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Controversial ingredients like PDRN and exosomes will influence what we see on shelves.
By Victoria Moorhouse
Skin-care innovation doesn’t happen overnight. Breakthrough ingredients, revamped formulations, and new product formats are usually the result of years of clinical research, expert input, and consumer feedback. Unlike the ever-shifting aesthetics in makeup, hair color, and nail art, the biggest skin-care “trends” each year can feel a bit more… subtle.
For 2025, industry experts predict expansions on already booming product and treatment themes within the skin-care space. You can expect to see souped-up sunscreens, body serums as powerful as those for your face, and lots of multitasking products. You will also likely notice buzzy in-office treatments, like the “salmon sperm facial,” influencing what you see on shelves. Read on to learn more.
In this story:
Multistep routines will be dethroned by simplicity and multitasking products.
Sunscreen formulas will continue to improve.
Body-care products are getting a facelift.
Exosomes will be just as buzzy—and, likely, just as controversial.
PDRN products may be on their way, thanks to the Korean salmon sperm facial.
We’ll reach the peak of barrier-repair skin care.
Multistep routines will be dethroned by simplicity and multitasking products.
If you never found extensive, multistep skin-care routines to be particularly approachable, affordable, or agreeable with your skin, you’ll be thrilled to learn that next year will likely bring more simplicity. “There’s been a shift towards more minimalist routines involving multifunctional products that are just as effective [as using multiple products],” says Morgan Rabach, MD, a board-certified dermatologist.
Beth Labrecque, a principal scientist for Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing, agrees: “Consumers are looking for face-care products that provide more bang for their buck with a multitude of benefits for the skin,” she says.
A focus on skin-care minimalism is something Marisa Garshick, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, has seen with patients in her own practice. “I think some of this desire stems from the fact that when you use too many products, your skin can experience sensitivity, reactions, breakouts, and irritation,” she says. “Many people were seeing this as a result of multistep, complicated routines.”
Dermatologists have long warned us that more isn’t necessarily better in skin care. Besides the potential irritation that can go with using too many actives (or trying too many TikTok trends) at once, layering the wrong combo of products can inactivate skin-care ingredients, therefore rendering a product ineffective. “For this reason, simplified routines work well,” says Dr. Garshick. “Not only is it easier to be consistent, but it’s also less likely to disrupt the skin barrier.”
Total Eye 3-in-1 Renewal Therapy SPF 35
For brands, the desire for simplicity often translates into multitasking products that deliver results. Dr. Garshick points to a product like the Colorescience Total Eye 3-in-1 Renewal Therapy SPF 35, which acts as a wrinkle-smoothing, SPF-infused eye cream and a concealer. “This eye cream brightens, hydrates and uses antioxidants and hyaluronic acid while also protecting the skin from UV radiation,” she says. “Additionally, the use of peptides helps to improve firmness and the overall appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.”
Multitasking products with multi benefits might also see growth amid impending economic changes. Depending on what new tariff policies are imposed under the incoming Trump administration, economic experts predict consumers could see significant price increases (according to recent Allure reporting, anywhere from 10-60%) on beauty and personal-care products from imported brands and those made in the US. That may influence some consumers to purchase one product that can do multiple jobs (say, a mask that can work as a moisturizer or a moisturizer that doubles as a makeup primer) or deliver multiple benefits at a lower price, rather than several individual products that will add up to a bigger bill. This may even lead a consumer to ask their dermatologist what products they can cut from their routine.
Sunscreen formulas will continue to improve.
Can sunscreen be sexy? If you ask Dr. Rabach, the answer would be an emphatic yes. Sure, her job is to push you toward rituals and products that preserve your skin’s health, but she says she’s excited to see sunscreen be a “sexy topic” in 2025, pointing to aesthetically pleasing products like those from Vacation.
While the US is still slower to adopt new sunscreen filters than other countries, as far as texture goes, formulas will continue to improve in the new year, according to all of the dermatologists we interviewed. “Brands are in continuous pursuit of silky, lightweight textures that feel luxurious, making them easier and more enjoyable to incorporate into skin-care routines,” says Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist.
Ava Perkins, a cosmetic chemist, echoes this, saying that brands are focused on marketing these textures for being close to serums and moisturizers. This translates to more “sunscreen drops,” “sunscreen serums,” and “sunscreen fluids” instead of lotions and creams. Early next year, you can expect a sunscreen that feels just like a lotion and color-corrects skin, which wowed editors on the Allure team who previewed it in November.
