The most innovative companies in beauty for 2025

The world is moving fast—so fast that many people feel like they can’t keep up. The beauty industry is meeting consumers where they are, slowing things down, looking to the past, and consulting nature for inspiration. Nostalgia and a desire to claw back more time, any time, were major drivers in beauty innovation over the past year.

Arcaea worked with bioengineers to recreate the DNA of extinct flora from Borneo and extract its essence to create indulgent fragrances under the brand name Future Society. (The company also donates a portion of proceeds to stave off further extinctions on the island.) Delavie Sciences looked to the cosmos for a groundbreaking skincare product. Retro suncare brand Vacation channeled Gen X nostalgia (or, as the band LCD Soundsystem once put it, “borrowed nostalgia from the unremembered Eighties”) to revive the texture, color, and scent of Bain de Soleil’s out-of-production orange gelée, now reformulated with a higher SPF for modern sun worshippers. L’Oréal helped the 40% of women who color their hair at home save time by creating an application device that retains mixed formulas for future uses. Olive & June found a way to help nail buffs do gel manicures at home.

Credo Beauty, meanwhile, developed ways to make beauty packaging more sustainable. Rōz, founded by celebrity hairstylist Mara Roszak, rolled out a nitrogen-propelled, VOC-free aerosol root lifting spray that gives loads of volume, without harming the environment. And some beauty companies paid specific attention to bringing back people’s smiles: Megababe joyfully took the stigma out of products aimed at the nether regions, E.l.f. Beauty brought its popular, affordable products to underserved markets (with a soundtrack), and Bubble Skincare became Gen Z’s lucky charms at college tailgates

1. Vacation

For bringing back the Bain de Soleil tan

Vacation isn’t just selling sunscreen—it’s selling nostalgia. Known for blending cutting-edge sun care with lifestyle-driven marketing, the Miami-based brand has turned what was once a chore (applying sun cream) into a luxury experience through the 2024 revival of a century-old cult classic: Orange Gelée, the iconic Bain De Soleil sun gel.

Originally launched in 1920s France, Orange Gelée achieved iconic status by the 1970s but was discontinued in 2019, sparking a public outcry. Vacation seized the opportunity, forming the “Orange Gelée Revival Project,” which combined fan engagement, beauty expertise, and savvy storytelling. The team worked with a panel of diehard fans and modern experts to perfect a formula that preserved the gel’s original color and texture while meeting modern skincare standards. With 16,000 signups before launch, the SPF 30 sunscreen gel sold out in three days and became Vacation’s fastest-selling product ever—it sold 6 times more units in the first week of launch than its previous bestseller. Retailers including Ulta, Nordstrom, and Urban Outfitters quickly signed on, helping cement its success.

This creative approach drives Vacation’s growth—the company reported $40 million in revenue in 2024—and fuels viral hits such as the Classic Whip Glow SPF 30, a shimmering rendition of Vacation’s best-selling, whipped cream-inspired Classic Whip SPF 30 Sunscreen Mousse. By combining heritage, innovation, and marketing prowess, Vacation proves sunscreen can be both protective and playful.

2. Megababe

For kicking taboo body issues in the butt

When founder and body-acceptance advocate Katie Sturino first launched an anti-chafing stick in 2017, nobody really wanted to talk about what went on between a woman’s thighs, and yet the product was hit. Now seven years later, her brand, Megababe, is booming, with a constellation of products offering customers a humorous, effective way to address typically unspeakable bodily issues head-on. There’s the Bidet Bar, an in-shower cleansing bar launched in January 2024 designed specifically for one’s derrière, and Butt Stuff, a maximum-strength, FDA-approved hemorrhoid cream that came out in September 2024 September. And consumers can’t get enough.

Megababe’s ever-expanding lineup now includes more than 30 products that reach heretofore unmentionable areas, from the Happy Pits Underarm Mask to Bust Dust Anti-Boob-Sweat Powder to Megaman Ball Deo, a cream-to-powder deodorant for male nether-regions launched last year. One stick of the OG product, Thigh Rescue, sells every 30 seconds, according to the company. The brand also released its first national marketing campaign in 2024, featuring Sports Illustrated cover model Hunter McGrady. It racked up 30 million impressions. Meanwhile, Megababe is considering the environment: One of the company’s Blade Bars, for example, contains as much product as two cans of shaving cream, for example, and all of the company’s deodorant containers are made with 100% post-consumer recycled materials.

