At Formula Botanica, the world’s leading online organic cosmetic formulation school, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of the green beauty industry. We live and breathe cosmetic ingredients and often spot emerging trends long before they become mainstream – so our students can stay informed, relevant, and ahead of the curve.
In this post, we’ll be sharing our forecast of the top 10 natural cosmetic ingredients predicted to shape skincare and haircare in 2026. You’ll learn what these ingredients are, why they’re trending, and how they’re set to influence the future of beauty.
By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear understanding of the most important cosmetic ingredient trends for 2026. Make sure you stick around until the end, as we’ll show you how you can use these ingredients to create your own high-performance natural cosmetic products from scratch – no experience needed!
Why natural beauty is leading the way in 2026
2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year, with natural ingredients leading the way.
This doesn’t come as a surprise to us at Formula Botanica, as we’ve championed natural, organic, holistic, and sustainable beauty long before it became mainstream.
In 2026, the beauty industry is finally recognising that natural beauty isn’t just a niche or passing trend anymore, but that it’s here to stay. In fact, green beauty is predicted to grow 15% per year from 2024 to 2030, outpacing the rest of the industry.
This growth is largely due to consumers becoming more aware and informed about what they put on their skin and hair, demanding greater transparency from brands. If you’re interested to learn more about this, check out these podcast episodes:
Podcast 136: Why buy natural beauty products?
Podcast 172: Skintellectuals and the rise of informed beauty shoppers
Top 7 natural cosmetic ingredients predictions for 2026
And now, for the big reveal! Based on our market research, industry forecasting, and expert insights, here are the top 7 natural ingredients predicted to shape skincare and haircare in 2026.
Before we start: All the ingredients in this list fit Formula Botanica’s definition of natural, which outlines 4 shades of natural. Some ingredients, like plant-derived exosomes or biotech actives, are made in a lab. That doesn’t make them unnatural – it just makes them a different shade of natural. In fact, some lab-produced ingredients are sometimes more sustainable than ingredients harvested directly from nature. You can learn more about this topic here.
1. Fermented ingredients
First on the list of our top predicted cosmetic ingredients for 2026 are fermented ingredients, which are incredibly exciting ingredients which include fermented carrier oils, prebiotics, and postbiotics.
Ferments are ingredients transformed by microorganisms like bacteria, yeast, or fungi (just like kombucha or kimchi in food!). The fermentation process helps unlock so-called “bioactive compounds,” which are the parts of an ingredient that give your skin or hair benefits.
These ingredients are also particularly popular in microbiome-friendly and barrier-supportive skincare, which you can learn more about below:
Skin barrier 101: Essential guide for natural cosmetic formulators
Episode 38: What is skin microbiome skincare?
Common examples of fermented ingredients include squalane, lactic acid, kojic acid, beta-glucans, and rice water.
Postbiotics (the nutrients produced when good bacteria feed on prebiotics) are expected to be especially popular in the coming years, as they’re said to help strengthen the skin barrier, boost hydration, calm inflammation, improve elasticity, and help manage oil production (i).
2. Retinol alternatives
Next up on the top ingredients for 2026 are retinol alternatives, with bakuchiol leading the charge. At Formula Botanica, we have been praising retinol alternatives like bakuchiol for years, long before they became fashionable.
If you’re not familiar with retinol, it’s a cosmetic ingredient considered to be the gold standard in anti-ageing, which is clinically-proven to help reduce fine lines, improve elasticity, and even out skin tone (ii).
However, retinol is also notoriously unstable and can cause redness, peeling, or irritation, which is why alternatives have been developed in recent years to have similar effects, minus the negative side effects. If you’re interested to learn more about retinol alternatives, you’ll like these:
Top 5 natural retinol alternatives and why you should use them
3. Exosomes & other encapsulated actives
Next up on the list of predicted cosmetic ingredient trends for 2026 are exosomes and other encapsulated actives, which are incredibly exciting and high-tech ingredients packaged in tiny carriers which help them work more effectively on the skin or hair without causing irritation.
Exosomes, in particular, are everywhere. But what exactly are they?
Simply put, exosomes are bubble-like structures released by our cells. Think of them as microscopic delivery trucks that carry messages between cells. This natural “cell-to-cell messaging” process is said to help with regeneration and overall cellular repair, therefore exosomes are a promising ingredient for anti-ageing products, but further research is needed.
