Beyond Skin Deep: Will Emotional Connection Become the New Beauty Standard?

For decades, the beauty and personal care industry has sold transformation in a jar, tube, or bottle. From flawless coverage to age-defying serums, the implicit promise has been that products can mask imperfections, restore youth, and signal desirability. Yet in 2025, the industry is facing a seismic shift: efficacy and aesthetics are no longer enough. Consumers want more than results—they want brands that make them feel seen, valued, and aligned. In short, emotional intimacy is emerging as the new beauty standard. 

The leading brands in this space succeed not simply because of formulation or price, but because they tap into two powerful archetypes: indulgence and ritual.

• Indulgence creates a close relationship centered on moments of pampering and gratification, which may be occasional or frequent—the creamy texture of a moisturizer, the scent of a luxury fragrance, the ritualistic application of lipstick before a night out. These acts of self-care are not merely functional; they are small celebrations of self. 
• Ritual captures when a person integrates a brand into daily actions. It is more than habitual behavior; the brand becomes a vitally important part of existence. Consumers return to the same cleanser night after night or the same foundation for years because the familiarity is comforting. Ritual reinforces intimacy through repetition and dependability, creating a bond that is as much about the routine as the result. 

Together, these archetypes give beauty and personal care brands an enviable position: they touch the body and psyche in daily, intimate ways. Our 2025 Brand Intimacy Study shows the payoff: this industry scores an average Brand Intimacy Quotient (BIQ) of 28.8, outperforming the cross-industry average by 15%. 

The integration of AI, AR, and XR has fundamentally changed how consumers interact with beauty brands. Personalized recommendations based on skin type, tone, and concerns are no longer differentiators but table stakes.¹ Virtual try-on tools, once novelties, are now expected by digitally native consumers who want instant feedback on how a lipstick shade or hair color will look. 

Even more advanced tools—skin diagnostic sensors and scalp analysis apps—are pushing the frontier of precision. By creating hyper-tailored product lines, brands are embedding themselves more deeply in the lives of consumers. That intimacy translates into stronger bonds. Clinique (#2) has leveraged hyper-tailored lines such as Clinique iD to lead the category, showing how personalization can supercharge consumer connections.  

Another winning strategy has been the blurring of beauty and wellness. No longer confined to surface-level improvements, brands now address deeper lifestyle connections: sleep, stress management, hormonal balance, and gut health.² From collagen powders to adaptogen serums, beauty brands are reframing themselves as holistic partners in long-term well-being.

This shift also taps into the cultural obsession with longevity and self-optimization. Beauty is marketed not as vanity, but as vitality—an external reflection of internal harmony. In this context, the boundary between skincare and health care is dissolving, opening new pathways for trust and intimacy. Neutrogena, which ranks #1 in the health and hygiene industry, exemplifies this shift by ranking higher than many larger competitors through its link between skin health and wellness science.

Despite innovation, the industry remains plagued by a trust deficit. 79% of consumers doubt the credibility of sustainability claims,³ growing increasingly skeptical of labels such as “clean,” “sustainable,” or “cruelty-free” and wary of greenwashing and unsubstantiated marketing. In both the United States and Europe, regulators are tightening definitions around “organic,” “natural,” and “eco-friendly.”

This highlights the fragility of emotional bonds: once a brand is perceived as manipulative or misleading, the relationship can be damaged. Although beauty and personal care rank highest for fusing overall with luxury, mistrust around sustainability and ethics shows how quickly that connection can unravel.

Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have created viral sensations and meteoric sales spikes, and social commerce now drives 68%.⁴ A product crowned the “it” item by influencers can sell out in days. But this overexposure comes at a price. Constant product drops, endless influencer endorsements, and algorithm-fueled hype cycles exhaust consumers.

The result is an erosion of authenticity. When every product claims to be revolutionary, none feel truly special. Intimacy, which thrives on trust and resonance, withers in the noise of an oversaturated feed.

While some brands excel at personalization, many stumble. Poorly executed AI tools, gimmicky AR apps, or buggy diagnostics can backfire, eroding confidence instead of building it. Consumers expect seamless, hybrid experiences: the precision of online recommendations paired with the tactile richness of in-store sampling.⁵ Falling short undermines both the indulgence and ritual archetypes.

The beauty and personal care industry remains one of the most culturally relevant and resilient categories. It thrives on human desires for identity, self-expression, and enhancement. But the real question for 2025 is whether these brands can maintain intimacy in an era of skepticism, burnout, and technological disruption.

If identity is the silent third archetype underpinning the category—makeup as self-expression, skincare as self-care—then brands must be vigilant not to hollow it out with empty slogans or fleeting trends. Consumers want authentic alignment, not borrowed virtue.

At the same time, the ritual archetype, which thrives on consistency, risks becoming a double-edged sword. Routines sustain intimacy, but they can also stifle innovation. If every day looks the same, how does a brand inject novelty without destabilizing the bond? Striking that balance will define winners and losers in the years ahead.

Ultimately, beauty and personal care brands must recognize that efficacy and aesthetics are only part of the equation. The next frontier is emotional connection—the bond that makes consumers feel more confident, more themselves, and more aligned with a brand’s values.

Intimacy, not innovation alone, will decide which brands endure. Those that respect trust, embrace authenticity, and deliver relevance across both digital and physical realms will thrive. Those who continue to chase hype, exaggerate claims, or treat consumers as data points will struggle.

In 2025, the new standard for beauty brands is the strength of the bond between brand and consumer. Beyond skin-deep aesthetics, intimacy is what truly lasts.

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Get an overview of Brand Intimacy here.

Read our detailed methodology here. Our Amazon best-selling book is available at all your favorite booksellers. To learn more about how we help clients enhance their consumer bonds, visit mblm.com/services.

¹ Fast Company. (2025, January 22). Why beauty brands that embrace agentic AI will succeed. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/91366472/why-beauty-brands-that-embrace-agentic-ai-will-succeed 

² Times of India. (2025, February 10). How holistic wellness is reshaping skincare and self-care in 2025. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/beauty/how-holistic-wellness-is-reshaping-skincare-and-self-care-in-2025/articleshow/123689940.cms 

³ Baker, J. (2022, October 17). 79% of beauty shoppers have doubts about sustainability claims — how can brands rebuild trust? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessibaker/2022/10/17/79-of-beauty-shoppers-have-doubts-about-sustainability-claims–how-can-brands-rebuild-trust/ 

⁴ Ludmir, C. (2025, March 28). Social and e-commerce now drive more than 50% of beauty sales globally. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/claraludmir/2025/03/28/social-and-e-commerce-now-drive-more-than-50-of-beauty-sales-globally/

⁵ NielsenIQ. (2025, January 22). The global beauty edit: Seeking balance for growth in 2025. Retrieved from https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/commentary/2025/the-global-beauty-edit-seeking-balance-for-growth-in-2025/