How AI’s Nouveau Riche Are Spending on Beauty

In the time it took you to scroll down and open this article, a new millionaire may have been created.

According to investment bank UBS, around 441,078 new millionaires were minted in the US last year, a rate of almost one per minute. The UK, Japan, India, France and Spain all added more than 30,000. The number of billionaires jumped 13.1 percent worldwide, with their overall wealth rising 25 percent. The primary driver of bubbling wealth creation is huge leaps in technology stocks, concentrated around the advancement of AI and corollary industries like chip-making, data centre construction and software developing.

Haley Sacks, the host of the “Financial Tea” podcast and author of “Future Rich Person” said newly-rich individuals use categories like luxury beauty and wellness to “test drive” a wealthier lifestyle.

“AI equity is dropping millions [of dollars] on 28-year-olds who are still figuring out who they are,” she said.

The 1980s’ wealth surge was all about external visibility: power suits, pricey timepieces and art were the status symbols of choice, as well as pied-a-terres in fashionable cities. When the Dotcom boom happened in the 1990s, the newly rich splurged on supercars and super-mansions in Menlo Park, Palo Alto and other California cities more than fashion or jewels. Property is still a hot investment — according to the Financial Times, the price of a single-family home in San Francisco has jumped almost 25 percent to $2.1 million in June — and the super-wealthy also like their yachts and luxury autos.

According to Robert H. Frank, an emeritus professor of economics and management at Cornell University, the current wealth boom is unprecedented. “It has never happened to the degree that it’s happening now,” he said.

So-called “Veblen” goods, luxury items for which demand increases in step with their price, are not just confined to supercars, and jewels: as longevity, wellness, and looking younger have become wealth signifiers, such goods can also be rarefied skin creams, treatments with top plastic surgeons, peptide “stacks” or super-niche perfumes. All shoppers want something that seems special, and special is context-dependent, said Professor Frank.

If AI wealth continues to accelerate what’s known as the “K-shaped” economy, filling the coffers of the already-wealthy, beauty brands that have a true luxury proposition, rooted in rare ingredients, artisan craftsmanship and high-touch service are likely to benefit.

“[Tech millionaires] are the ones that really want something handmade, one-of-one and unique,” said Michelle Ranavat, founder of prestige skincare line Ranavat, who lives in a plush Los Angeles neighbourhood sandwiched between Bel Air and Beverly Hills.

“They believe in the power of AI, and they’ve made a lot of money doing it, but when they’re spending their money, they’re looking for the opposite of that,” she said.

Money Is No Object

In the era of fashion and beauty dupes, anything un-dupeable is immediately more attractive to high-net-worth shoppers. There’s prestige to that which can’t be faked, said Sacks.

That means perfume makers like Henry Jacques, Guerlain, Azzi Glasser and Roja Dove that offer bespoke or semi-bespoke options (often running into six figures) are well-poised to capture the new buyer. As niche fragrance continues to grow in popularity, wealthier customers may want to seek out scents that are wholly unique to them — especially in an era where consumers are also more preoccupied with the idea of personal branding.

“If more people can afford a Birkin, is the Birkin still the epitome of what you can get now?” said Ranavat.

Another other natural winner is the aesthetics industry. So-called “billionaire face”, or a visage that looks preternaturally plump, smooth and motionless is just one indicator of the rising popularity of more invasive aesthetic treatments. While the share price of the likes of Botox maker Abbvie continue to swell, super-wealthy customers can afford face lifts, breast augmentations and other pricey procedures: according to data from insights firm Qsight, facial surgeries like facelifts and rhinoplasties increased 30 percent in the second quarter of 2026 from last year, with surgery leading overall aesthetic growth. The firm also noted that customers are prioritising permanent, higher-cost aesthetic procedures, even as lower-cost, less invasive alternatives continue to become more available. “Amongst clients, I keep hearing, ‘What peptide you’re on? Who’s doing it for you?” said Marci Hirshleifer, global buying director of the storied Long Island luxury retailer Hirshleifers, saying they have fast become an essential part of the wellness routine for her store’s elite customer base.

It’s a boon for firms like Merz, which makes the skin-tightening Ultherapy device and Abbvie which also makes breast implants under the Natrelle brand, and has “virtually every” plastic surgery clinic in the US using at least one product from its Allergan brand, per healthcare firm MedStream. Ranavat said it’s less that health is wealth for these customers; rather, wealth is health. As they can afford every treatment, procedures and products need to offer something singular and different — an impossible-to-get doctor, or a rarefied ingredient complex. She noted her brand’s $135 Saffron Serum contains only hand-picked saffron.

“You can’t get a laser every day. You need to maintain your skin in between,” she said.

The maintenance in between these procedures means opportunity for high luxury skincare makers like La Prairie, Natura Bissé, Guerlain and Augustinus Bader and Shiseido-owned The Ginza and Clé de Peau, all of which boast unique ingredient complexes that promise to deliver more youthful, resilient and healthy-looking skin.

“Skin is going to become the new logo,” said Sacks. “You’ll flex your skin’s health score and your cortisol levels more than a monogram.”

Trickle-Down Beauty

Economists are undecided which classes will benefit from AI wealth, but if the coffers do spill over into the middle classes, premium brands could also be set for a windfall.

Professor Frank said that aesthetic and fashion spending can be “contagious”, even in less wealthy circles, adding that social media has made everyday consumers compare themselves and their quality of life to far wealthier individuals, normalising luxury purchases for the masses. Even if only the super wealthy benefit from more tech stock gains, aspirational shoppers may increase their spending, too.

“People get the impression that the standards are higher than they really are, and that creates even more pressure to spend,” he said.

The likes of Westman Atelier, Fara Homidi, Victoria Beckham, Louis Vuitton and Hermès all make covetable cosmetics with pretty packaging and compelling ingredient stories under $150 (or thereabouts). With luxurious touches like gold-hued ergonomic compacts, logo-studded lipsticks and skincare-infused formulas, prestige brands are also elevating their offerings to better justify a higher price tag. Combined with beauty’s reputation as being a “little treat”, the price tag of an impulse buy — a Westman Atelier compact here, a Louis Vuitton lip balm there — could rapidly increase if discretionary budgets swell. Hirshleifer said limited-edition seasonal offerings as small as a bag charm from the right brand can have a line out the door.

“[High-net-worth] customers want someone to get [what they want] for them, no matter whatever it takes, and they want the first one that comes into the store,” she said.

Such wealth is putting new dynamism into the so-called lipstick index. With the term coined in the 2000s, when a rouge cost around $15, we may soon need a new benchmark.

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