The Global Fuel Crisis May Be Coming for Your Beauty Routine

We live in a world where, at the click of a button, you can buy skincare from Japan and fragrance from Australia, and have it delivered straight to your doorstep. Beauty is one of the fastest-growing and most globalised consumer industries in the world, but this also makes it susceptible to geopolitical challenges like the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has reduced oil and gas supplies from the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle.

While the effect on the cosmetics industry hasn’t been particularly well documented (discussion has centred on rising fuel prices affecting air travel, as well as the cost of petrol and diesel), brand founders and experts within the consumer goods industry have told Marie Claire UK that they are feeling the strain, and for now, absorbing additional costs. Further delays in reaching a deal to reopen the Strait, however, could shift the burden to consumers, who are already tightening their wallets.

It almost goes without saying that the prospect of paying a few extra pounds for a luxury serum or lipstick is insignificant compared with the reality faced by those living through conflict. Yet supply chains have a habit of revealing just how interconnected the global economy has become, and even industries seemingly far removed from geopolitics are not immune to the ripple effects.

Is beauty about to get more expensive?

Keon Zhang has spent 15+ years working in the consumer goods industry for brands including L’Oréal Paris, La Roche-Posay, Garnier, and Maybelline. Speaking about how our current era of borderless beauty has been impacted by world events, he explains: “The most immediate impact has been on transportation-intensive categories, and products that are heavier or packaging-heavy."

Zhang points out that haircare is most likely to be impacted first, particularly larger-format liquid products: “Simply moving from point A to B becomes significantly more expensive as fuel and gas prices rise.”

Then there’s the matter of petroleum by-products, which the industry relies on for its ingredients and packaging materials. These are not limited to plastic bottles and jars, pumps and caps, synthetic fibres, and adhesives and coatings.

“There are now multiple types of plastics in use across the industry,” notes Zhang. “From PCR to fully recyclable or biodegradable options, these will become harder to source at the pellet stage, and more expensive to mould, transport, and fill. These costs add up beyond just the bulk formula itself. Gift boxes, holiday sets and some individual products involve excess packaging and unused space. In many cases, brands are effectively shipping air, which drives up transportation costs. These products are also impacted twice, first when shipped from the manufacturer, and then again when distributed to retailers or directly to consumers.”

Of course, the more premium the product, the more refined the ingredients and packaging. This means more expensive products may become even more costly to manufacture. On the other side of the coin are small indie brands that operate with leaner inventories and smaller batches based on demand, giving them less leverage with suppliers and fewer opportunities to offset rising costs with large-volume orders.

The products most at risk

Then there’s the global component. Many ingredients in our favourite formulations are already difficult to source: they may be seasonal, geographically constrained, or have limited shelf lives. “If supply chains are disrupted or delayed, even slightly, it can prevent these ingredients from being delivered on time, which in turn delays or halts production,” Zhang continues. "Both availability issues and rising transportation costs will push prices higher for these inputs.”

This will especially affect K-beauty and other export-driven Asian beauty manufacturers, which have already been impacted by Donald Trump’s renewed tariffs on imported goods. South Korea, in particular, has very limited domestic oil production, and a large proportion of its imported oil comes from the Middle East (especially the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia)—much of which passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Freddy Furber is the founder of Q+A, a price-accessible, natural-first skincare brand. He is very concerned about the ongoing crisis: “Increases in fuel, freight and manufacturing costs eventually impact almost every area of production. Brands with a higher proportion of naturally-derived ingredients, such as Q+A, may have slightly greater resilience in certain areas due to more diversified ingredient sources and less reliance on petrochemical-derived ingredients, but no beauty brand is completely insulated from broader energy and freight inflation. We have already seen some suppliers introduce temporary fuel or transport surcharges, though most are working hard to maintain pricing stability. The longer the disruption continues, the more difficult it becomes for suppliers to absorb those additional costs."

Certainly, even if a deal is struck soon, Sultan al-Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said on May 20, 2026, that it would take at least four months for traffic volumes through the Strait to recover to 80 per cent of pre-conflict levels, meaning the first half of 2027 is also likely to be affected, even in a best-case scenario.

Could your favourite formula change?

As such, Zhang predicts that ingredients may become cost-prohibitive beyond a certain threshold. “Formulators and manufacturers may choose to substitute products with more economical alternatives rather than absorb the higher costs. This can lead to changes in product formulations, sometimes resulting in slight differences in performance or quality, though in some cases, brands may be able to maintain similar standards with alternative ingredients.”

Are we already feeling the effects as consumers? Not yet—and probably not in the short term—but if the conflict continues, costs are likely to be passed on, though it’s difficult to predict when. “They are always transferred in some form, and usually aligned with product launches or retail reset cycles,” the expert explains. “At a certain point, it becomes necessary to maintain profitability and sustain operations. Without that, brands would struggle to invest, grow and remain competitive.”

The unexpected upside

Millie Kendall, O.B.E., CEO and co-founder of the British Beauty Council, has been monitoring the situation closely and surmises there may be a longer-term silver lining. “We will be driven to use alternatives to prevent any further fluctuations in terms of supply and cost. And we could certainly use this to our advantage and explore alternatives to plastic packaging, for example.” There may also be an opportunity for British beauty brands. With consumers becoming increasingly aware of where ingredients are sourced and how products reach our shelves, we could see increased demand for locally manufactured beauty products. Shorter supply chains can offer more resilience, greater transparency and, in many cases, a smaller environmental footprint.

For his part, Furber has increased forward ordering in some areas to secure continuity of supply and to lock in pricing where possible. “We've also strategically increased order volumes on certain materials to benefit from scale efficiencies that help offset inflationary pressure. At the same time, we continue to review sourcing options across the supply chain to ensure we remain agile if market conditions change further."

And while it’s true that British consumers are cutting back on spending, Kendall points to the "lipstick effect," whereby people continue to buy small, affordable luxury items, such as cosmetics, during economic downturns. “We’ve been hit by so many geopolitical challenges over the past decades, and we always weather the storm,” she asserts. "We’re nimble, and as Brexit, COVID-19, and rising living costs have shown, the beauty industry continues to thrive as consumers seek products that support wellbeing."