Alcohol-free fragrance lines and Halloween-inspired nail art are the two fastest-moving trends in beauty this month, according to the Vogue Business Beauty Trend Tracker, which logs shifting consumer demand across fragrance, skincare, and nail categories on a monthly basis.
The tracker reports growing interest in fragrances built around personalization, identity, and convenience — a combination pushing brands toward alcohol-free formulations that wear closer to the skin and appeal to shoppers who want a signature scent rather than a department-store standard. The shift matters commercially because fragrance has been one of the strongest-performing categories in prestige beauty, and brands that miss a formulation change can lose shelf space quickly.
Among the names drawing attention is Lore, a fragrance brand the tracker highlights for an emotive approach to scent — marketing built around memory and feeling rather than conventional top-note, heart-note, base-note descriptions. Distinctive positioning of that kind is becoming a differentiator as the fragrance aisle fills with near-identical launches.
On the nail side, #SpookyNailArt is trending on TikTok as October begins, reflecting consumer appetite for Halloween-themed manicures. Seasonal nail content reliably spikes in the fall, and the hashtag's rise signals that salons and at-home polish brands can expect a surge in themed bookings and product searches through the end of the month.
The tracker's findings arrive as the beauty industry enters its heaviest promotional stretch of the year, running from Halloween through the winter holidays. Fragrance in particular sees a disproportionate share of its annual sales in the fourth quarter, which makes October trend data an early signal of which brands will finish the year strong.
Vogue Business publishes the Beauty Trend Tracker monthly, drawing on search data, social media activity, and retail signals to give brands and retailers a read on where consumer attention is moving before it shows up in sales figures. The October edition places fragrance personalization and seasonal nail content at the top of that list.
For shoppers, the practical effect is likely to show up on shelves within weeks: more alcohol-free options marketed around individual identity, and more Halloween nail kits and salon menus timed to the holiday. For brands, the message from the data is that specificity — a scent that means something, a manicure tied to a moment — is outperforming generic launches this season.