3. Credo Beauty

For pumping out truly recyclable beauty products

Credo Beauty, a retail and online marketplace of clean beauty brands with 15 brick and mortar retail shops in the U.S., focuses on the details of the many products it distributes, from patented ingredients to transformative packaging. It’s also a co-founder of Pact Collective, a not-for-profit focused on the responsible disposal of beauty packaging, as the industry generates 120 billion cosmetic packages annually, and in this role, Credo really helping rewrite the rules of sustainability.

It’s a dirty little secret that most beauty packaging is notoriously hard to recycle due to its size, flexibility, or mixed materials. Pact is working to close the loop, creating collaborative solutions for hard-to-recycle materials. That starts with a revolutionary pump. Traditional pumps, with their metal springs and multi-material components, have historically been nearly impossible to recycle. Credo partnered with Pact to pilot a resin, called NewMatter™ , that’s made from 84% recycled materials sourced using beauty package empties from 140 companies and other ocean-bound plastics—and eliminated the pesky metal spring entirely. In 2024, Credo began using the NewMatter™ resin pumps in its own line of beauty products. They can be dropped off at any of Credo’s affiliate stores for true product circularity. Every 38 pumps diverts one pound of material from landfills or oceans, according to Pact Collective. To date, Credo has made more than 30,000 units of this pump, which has diverted close to 900 pounds of plastic waste — saving the equivalent of 8 cubic meters of landfill space.

By 2025, Credo and Pact project they will manufacture a million of the pumps and roll them out to their 120 member brands, setting a bold and beautiful precedent for sustainable cosmetic packaging.

4. E.l.f. Beauty

For bringing prestige-worthy cosmetics to beauty deserts

E.l.f is on a mission to make high-end beauty trends accessible and affordable. It does this, in part, by spotting trending beauty products in the so-called “prestige” market and then quickly developing appealing and effective ‘dupes’ that are priced for the masses. In 2024 alone, the brand was responsible for six of the year’s top 10 color cosmetics product launches, among them a $7 Camo Liquid Blush that took off on TikTok for being an effective substitute for a $23 Rare Beauty highly pigmented liquid blush.

E.l.f. also democratizes beauty by working with mass market retailers. It has a widespread presence in drugstores, including CVS and Walgreens, and big box retailers Walmart and Target—both of which are turning over even more shelf space and display cases to E.l.f. in 2025. This November, the brand made its most aggressive move yet to find underserved beauty consumers: It launched in Dollar General stores, 80% of which are in rural markets with fewer than 20,000 people. These are places that have traditionally only had access to major legacy brands, that are in beauty deserts.

All of this is aided by E.l.f.’s savvy approach to marketing. The brand had a breakout moment last year with its So Many Dicks campaign, which underscored the need for board diversity by highlighting the disproportionate number of Richards that hold board seats. The company also launched an entire music division to support its TikTok efforts. Its first act: dropping ‘Get Ready With Music, The Album,’ a collection of anthems that influencers and fans can use as a soundtrack for their GRWM videos. The company has had 24 consecutive quarters of net sales growth; for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, it grew revenue by 40% to $980.9 million. 

5. Olive & June

For bringing the gel mani-pedi home

Olive & June has been democratizing salon-quality nails, creating at-home polish solutions since 2019. This year, however, the DIY manicure company has raised even its own bar. After three years and 26 rounds of testing with more than 750 users, Olive & June unveiled its Gel Polish System in October 2024. It became the biggest launch day in Olive & June’s history, crushing its previous launch sales record by nearly 50%. If you’re thinking “press-on nails,” think again. And this isn’t just another gel kit, either. Designed to last up to 21 days, the system delivers salon-level shine that resists chips, lifts, and dullness—all without damaging your nails. The most impressive piece of this mani innovation isn’t the salon-quality LED light gel fixer or the silicone brush holder, but the Peel-Off Base Coat, a glycerin-rich barrier that makes removal idiot-proof, with no harsh acetone required. (For those who prefer a more traditional approach, the system also includes a salon-speed soak-off solution.)

