Once a signifier of luxury or novelty, custom products and services are now within reach of the everyday consumer, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithm-led platforms, and the COVID-era digitisation boom. Today, everyone wants to be the main character of their brand experience.

Aldi is turning to the beauty community on Instagram and TikTok to get feedback on its makeup line before releasing it to the public. Beauty fans get free products and can share opinions, ensuring that anticipation for products builds and loyalty grows as people feel apart of brand development.

Clean beauty is coming for sunscreen because of its damaging ingredients that can impact the human body and the environment. Companies could benefit from meeting their discerning customers' eco-values and health needs as people begin to notice what goes into creating skincare products.

As the Web3 ecosystem has the potential to forge deeper and more equitable relationships between content creators and their fans, platforms like Channel are developing new ways for creators to collaborate and build community. In evolving digital landscapes, is this a way to move co-creation forward?

Beauty trends remain in a constant state of flux. People are pushing for innovation in their daily routines – and as enthusiasts and creatives pilot new ideas in the sector, from product categories to marketing, how are so-called ‘skintellectuals’ raising the bar when it comes to beauty tech?