Dr. Garshick predicts next year will bring more shade options in tinted sunscreens for those with darker skin, as well as more hybrid formulas like tinted serums with SPF. This year, Supergoop launched its Protec(tint) Daily SPF Tint SPF 50 Sunscreen Skin Tint, a skin tint that offers medium coverage in 14 shades and sun protection with chemical and mineral filters. In May, Fenty Skin expanded its Hydra Vizor sunscreen line with the launch of the Hydra Vizor Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum Mineral SPF 30 Sunscreen, available in 10 flexible shades.
Body-care products are getting a facelift.
Body creams aren’t just body creams anymore. More and more brands are launching options infused with active ingredients that have long been used in facial skin care. Labrecque refers to this movement as the “faceification of body care,” noting that it’s one of Unilever’s top product-development priorities for 2025. Unlike the “skinification” of body care, which Labrecque says involves the awareness of simply developing a care routine for body skin, faceification takes the process a step further and delivers targeted benefits and personalized solutions for consumers who are looking to upgrade their body-care regimen.
“We can see that this level of intention people take with body care is here to stay,” Labrecque says. And Dr. Gohara predicts we’ll see a “more sophisticated approach to body skin care” overall through advanced ingredients like body-specific retinoids and barrier-repair components. She also expects an upgrade in the body-cleansing category. “We will see ingredients that benefit skin texture, tone, wrinkle reduction, hydration in body washes,” she says. “Body is finally having the moment it deserves. It is the majority of our skin, after all!”
In addition to body-care brands faceifying their products—Dove, for example, launched its Body Cream Serum Collection in October, featuring formulas that target texture and tone concerns on top of moisturizing—we’re also seeing brands known to focus on facial care branch into the category. This summer, The Ordinary marked its first foray into body care by launching a 0.5% Salicylic Acid Body Serum, a Prebiotic Body Cream, and a 5% Niacinamide Face and Body Emulsion. Skinbetter also expanded into body care for the first time with the 2024 launch of its AlphaRet Body Overnight Cream, a formula that combines retinoid and AHA ingredient technology to hydrate and smooth rough, dry, and flaky skin.
“The idea here is to remember that the skin on our body, especially our neck and hands, is exposed to the same daily stressors as the skin on our face, so we want to be sure to protect and treat the skin the same way,” Dr. Garshick says. She explains further that a faceified body-care routine includes steps you would find in your face routine, like a cleanser, an antioxidant in the morning, an exfoliating and rejuvenating step (like retinol), moisturizer, and sunscreen.
But Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, says the skin on the body and its pathology is different from skin on the face. “We look at different actives at different strengths for the body, where skin can be thicker or more sensitive,” he says. For example, effectively exfoliating dead skin on the body may require a higher strength of salicylic acid than what’s found in facial products, or an entirely different ingredient that isn’t recommended for the face.
Exosomes will be just as buzzy—and, likely, just as controversial.
Since 2022, Allure has been reporting on the rising interest in exosomes, nanoparticles released by cells in the human body that carry various molecules and may send signals to skin cells to repair and regenerate. Although many are excited by the ingredient’s potential to improve texture and smooth wrinkles, there are still no FDA-approved products that contain the ingredient. However, our editors have heard of multiple exosome-inspired skin-care products hitting shelves next year, including a brightening serum and a line-smoothing facial balm for launch in the spring.
Exosomes remain one of the most controversial ingredients of the moment due to a lack of safety data and sourcing concerns. Many of the experts we interviewed for this article predict exosomes will continue to generate buzz, but they also mention there’s a long way to go for safety measures, testing methods, and ensuring the ingredient delivers desirable benefits. “There are some concerns with the exosome genre in general that need to be worked out before people feel comfortable going down that road,” says Corey L. Hartman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist.
Daniel P. Friedmann, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, expresses the need for long-term controlled clinical trials for topical exosome use, noting that many of the potential benefits of the ingredient remain speculative. “Exosomes are just storage structures allowing for the transit of other molecules between cells, akin to that of shipping containers,” he explains. “Putting certain molecules or drugs in those ‘shipping containers’ does not necessarily ensure they will reach their appropriate destination.”
Perkins has concerns regarding the use of exosomes in topical products, and mentions there are barriers to formulating with them. “Exosomes are derived from human, animal, or plant stem cells, all of which have their limitations, in my opinion,” she says. “I don’t think it’s particularly ethical to be using human-derived ingredients in skin-care products, and the exosomes that are plant-derived do not have enough convincing data to support efficacy in vivo, a.k.a. on human skin. I’m curious to see how these ingredients will evolve in the future, but personally, I don’t think these live up to their claims.”
Dr. Hartman predicts companies will try to find ways to use exosomes derived from plants, but whether or not they will be as effective as DNA-linked exosomes is unclear.
