Are Women Taking Back Power With These Everyday Beauty Choices?
The beauty world has always been a problematic place, filled with impossible standards and the idea that the female body mainly exists through the male gaze. We’ve spent decades trying to shirk the beauty choices forced on us on page and screen and, more recently, by highly edited social media posts. But, is it possible that women are poised to take back power over the concept of beauty this year?
After all, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to look your best. As a concept, beauty even has the potential to transform female lives for the better. It can simply feel impossible to find a way forward considering the problematic language and misogynistic views attached.
Yet, that’s precisely what a surprising number of women are doing right now, and we’re going to consider how they’re managing it throughout this article.
# 1 - Beauty as an Emotional Focus
The beauty world stopped trying to make women feel good a long time ago, a that largely stemmed from an external, appearances-only approach. Far from focusing on fuelling ourselves, beauty sales become solely centered around ideas about vanity and external validation. And therein lay disaster.
Skip forward to 2026, and we’re seeing a significant shift in how women are approaching beauty with their own needs in mind. From skinimalism routines that allow busy career women to get to bed a little earlier, to bold statement lips that make it possible to stand loud and proud in even the most daunting of settings, beauty is undeniably becoming more about how you feel than how you look.
And why does that matter? Because how you feel is all about you. If you’re choosing those makeup tones or outfit choices to work for you, then no lack of external validation can stand in your way when it comes to truly looking and feeling fabulous.
# 2 - Blending a More Natural Kind of Beauty
From the thick eyebrows of the 2010s to the obvious fillers of the last decade, beauty standards have historically centred around incredibly obvious, and typically time-consuming, facial improvements. If your products and cosmetic treatments weren’t a kind of screaming self-improvement for the whole world to see, then you may have been made to feel inadequate in various ways. But women are finally saying that enough is enough.
Natural makeup looks, no makeup selfies, and even naturalistic cosmetic procedures like deep-plane facelifts and preservation rhinoplasty are all quickly creeping up the ranks of attractiveness. Even better, these trends are entirely dictated by women who have had enough of spending hours on makeup application or being forced into beauty norms as they age. Even hair has had a makeover, with sleek, straightened locks being overrun by au natural curls and other untouched styles.
The best thing about all of this is that, with these once-bold moves towards presenting a more natural appearance, women are showing the world what beauty really looks like. And those high, time-consuming standards are swiftly dropping as a result.
# 3 - Beauty as a Cultural Question
Limited beauty norms have always left very little space for women from different cultures, who were expected to present the sleek, straight hair and makeup hacks of the white Western world. This has historically caused countless women, especially black women, to feel like there’s no place for their natural hair or looks. But we’re pleased to say that this is also changing.
Now, more women than ever are embracing beauty and culture in one breath, and leaning into everything from cornrows and natural afros to heritage patterns and styling. Not only does this significantly simplify beauty regimes for those women, but it also ensures that no woman has to deny her history to fit in with what someone else finds beautiful. And, that’s a step towards true empowerment if you ask us.# 4 - Bringing Wellness into the Beauty Mix
It’s also true that beauty and wellness are now better integrated than ever before. While the beauty industry was once particularly centered around the idea that no pain meant no gain, most women have been turning against that outlook for quite a while. Now, we’ve reached the stage where the beauty world is actually starting to sit up and consider how the things we do to look good could also make us feel good.
From naturally beneficial beauty treatments to skin care as a self-care priority, these and every other point in this article are helping women to feel as good as they look. And, that’s where true beauty-based empowerment lies.