Exosomes are also said to support collagen and elastin production, improve skin elasticity, and reduce fine lines (iii). If you’re interested to learn more about delivery systems, we cover this in depth in our dedicated membership platform for formulators, the Lab at Formula Botanica, specifically in the Delivery System Mini Lab.
Originally, exosomes were derived from humans or animals, which raised ethical and regulatory concerns. Nowadays, beauty brands are moving toward plant-derived exosomes (like flower or avocado), which are said to be more ethical and sustainable.
Please note that, while exosomes are a very exciting ingredient category, the research regarding exosomes is still at the very early stages. So far, studies are focused on understanding exosomes and their mode of action.
4. Biotech ingredients
Speaking of innovation, biotech ingredients are also set to be another big trend in 2026, and are often viewed as the future of beauty.
If you haven’t heard of biotechnology before (or ‘biotech’), it’s a clever way of using science to optimise or replicate biological processes that naturally happen within our skin.
Think of biotech as basically nature + science working together hand in hand. You can also learn more about biotech below:
Podcast 121: Biotech beauty, the controversial new frontier
Podcast 189: Biotech ingredient wars revolutionising cosmetics
The global market for biotech cosmetics is very impressive. It is estimated at $2.59 billion in 2025 and set to double to $5.10 billion by 2034.
While some people may be cautious about “lab-grown” ingredients (refer back to our definition of natural), the reality is that biotech is a great way to use advanced and sustainable natural ingredients in cosmetic products. It also meets the growing consumer demand for vegan, sustainable, and microbiome-friendly formulations.
Examples of biotech ingredients include fermentation-derived actives (refer back to ingredient #2!), and lab-grown plant cell cultures.
You also probably already used biotech ingredients without even realising it before. Common examples include vegan ceramides, bio-based squalane, vegan hyaluronic acid, edelweiss stem cell cultures, and peptides (also predicted to be big in 2026, especially copper peptides).
5. Upcycled ingredients
Next on the list of top predicted ingredients for 2026 are upcycled ingredients, which are quickly becoming a cornerstone of sustainable skincare and haircare.
Upcycling is the process of taking materials that would normally go to waste – often food by-products like coffee grounds, berry seeds, or spent rose water – and turning them into valuable cosmetic ingredients.
A great example is berry oils, which are made from seeds leftover by the jam and juice industry, giving them a second life in skincare and haircare products. You can also learn more about upcycling below:
5 reasons to formulate with upcycled cosmetic ingredients
Podcast 59: How Upcycled Waste built a global beauty brand
Podcast 182: Upcycling: The infinite loop of beauty
Podcast 199: Upcycling and zero waste with Thomas Kerfoot
Podcast 201: FRUU Cosmetics and the sustainable upcycling of wonky fruits
Podcast 211: Revolutionising beauty with upcycled ingredients
As you can see, we’ve talked lots about upcycling at Formula Botanica before! So it doesn’t surprise us that there is currently a big demand for upcycled ingredients from consumers, which is here to stay. In fact, the market for upcycled cosmetics is predicted to grow by almost 90% over the next decade.
6. Honey-based ingredients
Next up on the list of trending ingredients for 2026 are honey-based ingredients, especially manuka honey and propolis extract.
Honey’s roots date back to ancient Egypt, where it was prized for its natural healing and preserving properties. Nowadays, honey-based cosmetic ingredients are renowned for their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and humectant properties (basically, they attract water to the skin and help it retain it) (iv).
Online searches for “is honey good for your skin” have also jumped 60% year-on-year, while searches for “is honey good for your hair?” rose 30%, which reflects growing consumer curiosity and demand for honey over the past few years. Brands are using honey in anything from hair oils and serums to moisturisers and masks, and you can also use honey-based ingredients in your homemade cosmetic formulations.
This popularity also ties in with the ancestral skincare trend, especially popular on TikTok, where people praise ingredients that have been used for centuries, like castor oil, rosemary, tallow, camellia oil, and much more – all ingredients you can use in your formulations.
In the same vein, food-related ingredients are becoming increasingly popular in the beauty sphere, especially fruit-derived ingredients like berries (which can also be upcycled!).