PDRN products may be on their way, thanks to the Korean salmon sperm facial.
A Korean skin-care treatment that involves injecting DNA derived from salmon semen, colloquially dubbed “the salmon sperm facial,” is rising in popularity in the US, thanks in part to celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Aniston saying they’ve tried it in the past. While injecting salmon sperm into the skin is not yet FDA-approved in the United States, the ingredient will likely still influence products to come.
Salmon sperm contains a substance called polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN), which experts say may offer skin-supporting benefits. “PDRN is a mixture of DNA fragments, which works as a collagen bio-stimulator and supports the skin’s natural regenerative properties, including blood vessel growth and wound healing,” explains Ryan Turner, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City. “There are preclinical and clinical studies that support the regenerative properties of PDRN.” Specifically, some studies indicate PDRN may promote collagen production and a reduction in inflammation. But, Dr. Turner cautions, it’s not a miracle worker: “It’s not going to reverse decades of sun damage or replace a facelift.”
Dr. Turner says PDRN is most effective when used as an injectable treatment or as an add-on to a topical treatment that involves breaking the skin, like microneedling or laser skin resurfacing. Rejuran, he adds, is one of the most common PDRN treatments being used in professional settings in the US, but the ingredient isn’t yet widely found in at-home products.
That said, there are a handful of Korean skin-care brands—like IOPE, Genabelle, and Medicube—that are already using salmon sperm PDRN and vegan PDRN ingredients in at-home products. IOPE’s PDRN Caffeine Shot Serum, which retails for $50 and is currently the best-selling serum on Soko Glam, uses a plant-based PDRN ingredient the brand calls Bio-PDRN. “The original PDRN injections are derived from salmon egg, but IOPE extracted bio-PDRN is from lactobacillus ferment lysate,” explains Charlotte Cho, a cofounder of Soko Glam. She says the vegan formulation is meant to mimic the effect of salmon sperm-derived PDRN.
Both Cho and Dr. Turner predict that we may start to hear more about PDRN in Western skin care, in general. But, Dr. Turner says, much more research on the ingredient is needed, including studies that determine if PDRN is even effective in topical products. “Given the size of some PDRNs, they are not likely to be able to efficiently penetrate the skin and need to be formulated in a way that enhances absorption and maintains stability,” he explains.
Dr. Garshick also expresses the need for more safety and efficacy research on PDRN: “While I do see it eventually being incorporated into topical products, for now it is best to be cautious given the limited studies and evidence,” she says.
We’ll reach the peak of barrier-repair skin care.
The barrier-repair skin-care genre is showing no signs of slowing down. At Allure, editors’ inboxes are bursting with info on products from silky serums to rich, occlusive moisturizers that are marketed to support the outermost layer of skin, helping seal in moisture and keep out germs.
Recently, we’ve even seen brands like Deinde and Mantle use the term “barrier-building” in reference to their newly launched formulas. And as we head into 2025, experts predict there's going to be even more barrier-repair buzz. “The health of the outer skin layer is the biggest trend we have been seeing over the past few years,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, a board-certified dermatologist. “Not only when treating dry skin but also when addressing aging skin or sensitive skin.”
But just because barrier-repair products are everywhere you look, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need one in your lineup. “Skin barrier is important, don't get me wrong, but it's mostly important for people who have eczema,” explains Dr. Hartman. “Those are people with an impaired skin barrier. Everybody else, generally, has a skin barrier that's okay.”
Going overboard with barrier repair when you don’t actually have an impaired skin barrier could set you up for other skin concerns—and may even feed into 2026’s buzzy skin-care category. “You could almost predict the next thing,” says Dr. Hartman. “It'll probably be breakout treatments, because now everybody who doesn't have to worry about skin barrier is using all these occlusive products that are going to cause them to have acne and discoloration.”
That said, how you regularly care for your skin can impact the health of your skin barrier, too, so you shouldn’t ignore the topic. For instance, Dr. Garshick says, using too many harsh cleansers, active ingredients, and abrasive scrubs has the potential to irritate your skin and disrupt your skin barrier.
Determining whether or not your overzealous product-testing habits led to a compromised skin barrier is a task that’s probably best left to the professionals. Says Dr. Garshick, the issue typically manifests as red, dry, flaky skin or is associated with burning, stinging, or a tingling sensation. However, she adds, there are other skin conditions (like rosacea, forms of contact dermatitis, acne, and eczema) that can be mistaken for or associated with a compromised skin barrier. So if you have concerns, consider booking an appointment with a dermatologist to find out exactly what’s going on.
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