Today’s nomad beauty products are not languishing in the bottom of handbags, they are now adorning them in keyring form.
Keyrings – from Longchamp’s miniature Le Pliage to Dolce & Gabbana’s US$995 safety pin – are having a major fashion moment.
And cosmetics brands have been equally quick to update their products’ packs into handbag accessory format, moving from classic branded beauty plushies to keyrings.
Of course, the fuzzy trailblazer for this trend is Pop Mart’s Labubu.
The Chinese toymaker’s plush monster upgraded from children’s keychain to collectors’ item this year thanks to high-visibility celebrity fans, including singer Rihanna and girl band Blackpink’s Lisa, boosting the Beijing-based firm’s H1 2025 profits by a staggering 350%.
Not only has the grinning critter spawned an army of fakes, dubbed ‘Lafufus’, but it has encouraged fashion and beauty players to tap into the new tribal power of the once-humble keyring.
I think these small pops of joy – be it in the form of a Labubu or a make-up accessory – are ways people are treating themselves without dropping a big spend on a luxury item
“Consumers are looking for ways to showcase their personalities and beauty brands are meeting that demand by taking products out of the bathroom cabinet and into the world, attaching them to phone cases, keyrings or charms,” says Nick Vaus, co-founder and Managing Partner of brand elevation agency Free The Birds.
“It’s a continuation of the Jane Birkin effect [and] beauty as part of your everyday, wearable identity.”
Annie Johnstone, Senior Beauty Market Analyst at beauty trend ideation and intelligence firm In-Trend, agrees adding: “Beauty is becoming a symbol of community more than ever before.
“Fashion was always a way in which you found your tribe.
“Now, beauty communities via certain brands have the same message.
“Your Rhode, Rare Beauty and Summer Fridays girlies, your K-beauty squad, your MAC Cosmetics and Huda Beauty artistry fans…people want to connect and show which beauty group they belong to.”
Bubble’s take on the trend builds colour-matched ball bead keychains into the lids of its Tell All lip balms
How Labubu took over 2025
Keychains are also the kind of little luxury items that tend to supplant big-ticket ones as consumers navigate periods of financial and political instability.
“As per the original lipstick [effect] theory, people lean into smaller luxuries during challenging times,” says Johnstone.
“I think these small pops of joy
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