Consumer Trends Of 2025: From Labubu To Matcha To Glass Skin

Consumerism – not the consumer – was the king in 2025, sped by social media and a social-media-induced Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), making people buy trends faster than their GooglePay could make the ‘TA-DING’ noise. 

Speed, and we mean Superman circling the earth level of speed, was of absolute essence to keep up with the blink and miss it trends. Each time one refreshed the homepage to see the latest Labubus, they were being told they were too late to the Dubai chocolate trend. 

These trends crashed through the door, sold out immediately, and vanished before brands could even say “restock coming soon”. Most of these fads were born on US TikTok — usually in a softly lit apartment, narrated by someone whispering “you need this” with a lot ‘nails tapping on the product’ ASMR, and before anything, ASMR-led promotions of trends was probably the biggest consumer trend of 2025!

But in the age of globalisation (and next-day dupes), they quickly spilled across borders, oceans, and algorithms, landing firmly in India — from South Delhi and South Bombay cafés to the narrow, chaotic lanes of Sarojini Nagar and Colaba Causeway markets. Here’s a look at the consumer trends that defined 2025 — briefly, loudly, and often absurdly.

Labubu: The Cute Thing That Looked Like It Might Haunt You

Labubu was not just a toy; it was an emotion (consumers say, not me). A strange, slightly creepy, wide-eyed figurine that looked cute, distressed, and possibly cursed all at once. Internet collectors swore it was “so adorable”, while everyone else quietly wondered if it watches you sleep – Edward in Twilight style but more sinister. Originally a cult collectible overseas, Labubu quickly became a status symbol — the kind you placed carefully on your desk so Zoom calls could “accidentally” catch it in frame. 

And then, as always, India did what it does best. Within weeks, Labubu dupes flooded local markets. In Sarojini Nagar, you could find a version that looked vaguely like Labubu, vaguely like a raccoon, and entirely like it had been through something horrendous and witnessed hell — all for a quarter of the original price. Authentic? No. Charming? Absolutely. And arguably more on-brand.

Lipstick Phone Cases: Because Your Phone Needed Glamour

2025 decided that phones were no longer just phones. They were accessories. Fashion statements. Personality traits. Enter the lipstick-shaped phone case — thanks to influential figures like Hailey Bieber –  impractical, bulky, and deeply committed to aesthetics over function. Pulling your phone out of your bag now felt like applying lip gloss in public. Was it useful? Not particularly. Was it Instagrammable? Extremely. These cases thrived in India’s influencer ecosystem, where unboxings mattered more than usability. Naturally, the trend peaked just as people realised it didn’t fit into pockets, jeans, or reality.

Stanley Cups And The Battle Of The Bottles

The unwritten rule of water bottles this year was simple: the bigger and more impractical, the better. If your bottle looked like it could quench the thirst of an entire village, congratulations — you’d won. 

Stanley cups became the ultimate hydration flex. Carried everywhere. Spilled often. Loved unconditionally. Though originally touted as reusable and sustainable, they were soon known as the aesthetic bottles — pastel-toned, accessorised within an inch of their lives. Bottles with mini purses. Bottles with charms. Bottles with tiny hats. At this point, hydration was optional; accessorising was not. And, of course, India’s dupe markets wasted no time. Stanley-inspired bottles appeared everywhere, from online marketplaces to roadside stalls and Amazon, proving once again that trends may be global, but jugaad is local.

Dubai Chocolate: Luxury So Viral It Caused a Pistachio Crisis

At some point in 2025, “Dubai chocolate” became a full-blown personality. Thick slabs of glossy chocolate, stuffed with extravagant pistachio fillings, were snapped, broken, and slow-mo filmed across social media. And of course, the ‘tap-tap-tap’ nails ASMR on the chocolate bar. The obsession grew so intense that it reportedly led to pistachio shortages in Dubai’s local markets, as chocolatiers and cafés scrambled to keep up with demand. When a dessert trend starts impacting nut supply chains, you know things have gone too far. Naturally, Indians too needed to get a bite of luxury and from US Tik Tok, Dubai chocolate flooded reels of Indian Instagram. But lately, almost as quickly as its ineffable ubiquity surrounded us, posts of Dubai chocolate dwindled and vanished from our feeds.

Mad For Matcha

Matcha had a very busy year. Originating in Japan and beloved for its earthy taste and wellness associations, it was soon added to things it had no business being in. Viral recipes included matcha lemonade, matcha pasta, matcha butter, matcha cola, matcha scrambled eggs, matcha paratha, and even matcha biryani – a sentence that should never have been reality. 

Indians wasted no time adopting the trend, and food bloggers enthusiastically expanded it, with listicles like matcha Ganesh Chaturthi recipes and matcha Diwali recipes going viral. Indian cafés embraced the trend enthusiastically, even when customers weren’t entirely sure what matcha was supposed to taste like. It didn’t matter. It was green. It was trendy. And it photographed beautifully. The soil-like aftertaste – sorry, earthy – was a small price to pay for an aesthetic photo to announce our commitment to wellness on social media.

Korean Beauty And The Glass Skin Obsession

We learned skin was supposed to be “glass-like” in 2025 — poreless, glowing, reflective enough to catch light from across the room. Korean beauty routines dominated feeds, featuring ten-step processes, serums layered like cake, and the promise of transformation. In India, this translated into an explosion of skincare consumption. Toners, essences, ampoules, sleeping masks — many people weren’t entirely sure what they did, only that they were essential – all made from ‘rice water’, all from ‘Korean beauty secrets’, all promising ‘glass skin’.

In 2025, self-care was just consumerism with better marketing. The more exhausted we felt, the more products we were told to buy to fix it.

The consumer trends of 2025 weren’t built to last — and that was the point. They were fast, flashy, and designed for the algorithm, not longevity. Born on US TikTok, adopted globally, and adapted locally, they left behind cluttered drawers, half-used products, and excellent Sarojini bargains. And as always, before the stock could clear, the internet had already moved on, ensuring consumerism remained constant.