say. Trend forecasting is about vibes, not variables.
AI pioneer Andrej Karpathy coined the term "vibe coding" to describe the use of artificial intelligence, prompted by natural language, to write computer code by telling a machine what you’d like instead of tiresomely coding it yourself.
The rest of Collins’ shortlist reads like a snapshot of the cultural psyche in today’s age. "Aura farming"—the deliberate cultivation of a magnetic persona that feels effortless—mirrors the hypercurated authenticity driving today’s creator economy. It’s the same paradox at the heart of modern beauty: striving to look natural while investing heavily in skincare routines, filtered lighting, and AI beauty tools.
Meanwhile, "task masking"—the art of looking busy without being productive—reflects a growing fatigue in hyperconnected work cultures. In beauty, this manifests as consumers rejecting performative “hustle aesthetics” in favor of rituals that restore calm, grounding, and genuine self-care.
Other words capture the physical and emotional recalibration shaping beauty’s future. Biohacking (optimizing bodies) has gone mainstream, linking beauty with wellness, science, and longevity as consumers turn to supplements, tech-driven skincare, and metabolic optimization.
The Mintel 2026 Global Beauty and Personal Care Predictions highlighted beauty’s health-integration evolution, with metabolic beauty becoming a key desire for consumers. Biohacking is becoming a cultural phenomenon, as shown by Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year.
"Coolcations" and "micro-retirements" speak to the same instinct. A cultural desire for respite from burnout and climate anxiety, prompting demand for “slow beauty,” sustainable formulations, and travel-inspired sensorial escapism. Even “glazing,” to flatter excessively, resonates with beauty’s ongoing dialogue about authenticity, transparency, and the dangers of overhyped miracle products.
For beauty leaders, these words aren’t just linguistic signals. Each one points to how consumers are navigating identity, technology, and aspiration. Brands can use this to pinpoint and meet consumers where they are. In 2025, language itself has become a source of market research. Understanding the words people use to define their world offers beauty brands a creative compass for what they’ll want next.