Priced at less than $2 per manicure, the system responds to a growing demand: 47% of gel users surveyed by Olive & June are now doing their nails at home more than in a salon. Available on Olive & June’s website and Target, the new gel mani, along with continued growth in overall sales—the company reported net sales revenue of approximately $92 million for 2024, led to an acquisition by Helen of Troy in December 2024 for $240 million.

6. Rōz

For solving the aerosol dilemma when it comes to clean hairspray

Founded by celebrity hairstylist Mara Roszak, Rōz is redefining haircare by blending professional-grade performance with clean, sustainable practices. Since its launch in 2021, the brand has built a reputation for creating intuitive, everyday products inspired by Roszak’s own kit (such as the popular Santa Lucia Styling Oil and Milk Hair Serum)—in eco-conscious packaging. Most products are delivered in easily recyclable aluminum and glass and offer refillable options whenever possible to help reduce waste. When plastic is necessary, the company ensures it contains at least 50% postconsumer recycled content, and all their paperboard packaging is FSC certified, promoting responsible forest management.

Rōz outdid itself in the sustainability realm in 2024, with the release of the brand’s Root Lift Spray, a product that took three years to develop. It lifts hair at the root to give it volume, like many root sprays do, but the real innovation is its eco-valve and nitrogen propellant, which work together to deliver a consistent spray and precise application while allowing for twice as much formula per can compared to traditional aerosols, but without toxic VOCs or propellants that harm the environment and the ozone.

Rōz’s focus on clean beauty hasn’t hindered its business growth. The brand expanded its retail footprint to 400 locations in 2024, including Nordstrom and Sephora, and more than 150 salons, up from just 40 salons in 2023. It also closed an oversubscribed seed round led by Silas Capital, with additional investment from notable celebrity backers like Lily Collins and Mila Kunis.

7. Delavie Sciences

For creating an anti-aging serum that’s out of this world

In a discovery that sounds straight out of science fiction, NASA astronauts researched a resilient bacteria that survived on the outside of the International Space Station for 18 months, thriving despite exposure to harsh space radiation . When the organism was returned to Earth in 2022, researchers found that the bacteria had expressed genes to survive extreme conditions that are typically detrimental to any form of life. Newly launched company Delavie and its scientists saw the potential of these “extremophiles” and turned one of them into what they called bacillus lysate, the first biological cosmetic ingredient to be recognized as Certified Space Technology by the Space Foundation.

Since its launch as the star ingredient in Delavie Sciences‘s Aeonia age-defying skincare line, this patented breakthrough has been shown to boost sunblock effectiveness, extending protection across UVA, UVB, HEV (blue light), and UVC rays. Dubbed an “SPF booster” for its ability to supercharge sunblock, bacillus lysate is not classified as sunscreen but delivers a new level of skin defense that includes reducing hyperpigmentation by inhibiting tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for melanin production, and lowering melanin levels. The organism is also a super-antioxidant that protects against UVA-induced free radicals, stimulates skin rejuvenation, and enhances moisture by increasing hyaluronic acid production by more than 200%. After just one use, Aeonia Age-Defying Serum showed improved radiance and hydration by 30%. The ingredient has been licensed for use in other beauty products.

Delavie’s Aeonia line has expanded in the past to years to four total products, including the Aeonia Age Defying Serum, Aeonia Gentle Age Defying Serum, Aeonia Eye Refresh, and Aeonia Sculpting Cream, released in November. The brand will be debuting a sunscreen later this year. With a 61% revenue increase in 2024, Delavie is gearing up for a 155% revenue surge in 2025. It’s proof that highly effective skincare is sometimes of this world.

8. L’Oréal

For making DIY hair color as easy as flipping a switch

For decades, at-home hair coloring has been a messy, tricky process. Consumers often struggle with uneven application, stains, and difficulty reaching the back of the head. With 40% of women in the U.S. coloring their hair at home—and the global hair color sector estimated at nearly $27 billion—there was clearly demand for an easier, more efficient solution to covering those grays. Yet, despite the rise of DIY hair color, traditional kits often lead to inconsistent results, with 70% of users reporting dissatisfaction. So L’Oréal Groupe, a company with more than 100 years of experience in haircare, spent ten years developing Colorsonic, a revolutionary device designed to simplify at-home hair coloring.

