Beauty is often treated as a trend, a category or a commercial opportunity. But today, it reveals something far deeper about how people feel, how they see themselves and how they navigate social pressure.

Our latest report, What Is Beauty Today? Voices and Visions from Modern America, explores how beauty is experienced across generations, genders and communities in the US. Not just what people say about beauty, but how they emotionally live it.

What We Did

To understand the full picture, we combined quantitative and qualitative research, giving us a hybrid approach…

The study includes a nationally representative survey of 1,200 U.S. consumers, spanning age, gender, sexual orientation, race, income and education. Alongside this, we conducted 50 in-depth qualitative conversations powered by BoltChatAI, allowing us to capture the emotional language and lived experiences behind the numbers.

This mixed-method approach helped us uncover but the real tensions shaping modern beauty culture.

What We Found

Beauty today is emotional, visible and under pressure.

We found that 71% of Americans say they are satisfied with their overall beauty, yet only 21% say they wouldn’t change anything.

Self-acceptance and self-improvement now coexist. Consumers feel confident, yet still invest in refinement. They celebrate authenticity, yet continue to navigate pressure.

Beauty today is not something with a simple fix. It is something consumers are constantly negotiating.

Why This Matters for Brands

The future of beauty belongs to brands that combine personalisation with honesty. Consumers want realism without oversimplification, inclusivity without tokenism and solutions that reflect real lives rather than idealised images.

Inside the report, you’ll find 14 key insights that translate this tension into clear direction for beauty, brand and strategy leaders.

If you work in beauty, brand or consumer strategy, this will be right up your street.