Key Takeaways:
Despite the current volatile geopolitical environment, this year’s Cosmoprof Bologna, the world’s largest beauty industry B2B event, showed that the beauty industry is stronger and more resilient than ever. Over four days, more than 255,000 attendees from 150+ countries and 3,000+ companies from 68 countries took over the small Italian city, streaming through the fairgrounds for exhibits, panels, and meaningful discussions.
But what were the biggest themes? What were people talking about? What marked this year’s Cosmoprof Bologna as a standout? After walking miles (over 2 million square feet) of halls and pavilions, and listening to speakers on multiple panels, BeautyMatter rounded up the most notable takeaways from Cosmoprof Bologna 2026.
Less Trendy, More Tactical
Viral trends and social-ready storytelling may have been takeaways from past shows, but the war in Iran and tariffs pressuring supply chains gave this year’s discussions a more strategic, practical feel.
One of the most compelling CosmoTalks panels was “Navigating Beauty Retail: The US Beauty Market in a Global Context.” Panelists included Larissa Jensen, Senior Vice President and Global Beauty Industry Advisor at Circana; Jessica Phillips, Vice President, Merchandising, Strategic Initiatives, and Owned Brands for Ulta Beauty; Tamar Kamen, founder and CEO of Tamar Lara Kamen Consulting; Jeremy Lowenstein, CMO for Milani Cosmetics; and moderator Sandra Salibian, Fashion, Beauty, and Business Correspondent at WWD in Milan.
According to Jensen, mass market dominates internationally, with e-commerce via Amazon, and specialty retail like Ulta Beauty and Sephora following respectively. Jensen pointed to Latin America as the “hottest market” right now, with mass growing fast. She also said that Europe is the only region where prestige is outpacing mass.
When panelists were asked about volatility in the Middle East, Phillips confirmed that the region remains a key focus for Ulta Beauty and that the war has made the beauty retailer more agile. With a new Ulta Beauty store opening in Dubai the day after the panel, Phillips stressed that Ulta Beauty has no intention of slowing down but is executing “a more measured response.”
Priority Playtime
Based on the exhibits, skincare and cosmetics brands and manufacturers were clearly attuned to consumers’ need for a break from the constant stream of stress. Everywhere you looked, exhibits appeared targeted at the little sisters of Gen Alpha—bright pastels, pink bows, balloon fonts—giving off more American Girl doll convention than Cosmoprof Bologna. ASMR sensory playgrounds were also everywhere—fluffy foams, satisfying capsule (also known as boba) creams, and slime-like textures—as was playful packaging like makeup palettes that looked like candy bars.
It was all play all day at the Austrian beauty brand A.N.D. beauty booth, where music was blasting, the team handed out branded ring pops, and the walls were adorned with ice cream cones filled with the brand’s soon-to-be released “blind-bottle edition” whipped shower foam. Vera Doppler, founder and Chief Creative of the brand, commanded a crowd as she demonstrated the fluffy foam's moldability and challenged booth guests to guess which scent would be revealed as she popped open each new bottle.
British skincare brand Dr.PAWPAW exhibited a slew of adorable collabs with Paddington Bear, The Grinch, and Wednesday. The brand’s most recent partnership (launching soon, according to the brand) is with the viral stuffies brand Squishmallows, which includes a “mystery bag” containing one of 9 lip balm keychains. While one may assume most of these cutesy collabs are for kids, Laura Frankland, Head of Marketing for the brand, told BeautyMatter that while, yes, these products trend with Gen Alpha and Gen Z (who are yet to meet a lip balm keychain or blind bag they didn’t love), millennials and Gen X scoop up collabs like Paddington and The Grinch because they “crave the nostalgia.”
Korean Tidal Wave
Walking through the halls and pavilions, it felt like Korean brands were everywhere; if a brand wasn’t Korean, its products often appeared manufactured in Korea or inspired by Korea. Aside from the expected sheet masks and PDRN-infused products, non-Korean brands showcased K-beauty innovations like capsule creams (tiny serum-filled capsules in a gel cream base) and spicule creams (tiny, sharp, needle-like structures).
Korea demonstrated its dominance with an integrated Korea pavilion that showcased 279 K-beauty brands across multiple halls and was hosted by five Korean government and business agencies. Korean brands and manufacturers were also spread across specialty halls such as Beauty & Spa, Cosmopack-Supply Chain, and Professional Hair. The Korean tsunami was nowhere more evident than at the Cosmoprime hall—an area dedicated to masstige and premium brands with selective mid- to high-end distribution, curated by Cosmoprof—where 24 of 90 exhibitors were from Korea (to give this context, Italy came in second with 14 brands).
Innovation was everywhere you looked in the Korean pavilions. K-Secret Soul 1988 demonstrated how their collagen balls—hydrolyzed collagen packaged like daily vitamins— dissolve in serum, making the collagen potent and the experience ASMR-satisfying. The Tool Lab took cushion compacts to the next level with their Stamp Skinfit Cushion Airy + Brush by replacing the standard puff with an ergonomically designed brush made to hug the contours of the face.
Shaishaishai combined their potent banana PDRN eye cream with concealer, offered in five shades, making it the ultimate multitasker. Clinical testing has also become the new flex in K-beauty, with “in vitro tested” printed on many K-beauty products, including brands Benton and AP (Amorepacific) Beauty.
Innovation and Survival
If this year’s Cosmoprof Bologna proved anything, it’s that the beauty industry knows how to read a room by meeting uncertainty with strategy, consumers with joy, and competition with a relentless push for innovation. The show made clear that the beauty industry won’t back down, nor will it be held back by bumps in the geopolitical road. There is a clear path ahead for the industry, and all innovation roads will lead to Cosmoprof Bologna 2027.
