Beauty and hair trends professionals should be ready for in 2027

Quick answer: The beauty and hair trends to be ready for in 2027 are detailed and personalised nail art such as lace, mismatched and dark romantic designs, polished classics like French tips and short bobs, scalp care and head spa rituals, growing demand for grooming, facials built around long term skin health, treatments that give natural results, and a wider shift towards wellbeing and self care. Prepare with targeted training, a clear menu, confident pricing and content that shows your work.

What I noticed in my salon this Halloween

We have just finished Halloween season in the salon, and I noticed quite a few changes this year.

We had very few requests for Halloween themed nail art. Instead, clients opted for black nails and autumn colours. Nail art is still a big request for us, but clients want designs that feel individual to them rather than a generic look.

I did a lot of spray tans, and a lot of brows. And talking about brows, clients are starting to ask for thin brows again. As a survivor of 2000s brows, I have put a swift ban on this in my salon.

Above all, we have noticed a general shift towards wellbeing and self care. That matches what the wider data is showing too, as you will see below.

Every trend starts somewhere small. A client saves a picture of lace nails on their phone. Someone else searches for a head spa near them and finds nothing within ten miles. A regular asks whether you do anything for their scalp. By the time a look is everywhere, the professionals who saw it coming are already booked up.

So alongside what we see in the salon, we looked at what people are searching for, saving and booking. Below are the trends building through 2026 that we expect to shape your column in 2027, and what you can do about each one.

Nail art gets more detailed

Intricate nail work is front and centre. Searches for lace nails rose 215%, gothic coffin nails 180%, dragonfly nails 145% and nails with different colours on each hand 125%. Squishy, jelly textures are also on the rise, with jelly blush searches up 130%, which carries over into 3D and glossy nail art.

The classics are not going anywhere either. French tips have reached an all time high in searches, with almond the most popular shape alongside them, and polka dot nails hit a ten year high. Builder gel has also taken a bigger share of nail bookings around the world.

In our salon, the detail that clients want is personal. A design that means something to them is replacing generic seasonal sets.

What to do: book a fine line or advanced nail art class, then build a simple tiered nail art price list so clients know what detail costs. A strong base matters as much as the design, so make sure your gel polish and builder gel services are well explained on your menu.

Polished hair, with a little sparkle

Searches for the Italian bob and the bixie have reached record highs, Birkin bangs have broken out, and searches for French pin tutorials rose 145% in a single month. Hair jewellery has also hit an all time high, with gold hair clips and hair tinsel among the related searches.

What to do: refresh your skills in short, precise cutting and fringe work, and add styling extras such as accessory placement or an updo finish. Retailing a small edit of clips and pins is an easy add on. Short videos showing how to wear a French pin are exactly the kind of content people are already searching for.

Scalp care and the head spa

Head spa rituals, which combine scalp analysis, cleansing, massage and treatment in a calm setting, have moved from social media curiosity to real bookings. In US salons, scalp treatment sales grew 9% year on year, at an average price of just over $40 against almost $36 for other salon hair treatments. Scalp treatments still make up only around 0.1% of salon services, which tells you how early this opportunity is.

Hair longevity, with a focus on scalp health, is also one of the wellness trends tipped for the year ahead.

What to do: train in scalp analysis and massage, create a quiet space with low light and calm music, and price the service as the full experience it is. Our guides to the Japanese head spa and scalp treatments explain more. Keep it within your scope: if a client mentions hair loss or a scalp condition, refer them to their doctor, a dermatologist or a trichologist.

Grooming keeps growing

Grooming is one of the fastest growing areas in booking data. Over almost three years, grooming haircut bookings rose 87%, beard trims 246% and shaves around 99%.

What to do: offer short express slots for beard and brow tidies, add facials and hand treatments to a grooming menu, and use inclusive wording and images so everyone feels the service is for them. Waxing is a natural partner here, so take a look at our waxing guide.

Skin longevity and smarter facials

Skin longevity is replacing the old anti ageing story, with the focus moving to keeping skin healthy, resilient and working well for the long term, supported by better skin diagnostics and regenerative treatments. Clients are already moving this way. Advanced facials, including LED, microdermabrasion and chemical peels, now make up between 17% and 26% of all facial bookings depending on region, and global searches for acne treatment rose 33% in a year.

What to do: offer a skin consultation as the first step, then sell courses and programmes rather than single treatments. Talk about skin health, comfort and confidence. Our guides to facials, LED light therapy and skin peels are useful to share with clients. Work within your training, and signpost clients to a medical professional for any skin condition that needs a diagnosis.

Natural results win

Clients want to look like themselves, only fresher. In research with aesthetic practitioners, 75% said their patients want to look natural. That mindset reaches well beyond aesthetic medicine. It shapes how clients choose brows, lashes, colour and nails too, and it is one more reason to guide clients away from very thin brows.

What to do: take time in consultation, use reference photos, and agree the finish before you start. Treatments such as a lash lift and brow lamination fit this mood perfectly. If you work in aesthetics, make sure your qualifications and insurance cover every treatment you offer.

Touch, calm and scent

This is the shift we feel most in our own salon. Massage accounts for more than 90% of wellness bookings on one of the largest booking platforms, and sculpting and drainage services such as lymphatic drainage make up over half of the rest. Nervous system calm, pleasure and low tech care are key wellness themes, alongside fragrance layering. Searches for niche perfume collections rose 500% and perfume layering combinations 125%.

What to do: build calm into every treatment, from lighting to the pace of your welcome. Consider a signature scent for your space, and look at holistic services such as reflexology and aromatherapy if they suit your clients.

Turning trends into bookings

You do not need to chase every trend. Pick the two or three that fit your clients and your skills, then work through four steps:

• Training: book a course or a class at a trade show. Shows are one of the best ways to learn several new techniques in a single trip.
• Menu: give each new service a clear name, a short description and a time.
• Pricing: price for your skill, product and time, not just the trend. Our guide to why beauty business owners undercharge can help.
• Marketing: show the work. Photos, short videos and simple explanations of who each treatment is for will do more than any slogan.

FAQs

What nail trends will be popular in 2027?

Expect detailed designs such as lace, dragonfly and mismatched nails, glossy jelly textures and dark romantic shades, alongside classic French tips on an almond shape.

What is a head spa treatment?

A head spa is a relaxing scalp ritual that usually combines scalp analysis, deep cleansing, massage and a treatment, often in a quiet, low lit room.

What does skin longevity mean?

It means caring for skin so it stays healthy and resilient over time, rather than focusing only on reversing visible signs of ageing.

How can I learn new beauty techniques for 2027?

Accredited courses and trade show education are the quickest routes. Many shows offer dozens of classes across a weekend.

Get ahead for 2027

The best way to get ready is to learn from the people creating these looks. You can find industry events in 48 countries on The Hair and Beauty Directory and plan your training for the year ahead. Adding new services and need an extra pair of hands? We help you find staff too.