Pinterest’s 2026 trend predictions are here — these are the ones we think are worth watching

One of the best parts about the end of the year — outside of the holidays — is thinking about all of the events, goals and trends the following year will be filled with. As a commerce editor at NBC Select, I’m proactive when it comes to sleuthing out the newest trends in wellness, tech, beauty, fashion, food and more. This is why I wait with excitement in December, before Pinterest releases its annual “not-yet-trending” trend forecasts for 2026, better known as Pinterest Predicts.

The Pinterest Predicts report is a visual representation of the various surges in search on the platform from the year prior, acting as an indicator for what’s to come in the lives of Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z users. Pinterest uses machine learning and analytics tools to help organize, track and present these stats. Their stats include changes in search data collected from Sept. 2024 to Aug. 2025, compared with those from Sept. 2023 to Aug. 2024, according to Pinterest.

With this in mind, I sifted through and analyzed the platform’s trend report and pulled out all of the ones that I think are paying attention to as we transition into 2026.

While people are still traveling all year long and to different locales and climates, we’ll likely see an increase in travel and vacations to places that are less tropical or metropolitan. Instead, travelers are opting for vacations to more adventure-friendly landscapes — searches in “adrenaline rush aesthetic,” “adventure tourism,” and “river rafting” increased in the past year. This will likely be paired with travel to less sunny locations with highlands, like Scotland, Denmark and Iceland. There were also increases in “Scotland highland aesthetic,” and the “Faroe Islands aesthetic.”

The main food trend featured in Pinterest’s 2026 trend report is an increase in cabbage recipes. There were increases in terms like “cabbage dumplings” and “fermented cabbage.” How does this tie into larger food trends? Foods like kimchi and other forms of fermented cabbage have health benefits since they provide the body with probiotics — this could likely be rooted in an increase in focus on gut health, particularly from Boomers and Gen X. Additionally, this relates to this year’s wellness food trends related to prebiotic soda.

The most common thread in just about all of the trends Pinterest is predicting is maximalism in every sense of the word. The neutrals and all-beige-everything aesthetics are continuing to sail by, with Millennials and Gen Z embracing more colorful palettes for interior design, clothing, accessories, beauty and much more. The site saw substantial increases in several maximalist searches, such as “jelly candy aesthetic,” “maximalist accessories,” “circus interior,” “striped ceilings,” “eccentric makeup,” “weird makeup looks” and more. Gen Z and Millennials are trading in earthy tones of furniture, clothing and accessories for more vibrant ones.

Related to the return of maximalist aesthetics, gold and gold-adjacent jewelry and statement accents are also on the rise. This goes for not just interior design (“pendant lamps,” “brass aesthetic”) but jewelry as well (“gold cuffs,” “brooch aesthetic,” and “heirloom jewelry”). This means Millennials and Gen Z will likely focus more on investing in not only buying gold jewelry and accessories but also cleaning and taking care of their jewelry.

Millennials and Gen Z continue to be attracted to fragrance, but especially when it comes to mixing them and curating their own collections. Searches for “niche perfume collection,” “signature scent,” “perfume layering combinations,” and “scent layering” all increased significantly within the past year. For those without a sensitivity to scents and smells, finding a new fragrance personality will become a goal for more Millennials and Gen Z in the new year.

Millennials and Gen Z are turning to more old-school and traditional forms of communication, especially when it comes to letter writing and the use of stationery. In the past year, there were increases in searches for “cute stamps,” “penpal ideas,” “penpal letters,” “handwritten letters,” and “snail mail gifts.” This will likely go beyond traditional loose-leaf and manila envelopes and veer more into personalized stationery, like thank you cards and envelopes.

I’m a commerce editor at NBC Select, where I write about deals and sale events, home appliances, lifestyle topics, consumer trends and more. I also regularly track shopping trends throughout the year. I reviewed the information and data from the Pinterest Predicts trend report to write this article.

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