First unveiled at CES 2022 and released commercially in the summer of 2024 at Target, Colorsonic is a handheld, lightweight device that looks like a curling iron but uses leading-edge technology to mix and apply permanent hair color evenly, offering consumers a mess-free, precise solution to dying. The device’s custom mixer mechanism combines the exact amount of developer and formula in 20 shades, while its oscillating bristles move in a zigzag pattern to distribute color evenly across the hair. According to L’Oréal, Colorsonic covers 20,000 strands per minute, ensuring even results and 100% gray coverage in just five minutes. Plus, you can use it once for a full head and up to three times for root touch-ups without remixing the solution, making Colorsonic a practical, sustainable hair coloring option. No mess. No exploding bottles. No uneven color. Just easy DIY results.

9. Arcaea

For harnessing the extinct past to create beauty products of the future

What if your perfume could tell the story of an extinct world? The biotechnology company Arcaea, via its consumer brand Future Society, has turned that fantasy into reality. In 2023, the brand partnered with the Harvard Herbarium to access preserved specimens and sequenced DNA from the Shorea cuspidata, an ancient tree once thriving in Borneo, to create “Floating Forest.” Using cutting-edge bioengineering and the artistry of the world’s best perfumers, Arcaea resurrected the essence of this lost flora, blending science and artistry to craft a fragrance unlike anything on the market. And this ethereal perfume is more than just a high-end scent; it’s a step toward environmental responsibility. Partnering with the Borneo Project, Arcaea donates proceeds from the Floating Forest collection to support conservation efforts in Borneo, addressing habitat loss and promoting sustainable livelihoods, so there won’t be a need to make fragrances from the DNA of extinct plants in the future.

In 2024, Future Society further advanced its goal to revolutionize the personal scent category by introducing the Optimal Habitat Fragrance Enhancing Primer. This groundbreaking product works with your skin’s unique biology to amplify a fragrance and extend its longevity for up to 24 hours, addressing common frustrations with fading scents. It does it by blending engineered ingredients that create the optimal skin pH for a fragrance of your choice to flourish for longer.

The company is also currently working on a shampoo that “remembers” your hairstyle and sunscreen that strengthens your skin’s defenses against UV rays. With what the company reports to be the largest Series A funding in beauty history—thanks to infusions from big players in the beauty space like Chanel and Birchbox owner Viking Global Investors—and multiple patent applications across its technology platforms, Arcaea is proving that the beauty of the past can shape the future, one molecule at a time.

10. Bubble Skincare

For cracking the Gen Z beauty code with style and charm

For Bubble, innovation isn’t just about skincare—it’s about staying in lockstep with Gen Z, a generation constantly rewriting the rules of self-expression. The modern, science-backed brand, which launched in 2020, has found success by listening closely to its 80k-plus “ambassador” community to craft skincare solutions that balance and hydrate young, vibrant skin. Every Bubble Skincare product, which is sold at behemoths like Ulta, Walmart, and CVS, undergoes a rigorous process: in-house formulation by an all-female product team, testing and oversight by the brand’s Dermatologist Advisory Board, and a thumbs-up from its community. If less than 90% approves, it’s back to the lab.

But Bubble doesn’t stop at skincare. Its latest lip-care release, Juicy Secret, comes in the ultimate Gen Z accessory: purse charms that encase the beauty products, blending fun and function with customizable flair. And in fall 2024, Bubble followed its oldest Gen Z fans to college campuses with the “Face the Game Day” Tailgate Tour that lit up quads nationwide. The results? A 93% sales surge at Ulta stores, and 10 million unique impressions. With 3 million TikTok followers, Bubble is a brand that Gen Z refuses to outgrow.

Explore the full 2025 list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, 609 organizations that are reshaping industries and culture. We’ve selected the companies making the biggest impact across 58 categories, including advertising, applied AI, biotech, retail, sustainability, and more.