The hair & beauty trends impacting salon services

Thanks to social media, hair and beauty trends are evolving more quickly than ever – and salons need to keep up, or risk being left behind. Many clients are now looking for the latest treatments and specialist expertise to go alongside them, so if you’re not offering this, they may go elsewhere.

According to the 2026 Beauty Reset Report from NielsenIQ and CEW UK, only 17 per cent of consumers feel they can spend freely on beauty thanks to financial pressures. But the report also notes that there is growth at both ends of the spending spectrum – some clients are seeking value and affordability, while others are still willing to invest in premium, high performance services and treatments.

It’s worth keeping this in mind when catering for the different trends sweeping the industry. Your services and pricing strategy will need to be kept up to date in line with consumers trends, but also consumer budgets.

Running a salon is no longer just about offering a standard service or a basic cut and colour – clients want and expect more, and this means we need to shift and adapt with these expectations.

Keeping your salon at the forefront of the latest hair and beauty trends will naturally take extra effort and commitment, but the returns will be worth it. Here are some of the top trends currently impacting salon services, and why you need to jump on them now.

Health & wellbeing – going beyond the surface

One of the biggest trends changing the face of the hair and beauty industry is the growing focus on health and wellbeing. According to data from Karla Otto’s Wellness Insights Report 2026, conducted in partnership with Phronesis Partners, this is set to continue, with nine per cent growth in the global wellness industry projected by 2028.

Beauty and wellness now go hand in hand – when clients step through the salon doors, they don’t just want their appearance to be enhanced, they want to feel better too.

Clients expect a wellbeing element to their treatments and for their therapist or stylist to have certain expertise to enhance the experience. For instance, hair stylists are now expected to offer information and advice on hair and scalp health and what clients can do to enhance this, while massage therapists can give tips on stress management for clients with particularly tense muscles or other stress-related symptoms.

Offering this more in-depth service means clients are getting real added value. Talking through the health benefits of a treatment goes beyond aesthetic results and helps clients understand the benefits of what they are paying for. This is also a great way to strengthen the relationship your team has with the customer, helping to build trust.

Providing an aesthetically driven service with no added health and wellbeing benefits isn’t necessarily enough anymore. And it’s likely that this is more than a trend, and is changing salon services for good. Focusing on the health and wellbeing of your clients is, without a doubt, a smart move.

Bespoke services – one size doesn’t fit all

Relying on a one size fits all approach to service in the hair and beauty world will no longer cut it. The demand for bespoke services and treatments is rising, and it’s important to recognise that each client has different needs and preferences.

Rather than a standard menu of options, clients are looking for individually tailored treatments centred around specific hair or skin concerns. Whether it’s hydration, barrier repair or pigmentation correction, getting to the heart of what will truly benefit a client is key. Performing a thorough consultation – either face to face or through an online form – is becoming the norm, and helps to shape the bespoke service clients want.

Clients aren’t just passive consumers, they’re actively invested in their health and beauty outcomes, and many are more clued up on ingredients and formulas than ever before. Your salon team needs to take this into account with continued education, training and awareness around the latest trends where needed. It’s not a good look if the customer is more in the know than the specialist.

Technology – the way forward

It might seem obvious, but the impact of technology isn’t going anywhere, and it’s going to continue to influence salon services for a long time to come.

Research from market intelligence agency, Mintel, found a growing appetite for tech-driven beauty treatments, with 30 per cent of clients interested in anti-ageing beauty technology, and 25 per cent keen to explore hair-quality innovations such as microneedling.

The research also highlights that 44 per cent of clients are interested in using analytics to predict how their skin or hair will age. Embracing these innovations will put your salon at the front of the pack in what can be a very crowded market, ultimately helping to boost your bottom line.

But technology isn’t just for treatments – it can also be a real helping hand in improving the client experience and reducing admin. For instance, many salon clients now prefer to schedule their appointments digitally. Not only is this more convenient for the client, but it reduces the time salon teams spend on the phone – time that could instead be spent on the salon floor carrying out treatments.

Technology in the salon isn’t going anywhere, and if anything, clients are going to expect it to be used even more to enhance their overall experience.

Final thoughts

New trends are constantly emerging, and we need to pay attention. Clients know what they want and we need to cater to this. Otherwise, they will happily spend their hard-earned cash elsewhere.

Change is a positive thing, and we’re seeing the way salons run evolve. From integrating a focus on health and wellbeing, creating bespoke services, and embracing technology, it’s an exciting time for the industry.

If you want to maintain a healthy client base, keeping up with hair and beauty trends isn’t optional, it’s a must.

Sam Kendall is CEO at SalonIQ