Beauty Trends: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Headed?
Our very first newsletter covered trends we wanted to see out the door in 2021, including over-exfoliation, derma-rollers, celebrity skincare, micro fridges, and fear-mongering and misinformation within the beauty industry. As we make our way into fall, we wanted to do a recap on...what stuck around, what’s new, and what more can we expect? Let’s revisit what’s been going on since.
What’s out/still in
Thankfully, we can mostly say buh-bye to micro-fridges—they make an appearance on IG every now and then, but the spotlight has dimmed. Unfortunately, celebrity and influencer brands don’t show any sign of slowing down—Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, Rosie Huntington Whitely, Desi Perkins, Addison Rae, and Hyram all debuted their own brands this year, while Kim Kardashian and Scarlett Johanssen announced launches for 2022.
With the ongoing pandemic and continued focus on self-care, over-exfoliation didn’t exactly go away either. But the exfoliation trend did evolve as awareness on compromised skin barriers grew. Brands targeted skin barrier repair with soothing products, often replete with fatty acids and ceramides, and more gentle, at-home and high-tech options like liquid peels, LED masks, hydrating sheet masks, and area-specific masks that target the jaw/neckline.
We’re still seeing at-home derma-rolling, microdermabrasion, and facial massage tools and devices from brands like Wildling and FaceGym. We have a theory as to why, especially when it comes to high-tech gadgets from NuFace and Dr. Dennis Gross: they give the impression of offering affordable, “clinical-grade” interventions with the promise of more long-term oomph than your traditional hero skincare product (hello, Augustinus Bader Face Cream). With the increased focus on at-home beauty rituals and self-care during COVID times, we’re likely to see continued innovation (possibly borderline wacky) in this category.
On a more positive note, although fear-mongering and the denigration of ingredients continues, some players within the beauty industry are stepping up to change the dialogue. For example, take Deciem’s “Everything is Chemicals” campaign, which addressed unsubstantiated claims made by the clean beauty movement. Brands continue to position themselves around science and experts, and strengthen their scientific approach (including Topicals, Apostrophe, The Inkey List, and Paula’s Choice). Also, the number of science-based social media influencers is steadily growing in an effort to combat misinformation (some of our favorites include Lab Muffin Beauty Science and Dr. Ranella Hirsch).
A major battle cry of the clean beauty movement has been transparency—for ingredients, labeling, supply chain—you name it. We not only saw more upcycling and a move toward zero-waste in the industry, but also the sunscreen category faced major ingredient (and manufacturing) scrutiny due to carcinogens found in some sunscreens. Fragrance ingredient transparency also reached new heights, with some of the most detailed fragrance guidelines and product descriptions we’ve seen to date coming from both Sephora and Credo Beauty. While we’re still not sure how relevant some levels of transparency might be to consumers, we do think full disclosure could lead to better industry best practices (and potentially health and safety) overall.
Where things are headed
Beauty or Wellness? The very definition of skincare continues to evolve as the beauty and health/wellness spaces merge and the impact of COVID deepens. This is in part due to the increased buzz about the skin microbiome and probiotic skincare and a holistic but less-is-more approach. Also, ideas around wellness and “beauty from within” have led to an explosion in beauty supplements (e.g., Olly, Hum Nutrition, and Moon Juice were early players, while this year welcomed Vegamour and products from brands like JLo Beauty & Goop) and superfood-laden skincare from brands like Joos Cosmetics.
There’s also more epidermal surface area for brands to capitalize on. Products targeting the scalp and body (including Necessaire’s Scalp Duo and First Aid Beauty’s Scalp Serum) and “scalp first” positioning from haircare brands like Act + Acre are steering the new dialogue. Paradoxically, skinimalism (or skin minimalism) continues to be a major trend—but is it possible for a back-to-the-basics skincare approach to work alongside additional products for the scalp, body, and our insides? Only time will tell…
Clean beauty defined? The industry has long-suffered from a lack of a formal definition for clean beauty (little known fact: Juice Beauty trademarked the phrase in the 2010s). The concept typically refers to formulas without ingredients considered to be persona-non-grata by the movement (e.g., mineral oil, silicones, parabens, sulfates, etc.), but increasingly brings recyclable packaging, supply chain transparency, and sustainability practices into its fold. We’ve seen lots of lingo—conscious beauty, blue beauty, natural, organic, sustainable—the list goes on. We’re hoping that the selection of confusing vocab shortens considerably with either stronger regulatory guidelines or more informed decision-making.
Wherever definitions and guidelines land, clean beauty does seem to have become the industry standard. Retailers like Bluemercury and Ulta Beauty unveiled their own assortment of “conscious beauty” brands in 2021 to compete with Sephora and Credo Beauty’s existing clean beauty offerings.
Inclusivity and diversity matter. Since 2020, we’ve seen a formidable rise in skincare brands targeting “melanin-rich” skin and Black-owned brands (Mele, Eadem, Topicals, and Sachi States of Skin, just to name a few, while existing brands like Unsun Cosmetics and Mented Cosmetics received long-overdue attention). While we’re not 100% sold on the innovation behind these formulas and believe that ingredients don’t discriminate, we are 100% behind elevating BIPOC communities in marketing and increasing representation across the board.
Bio/technology + beauty = besties. Like the intersection of health/wellness, beauty and technology are also in a pretty committed relationship at this point. We’re seeing this with both product development and the device category. From LED masks and gadgets that claim to sculpt/tone the face, to light-therapy gloves aimed at diminishing signs of aging on the hands...what will they think of next?
“Biotech beauty” (or green beauty) is also transforming product development and the supply chain, dovetailing nicely with global sustainability efforts and the clean beauty movement. Waterless products and refillable packaging to reduce waste, lab-made alternatives (e.g. fermentation), and natural ingredients that are easier and more sustainable to synthesize are all great examples of this kind of innovation.
In terms of ingredients, we may see polyglutamic acid or marine actives, and mushrooms take centerstage. Others like hyaluronic acid, squalane, retinol, and vitamin C get reinvented as next generation derivatives. This includes new cannabis derivatives such as CBN. While industry scientists are not thrilled with the science behind CBD and the like, raw material manufacturers continue to create “buzz” to tap into a lucrative market. That said, we recognize that what’s old is new again, and much of the newly-touted claims are often just recycled versions of existing ingredients.
Is personalization the future? We’ve reported on acquisitions that reflect a growing shift towards customization, including Il Makiage’s acquisition of Voyage81, a computational imaging company, L’Oreal’s partnership with period-tracking app Clue, and Function of Beauty’s acquisition of personalized skincare company Atolla. This activity is meant to enhance data-driven product recommendation capabilities and skin analysis/color-matching tools.
There are also new gadgets to introduce at-home product personalization, like YSL’s lipstick printer. We welcome innovations that allow virtual try-ons and such, but we’re not sure if companies have cracked the code on what really works for consumers. There’s a bit of a gap between perceived benefit and actual performance/user experience, and how well gadgets and apps align with current customer behavior.
And with that, let’s call these what they are—fundamental shifts and not just passing trends. Unlike a 10-step skincare routine that may have seen its heyday or the next hero ingredient, these changes may have a more lasting and transformative impact on the industry’s inner workings and the customer experience. We’re here for it and excited about where this will take us beyond the ‘next cool’ product. Stay tuned in the coming months for more predictions—we’re gettin’ our crystal ball ready.