Summer beauty trends: Food-inspired formulations heat up
This summer, the beauty industry was coated with food-inspired product launches. Brands leveraged the flavor and sensory qualities food evokes to recreate the same favorable tastes and textures in their cosmetic products.
Gourmand-inspired beauty is not new, but it undoubtedly experienced a standout surge this summer. Miriam Freixa Villena, R&D manager at Tara Formula, tells Personal Care Insights that food-inspired beauty products result from the desire for transparency, simplicity, and familiarity.
“Food-based ingredients are part of our daily lives, and that makes them accessible, intuitive, and easier to trust. What’s exciting is that this familiarity often drives more research,” says Freixa Villena.
“When something is already widely used in food, it’s more likely to be explored for cosmetic efficacy too. So we see this crossover as a fertile space for innovation, not a passing trend.”
Major beauty brands such as Rare Beauty, Rhode, and Laneige released food-inspired cosmetics spanning from sweet to savory.
Banana boom
Lush highlighted its banana-based skin care and hygiene solutions this summer. According to Google Trends, searches for banana beauty increased 47% in July.
“Other beauty brands, such as Glossier and Prada, have also recently launched banana-themed lip products, confirming the wider appeal of this note,” a Lush spokesperson tells Personal Care Insights.
Rare Beauty teams up with Tajín for a cheek and lip set. Lush’s in-house perfumer, Alina Gliwinska, explains why gourmand scents — particularly bananas — are experiencing a boom in popularity.
“People are going bananas for bananas this summer because it captures the carefree, nostalgic essence of sunny days. With its creamy, tropical sweetness, banana evokes memories of beach holidays, fruity cocktails, and childhood treats — making it the perfect scent for escapism and feel-good vibes,” Gliwinska tells us.
“It pairs perfectly with other trending gourmand notes like vanilla, caramel, tonka, coffee, milk, and cream, creating rich, dessert-like blends that are hugely popular right now.”
Banana is a familiar favorite — used in milkshakes, cakes, cookies, and more — and as one of the world’s most popular fruits, its scent feels close to home, nostalgic, and naturally appealing.”
Sweet, savory, and spicy
Rare Beauty and seasoning brand Tajín launched a cheek and lip set. The collection was available exclusively on Sephora and Rare Beauty’s website for a limited time this summer while supplies lasted.
The colors of Tajín Clásico Seasoning and Tajín Chamoy Sauce inspire the products. The Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Chamoy is colored as a deep red brown. The Positive Light Luminizing Lip Gloss in Clásico features a rich terracotta color with copper and gold shimmer. The new shade aims to leave the lips drenched in glass-like shine and hydration with a prismatic shimmer.
“This collaboration is a celebration of what makes us unique — our culture, our energy, and the moments that bring us together,” said Rare Beauty’s founder, Selena Gomez. “Just like Tajín, these shades bring boldness, warmth, and a spark of joy to every occasion.”
In other lip launches, Rhode revealed a limited-edition Peptide Lip Tint in Lemontini this summer. The shimmery sheer-gold gloss featured an upgraded formula to address complaints of the formula becoming grainy over time.
Mexican food chain Chipotle and Wonderskin also released a food-inspired lip product. The collaborative Lipotle Lip Stain was initially launched last year but was brought back this summer after receiving “unprecedented demand.”
The avocado-inspired, metallic green masque transforms into a nude-pink lip stain. The tech-powered stain was Wonderskin’s fastest-selling product ever, and the company received over 10,000 emails and comment requests to re-launch the Chipotle shade.
Panera transforms mac and cheese into a playful lip balm duo.
“Fans couldn’t get enough of Lipotle the first time around, and we heard them loud and clear,” said Stephanie Perdue, VP brand marketing at Chipotle. “Bringing Lipotle back with Wonderskin is a celebration of our communities’ passion for flavor and self-expression.”
In July, Laneige partnered with Baskin-Robbins for a limited-edition Rainbow Sherbet Lip Sleeping Mask. The product featured a marbled formula that combined three scents — orange, pineapple, and raspberry — mirroring the flavor of Baskin-Robbins’ Rainbow Sherbet.
Lastly, Panera Bread partnered with Holler and Glow to launch S’Mac and Cheese Lip Balm, a limited-edition duo.
“When Panera came to us with the idea of turning Mac & Cheese into a lip balm, we said ‘yes, please (and make it extra cheesy).’ This collab is the perfect mix of comfort food, nostalgia, and beauty-meets-banter,” said Thea Green, founder of Holler and Glow.
The lip cosmetics were inspired by Panera’s Mac and Cheese and Bread Bowl. Each balm is infused with the scents of the Panera meal and crafted with Holler and Glow’s signature glossy, non-sticky formula, infused with vitamin E. The product also featured a spoon-shaped applicator.
“For our first foray into the beauty world, it only made sense to start with a Panera classic — mac and cheese and bread bowl — reimagining it as a playful, scent-sational lip balm duo,” said Mark Shambura, chief marketing officer at Panera Bread.
“Could we have gone with the strawberry on our beloved summer seasonal salad? Of course. Ultimately, we decided to offer an unexpected, yet iconic, pairing that is a perfect way for the Panera obsessed to bring a taste of an all-time favorite menu item into their everyday routine.”
Natural and lasting
Tara Formula uses food-based ingredients in its skin and hair care. The brand sees strong potential in rediscovering traditional plants and herbs, especially those with dual nutrition and skin care benefits.
“Ingredients like sage or onion are not only recognizable, but also culturally close. Because these are plants we already trust and use in our diets, we instinctively perceive them as safe and beneficial,” Freixa Villena tells us.
“That familiarity invites curiosity and opens the door for scientific exploration: more clinical testing, efficient data, and ultimately, better cosmetic applications.”
Tara Formula explores the use of trusted herbs and botanicals in beauty. Freixa Villena says the rise in the food-beauty crossover is a natural and lasting evolution.
“Our own collections, built around ingredients like rosemary (for scalp microcirculation), sage (for antioxidant properties), and strawberry (for hydration properties), are a great example of this.”
“We believe the future lies in combining this ancestral botanical knowledge with novel, high-efficacy molecules — bridging the best of nature with the most advanced scientific research.”
However, Freixa Villena explains that using food-inspired ingredients comes with the challenge of ensuring reliable performance in formulations.
“These are often delicate botanicals that can degrade under stress (temperature, light, pH). To preserve their integrity, we use careful formulation techniques and work closely with ingredient suppliers to maximize bioavailability,” she says.
“Our formulas are clean, rigorous, and designed to elevate everyday rituals. We don’t rush to market because a single product of ours can take over a year to develop. That’s because we care deeply about every step: from sourcing and formulation to efficacy, safety, and sensorial delight.”
