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Wholistic Beauty and Trending Polarities: Our Top 5 Hair Care Formulations for 2026

Today’s beauty landscape sits within a world that can feel ambiguous, complex and, at times, overwhelming. In response, consumers are seeking a more wholistic approach to beauty, with solutions that meet all aspects of their wellbeing and help them to feel better without asking them to compromise.

Rather than looking for singular answers, they recognise that their needs shift depending on context, mood and lifestyle, and they want products and formulations that give them the freedom to choose what they need, when they need it. In this sense, wholistic beauty is not about simplification, but about empowerment and choice.

As a result, traditional opposites are no longer seen as conflicting. Multiple trends and needs are now holding space at the same time, with polarities working together rather than competing, including:

  • Slow and fast living
  • Nature and science 
  • Individuality and community 
  • Restorative calm and embracing fun

These collaborating contradictions have shaped our next top five formulation collection. This time, we are focused on hair care, with new concepts, such as our styling stick and our curl conditioner, offering inspiration. Explore in this blog how to align with these new hair care trends in 2026 and beyond.

Five hair care formulation in black and clear packaging containing formulation names and backgrounds inspired by the concept (clouds for sleep, mirror for identity, molecules for bond-building, plane for flyaways and beach for sun protection)

*Samples will be sent at Croda's discretion and are subject to availability. The images included on this blog were created to represent product concepts and are for illustrative purposes only.