The rise of Beauty Spaces and the fall of rigid routines
Reshaping how products are used, chosen, and valued
Ask someone why they use a face mist, and they're increasingly unlikely to say “hydration.” Instead, it might be, “to feel more awake before a meeting,” or “to reset after a walk.” What people reach for depends less on the label and more on the role the product plays in that moment.
Beauty routines are shifting. The traditional structure of morning and evening steps is loosening, replaced by more flexible, need-based use. Consumers are building routines around specific points in their day — moments that reflect how they actually live: mobile, interrupted, and varied.
Routines rewritten
This shift is evident in how people are using the products they buy. Usage is becoming less anchored to fixed time slots or multi-step regimens. The most habitual Beauty Spaces — “Rise & Shine” and “Lights Out” — still bookend the day, and together account for around one-third of all beauty occasions across markets. In Britain and the United States, they make up nearly 40% of usage. In Germany, it’s just under 50%. But even in these anchor spaces, behaviour is changing.
Usage in these spaces is declining year on year in both Britain and the US, and has steadily fallen over time. Since 2020 in the US alone, “Rise & Shine” and “Lights Out” have seen over 140 million fewer weekly usage occasions, representing a 19% drop in five years.
This trend extends beyond beauty. In Britain, personal care occasions are down 3% year on year, while beauty usage remains flat. Across France, Germany, Spain, and Great Britain, the average person has dropped two personal care occasions per week. In Brazil, volume is steady but usage is flat, suggesting that purchase does not always translate to use.
These are not short-term dips. They reflect a broader shift away from fixed routines toward more flexible, context-driven behaviours. The spaces that once delivered predictable frequency are becoming less reliable. For brands, driving sustainable growth means re-igniting usage — and that starts with knowing when products are actually used.
As routines loosen, brand choice becomes less consistent. Without regular triggers or predictable moments of use, the risk of churn rises. What once anchored brand success — fixed habits, time-of-day rituals — is starting to fade.
The breakdown of rigid routines is playing out differently across age groups. For those over 35, the clearest signs of growth are in Work Mode and Brunch Beauty, which are up 7% and 6% year on year respectively. Evening Exhale is also gaining traction, particularly in face care, cosmetics, and fragrance — though not in hair. This trend suggests that daily structure is returning for this group, with post-work decompression becoming key usage driver once again.
Under 35s show a more varied picture. For this group, the traditionally dominant Rise & Shine and Lights Out spaces are under pressure, which reflects their greater adaptability to shifting schedules. In contrast, usage is growing across a wider range of Beauty Spaces. Sweat & Reset is up 10%, Night Out Glow has grown 14% year on year, and Refresh Reset is up 8%. Work Mode and Brunch Beauty are also growing and represent larger usage spaces for younger consumers compared to over 35s.
Cosmetics illustrates the complexity of these shifts. In the US, total cosmetics events are still down 6% year on year. The only bright spot is Night Out Glow, which is showing modest growth of 2% — driven entirely by under 35s. Interestingly, while the product mix in this space is simpler than in other markets, premium brands are gaining traction. Brands like NARS (indexing 178) and Dior (165) stand out by offering hero products that perform well in pared-back routines.
In core European markets, the story is different. Night Out Glow is down 8% year on year and is four times smaller than Brunch Beauty, which is growing modestly at 3%. The implication is clear: success is shifting from aspirational glamour to everyday social moments. The bigger opportunity may lie not in rebuilding complex makeup repertoires, but in finding new relevance in less expected moments. For example, Lights Out, though still small, has grown 58% across four European markets, driven by targeted products like lip masks.
Winning the when
Beauty Spaces offer a clearer way to understand where usage is still happening, and where it’s shifting. These are not marketing constructs or consumer personas. They are real, observable moments of use — getting ready for work, resetting after exercise, winding down before bed. By looking at when and why products are used, Beauty Spaces reveal how categories combine, which formats are gaining relevance, and where frequency is increasing or decreasing.
One clear pattern is the rise of more flexible formats. In markets like India, France, Britain, Thailand, and Indonesia, usage of gels, mists, micellar waters, and essences (lightweight, hydrating liquid) is climbing. These products aren’t typically built to complete a lengthy regimen. They work because they slot into fragmented schedules and fulfil multiple needs.
Broader cultural changes are also reshaping when and how people get ready to face the outside world. In Britain, daytime socialising is rising while evening events decline. This shift also ties to wellness trends — with alcohol consumption down 1.7% year on year, and no- and low-alcohol sales up 5.5%. As a result, moments like brunch, gallery visits, daytime dates and walking groups are gaining ground. And with them, the need for a different kind of beauty: simpler, subtler, more adaptable.
Beauty Spaces like Brunch Beauty and Refresh Reset reflect this social change. Day is increasingly replacing night as a key usage window, and brands that adapt to this rhythm will be better placed to grow.
The collapse of rigid routines creates both risk and opportunity. Products that once relied on a fixed sequence must now prove their value in specific usage moments. Some are doing this well. Lights Out, a pre-bedtime space traditionally overlooked for cosmetics, is emerging as a surprising foothold. Brands offering overnight lip masks are successfully claiming it by more directly aligning with the logic of end-of-day care. By reframing their product as part of a nighttime wind-down, they’ve cracked a category-moment pairing that once seemed unintuitive.
Across markets, we’re seeing rising engagement with beauty formats that either signal efficacy or support more flexible routines. Essence and micellar water are growing as premium-feel options that invite trade-up, while lighter textures like water-based creams, mists, and gels are better suited to layering, refreshing, or topping up throughout the day. These formats are not tied to time of day or full regimens. They work because they match the new logic of usage: responsive, efficient, and purpose-built.
