Textures at Makeup in New York 2026

Another year at Makeup in New York is in the books. And with texture innovation at the forefront, this one was FUN.

This year, walking the floor felt like falling down Alice's rabbit hole. Vats of whipped pinks, beakers of slush yellows, and shaking bottles unveiled a whole new format. If the booths at MUNY were any indication of whats to come, you can expect to see future product development blend whimsical formats with efficacious ingredients. Per Mintel's 2026 Body Care report,  texture is no longer just a "nice to have," and consumers now see innovative application as part of the product's performance. Attention to K-beauty innovation signals that consumers are more likely to integrate novel textures and sensorial products into daily use. And when your customer is using your products daily, they will also start to see the long-term benefits that you are offering - making texture a key component of building a loyal customer base.

Here are your top texture trends from MUNY 2026:

Multi-Phase Transformation

Our team noticed a ton of demos at MUNY this year; lots of shaking, stirring, and applying, transformative textures are certainly on the rise. Water-to-powder, wax-free-to-glide, and even water-to-oil-to-powder primers all earned accolades at the show this year. It's easy to see that marketing language does a bit of heavy lifting in this category. However, the real differentiator for winning transformative textures is the after-feel. What brings the consumer back after the novelty has worn off? Is the transformation telling a story beyond it's social media moment? A big trend we saw among the top performers for this category was impeccable skin absorbability and long-lasting effects. Two main goals to consider when playing with transforming products. 

Cooling & Warming Mechanisms

Icy Hot patches walked so this category could run. It seemed everywhere you turned at this year's show, there was a new format with warming or cooling stories. Although you're less likely to find these claims in a US Sephora, South Korea's market is teeming them. Popularity in cooling wearables like sheet masks and eye patches has given way to topical formats like cooling body lotion, cooling face mist, and cooling scalp spray; all seen on the MUNY exhibitor floor. Currently, US cooling trends are still rated "very low" to "low" in popularity. But with a notable surge in temperature-changing products in South Korea, and we see a major trend budding before our eyes. 

Storytelling & Texture

Part storytelling, part formulation, subcategories of texture was a major undercurrent for this years winning products. Whipped, soufflé, pudding, jello, slush, sorbet...oh my. Our team noticed a slew of new texture subcategories this year and got to work to define them all. Here's a brief list of what skincare textures we'll see cropping up over the next few years.

• Whipped textures resemble a dense, gelato-like formulation, sometimes characterized by a soft-serve ice cream swirl into pack, always telling a deep and sometimes occlusive moisture story. 

• Soufflé textures feel airy and creamy like a forkful of cheesecake, often characterized by a lightweight, demi-matte, yet hydrated finish. Excellent for lightweight moisturizers. 

• Pudding textures are soft, weightless, and effortlessly creamy, often in cosmetics, pudding textures yield a matte finish. Often seen in occlusive moisturizers.

• Jello and jelly textures are  jiggly translucent hydration bombs, this texture often features a deep hydration claim. Jelly skincare textures speak well to a serum, gel moisturizer, or mask. Beyond traditional skincare formats, jelly textures have expanded into hot pour and bar soap. Jelly bar soap is often a translucent base, loaded with glycerin for a milky lather and hydration story. Hot pour jelly textures are often used for fragrance and serum sticks. 

• Slush textures are often semi translucent with encapsulated ingredients that burst on the skin to deliver hydration, these bulbs create the look of your classic 7-Eleven slush puppy. This texture is excellent for a rinse off mask, gel moisturizer, or serum. 

• Sorbet textures look a lot like a shaved ice or a snow cone with really smooth ice. Similar to soufflé but more aerated, with a base that feels more watery than creamy. This texture works well for a facial cleanser or hydrating rinse off mask. 

We're only seeing the tip of the iceberg for innovative formats and textures. If you wanna take a spin in wonderland, our team is excited to help you dream up your next product. Talk soon!