(Sam Galanis, Sales Director at Pinterest Canada, explores how visual search is transforming beauty discovery, creating more personal journeys that blend inspiration and commerce.)
Beauty consumers have never had more choice, yet finding the right product can feel harder than ever. Younger consumers are feeling this most acutely: nearly half of Gen Z say it is harder to make decisions today than it was last year, while 48% say they are buying more products they do not end up liking or using. Faced with an endless stream of recommendations, launches and trends, many shoppers are not lacking options; they are lacking relevance. That is the modern beauty discovery dilemma.
Traditional text-based search often struggles to solve it because beauty is rarely discovered in words alone. People do not always begin with the precise name of a lipstick, nail shade or haircut. More often, they start with a feeling, a finish, a look or an aesthetic they want to recreate. In beauty, inspiration is visual, emotional and highly personal.
Visual search queries continue to increase and are the fastest-growing search feature on our platform. This shift is especially pronounced among Gen Z consumers, who increasingly turn to visual platforms at the start of their journey and make up over half of Pinterest’s user base globally. For them, the process is not simply about finding a product quickly; it is about exploring identity, taste and self-expression. When that experience feels too transactional or generic, decision fatigue soon follows.
For the industry, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. As digital beauty sales soar into the billions globally, the route from inspiration to purchase has become a decisive moment. Those that can make the experience feel intuitive, inspiring and personal will be far better placed to win attention and build lasting affinity.
A more intuitive path to purchase
Visual search is helping to unlock that opportunity by allowing consumers to begin with what catches their eye: a makeup look, a hairstyle, a nail design or even a packaging aesthetic. From there, they can explore related ideas and products in a way that feels much closer to how inspiration happens in real life.
What makes this so powerful is the growing sophistication of AI. Visual tools can increasingly interpret not just colour and shape, but also texture, tone and style intent. That means recommendations can feel less like a standard product feed and more like a curated journey tailored to the individual.
On Pinterest, for example, the Taste Graph has mapped over 80 billion signals based on what people search, save, Pin and engage with, creating a nuanced understanding of personal style that helps surface suggestions that feel uniquely relevant. Features such as Pinterest Lens and the Pinterest Assistant also help users move from an initial spark of inspiration to more refined exploration, making the experience feel expressive rather than purely transactional.
Where brands are getting it right
The brands seeing the greatest benefit from this shift are those that understand the path to purchase is rarely linear. Consumers do not always move neatly from need to search to purchase. More often, they browse, save, compare and imagine before they act.
Across the industry, leading beauty companies are already using AI to make the path from inspiration to purchase far more intuitive. The Estée Lauder Companies, for example, is connecting consumer signals through its ConsumerIQ platform, helping its brands better interpret what people are searching for, saving and engaging with. L’Oréal is embedding similar intelligence across its portfolio, including in brands such as SkinCeuticals, where AI is helping surface more precise recommendations based on individual needs and behaviours. In both cases, the emphasis is not simply on efficiency, but on making discovery feel more relevant, seamless and personal.
The future of beauty discovery
For the beauty category, the implications are clear. This is no longer just about answering an explicit search query; it is about showing up early, anticipating intent, supporting exploration and helping consumers find products that reflect who they are and how they want to express themselves.
The companies that will lead in this next chapter are those that truly embrace visual-search, AI-enhanced strategies not simply as a media tactic, but as a way to create more relevant and inspiring consumer experiences. In beauty, where personal expression is everything, the tools and platforms that make inspiration feel creative, precise and personal will shape not only what people buy, but how brands build connections in the first place.
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