Skincare, haircare, fragrance, and body care are now more and more part of the same sensory world as food, where indulgence, comfort, and pleasure matter just as much as performance. This ties into the wider ‘gourmand trend’, where food-inspired scents and ingredients evoke indulgent desserts, fruits, and comforting flavours (think back to the Dubai chocolate craze in the past year).
One particular food ingredient that’s set to trend in the coming years is, surprisingly, banana. Global searches for “banana perfume” have jumped 37% in a single month, and major brands are placing banana front and centre. And you can use it in your homemade products too!
At the same time, food ingredients aren’t just about scent. They’re also about performance. At Formula Botanica, we’ve seen unexpected food-based ingredients emerge, like onion, which became a surprising scalp-care star on TikTok, with onion shampoo searches up over 1,000% year-on-year. This is driven by the general recent interest in strengthening hair, supporting growth, and improving scalp health.
This also ties in with the influence of TikTok in the past years, with ancestral ingredients resurfacing as well as traditional skincare or haircare practices, like hair oiling.
Some of the oils that influencers sell on TikTok are now stocked in major supermarkets and beauty chains across the world (like batana oil, castor oil, or kalahari melon oil), which just goes to show the influence of social media in cosmetic trends.
Bonus mentions: Ingredient categories to keep on your radar
Of course, we couldn’t possibly list everything that’s gaining traction right now, as there are many more exciting ingredients out there.
Examples of other popular ingredient categories predicted to trend over the coming years include biomimetic ingredients (impressive lab-grown ingredients that mimic the skin’s natural structure), marine ingredients (especially algae-based), radiance-boosting ingredients (like vitamin C, kojic acid, niacinamide, tranexamic acid, or tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate), as well as barrier-protective and microbiome-friendly ingredients (like ceramides, beta-glucans, or hyaluronic acid).
There’s also still going to be a big demand for classic high-performance actives like peptides, vitamins, acids and enzymes, as well as multifunctional ingredients. The only big difference is that we’re going to see these ingredients increasingly be part of bodycare, haircare, and makeup products (this phenomenon is called skinification).
What else?
To finish off, adaptogens and neurocosmetics are also predicted to be big, but there is still a lack of research/evidence about their properties.
Adaptogens are plants/fungi like ashwagandha, tremella mushroom, and ginseng. They’re traditionally used to help the body cope with stress and, in skincare, are said to soothe, support the skin barrier, and provide antioxidant properties (v). In recent years, they’ve become more popular, matching the rise of holistic and ancestral beauty.
Neurocosmetics are ingredients that allegedly have mood-boosting properties as well as skin, hair, or scalp benefits. Their popularity reflects a growing recognition that stress plays a real biological role in skin health. While the science is still young and claims need to be handled carefully, this is a very exciting category to watch out for.
What this means for the future of beauty + your role in it
We hope you enjoyed this post! Are any of these ingredients new to you, or have you already tried them before? Let us know in the comments below, as we’d love to hear from you.
These ingredients aren’t just short-lived trends but are here to stay. They reflect deeper shifts happening within the beauty industry towards more natural, holistic and sustainable beauty.
And here’s the best part: you can learn how to make your own cosmetic products at home, using ingredients just like the ones listed in this post, by enrolling in our award-winning, accredited, and self-paced courses!
At Formula Botanica, we’ve taught over 21,000 students in more than 194 countries how to make their own high-performance natural and organic skincare and haircare products from scratch. Many have since gone on to launch their successful indie brands, and you can be part of this movement too.
Start with our free mini formulation course, where you’ll learn how to make your own safe and effective organic skincare at home, no prior experience or knowledge required, using the most exciting botanicals and actives nature and science have to offer.
References & further reading
(i) Prajapati et al, 2025. Microbiome and postbiotics in skin health
(ii) Dhaliwal et al, 2019. Prospective, randomised, double-blind assessment of topical bakuchiol and retinol for facial photoageing
(iii) Sreeraj et al, 2024. Exosomes for skin treatment: Therapeutic and cosmetic applications
(iv) Burlando et al, 2013. Honey in dermatology and skincare: a review
(v) Blyumin-Karasik et al, 2025. What are topical adaptogens? A systematic review and proposed system to identify and categorise skin adaptogens in dermatology
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Ariane is Formula Botanica’s Content Creator and an active member of the student community. She has worked as a professional journalist, blogger, copywriter and editor before joining Formula Botanica full-time in 2024.
