79% of Beauty Consumers Are Asking Beauty Brands to Slow Down
79% of the beauty consumers I’ve interviewed for my doctoral research project so far have said the same thing. When asked what they wish beauty brands understood about everyday consumers, the response kept repeating itself in different words: stop with the unnecessary launches. Focus on making the products you already have the best they can be. These observations reflect early patterns in an ongoing doctoral study and are not yet representative of the full dataset.
Lately, I’ve been paying closer attention to the brands that seem to be listening, through restraint and intention. Huda Beauty has been one of the most interesting examples of that shift.
Six months after reclaiming full ownership, the brand feels more deliberate. In an industry conditioned to equate relevance with constant output, that choice stands out, especially now.
For years, beauty rewarded novelty: new textures, new ingredients, faster launch cycles. But that rhythm is changing. Recent skincare coverage, including Allure’s The Biggest Skin-Care Trends of 2026 Have Us Going Back to Basics, points to a broader return to proven ingredients, fewer steps, and long-term skin health over hype-driven experimentation. When consumers explicitly say they want brands to improve what already exists, that shift feels less like a trend and more like a response.
That alignment became visible this month with the reformulation of the Easy Bake Pressed Setting Powder. Rather than quietly updating the formula behind the scenes, Huda Beauty chose to make the process public and communal. Creators were invited into the announcement and conversation, including Nya Dollie, Kevin Kodra, Glamzilla, Dhivya Sri, Tatenda Luna, Hani Hanss, and Rhony Claire. The rollout played out in real time across social platforms, complete with commentary, reactions, and headlines.
The response underscored something beauty brands sometimes underestimate: reformulation isn’t just technical. It’s relational. When a product becomes part of someone’s daily ritual, any change carries weight. The Easy Bake conversation made clear how deeply attached consumers are to the formulas they trust, and how visible that attachment becomes when those formulas evolve. Instead of redirecting attention toward a brand-new launch, the brand stayed present in the moment and acknowledged the adjustment openly.
That choice matters.
Reformulation is often treated as something to minimize or conceal, a correction rather than a commitment. But here, it functioned as a refinement. As editing. As a signal that products aren’t disposableneither is trust. Choosing to revisit and improve an existing SKU rather than replace it with a novelty mirrors exactly what so many consumers have articulated: we don’t need more; we need better.
This philosophy feels inseparable from Huda Kattan’s long-standing voice. From the beginning, she’s framed beauty as something lived in rather than perfected, speaking openly about texture, acne, insecurity, and the emotional role makeup plays in everyday life. That honesty naturally lends itself to evolution over excess. When beauty is positioned as personal, constant reinvention isn’t required. Care is.
The timing also feels significant. As AI accelerates content, launches, and visual output, feeds are more saturated than ever. In that environment, constant release cycles no longer read as innovation. Clarity does. Brands that slow down, listen, and refine don’t feel behind; they feel confident.
Huda Beauty’s recent emphasis on reformulation, thoughtful edits, and meaning over spectacle suggests a brand paying attention to that shift. Not every improvement needs to be rushed past or smoothed over. Sometimes staying visible during change is the point.
Watching this unfold has reinforced what my interviews continue to surface: emotional investment in beauty doesn’t come from volume. It comes from trust. From continuity. From knowing a brand is willing to improve what already matters instead of constantly asking consumers to move on.
I’d love to hear how founders think about navigating moments like this, protecting trust while allowing products to evolve, and listening closely when consumers ask for less noise and more care. These questions sit at the heart of the research I’m currently exploring, and they feel especially relevant now.
