Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify
There’s an interesting tension happening in the beauty industry today around makeup.
Last year, consumer beauty publications and industry executives heralded 2026 as the year bold, maximalist makeup would return. Top publications predicted a shift away from the persistent “clean girl aesthetic” that entered the zeitgeist around 2021 toward bolder, brighter makeup. Meanwhile, executives from Sephora, Ulta Beauty and Revlon told Glossy they were betting big on a return to more expressive makeup in 2026.
But that hasn’t happened at scale – at least not yet. Instead, sales at conglomerates that report earnings, like L’Oréal Group and E.l.f. Beauty, tell us that top-selling categories in 2026 remain the mainstays of “no-makeup makeup,” like lip gloss, balm and liner; complexion products, like tinted sunscreen, blush, bronzer, and setting spray; and mascara.
For today’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, host Lexy Lebsack sat down with veteran celebrity makeup artist Jamie Greenberg to unpack exactly where makeup is headed next.
Greenberg has been a working makeup artist for more than 20 years. Her client list today includes Rashida Jones, Kaley Cuoco, Chelsea Handler, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kristen Stewart, among others.
Greenberg is also the founder of the DTC makeup line Jamie Makeup, known best for its blush/highlighter hybrid product called Blighlighter and spray makeup remover named B.F.M.R. Mist. She’s also a prolific social media creator with more than 700,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, and she runs a monthly subscription beauty box called SwagBag that features her latest favorite products from a wide array of brands.
Press play now for a candid conversation on where makeup is headed, including the trends and signals Greenberg is paying attention to now.
On where makeup is going next
“We’ve been [wearing the] ‘clean girl aesthetic’ for a minute. But everything comes back around, you know? It’s just always with a little twist on it. So I think, based on all of the fashion shows and what we’re seeing on the runways, which usually indicates where the trends are going, we’re seeing a lot more color. A lot more eyeshadow. We’re seeing bold lips, but blurred — not so much with pencil anymore. We’re seeing blush again…Skin is going to take a backseat, whereas, for the past year or two, I feel like skin has taken a front seat. [But now] skin is just going to be part of the show, but we’re not going to pay attention to it [as much]. It’s not going to be glassy, it’s not going to be matte; it’s just going to be skin.”
On the rise of personal style in makeup
“People are not afraid to wave their personality a little bit, so whether that is as simple as learning how to do fake lashes on yourself, or put on a blue eyeshadow, or a green liquid liner, or whatever it is, people are excited to experiment. They’re looking at makeup as an accessory now. … That’s especially [true of] the younger generation. They are all over the place. You’re getting your California girls wearing, like, the ‘clean girl aesthetic’. You’re getting your anime furry girls putting on crazy [makeup], and you’re just seeing such a creative movement from the youth. … They’re the trendsetters now.”
