1. Clean Beauty
What does ‘clean beauty’ actually mean? It’s honestly a pretty vague concept considering these “clean” or “organic” products are not regulated. Typically, it means no pesticides were used to make the product and that the ingredients were grown organically. I’m all for using organic, natural products on my skin, but I am always wary of products that market themselves in this way. Not only that, sometimes truly organic products are actually less safe than synthetic chemical compounds. It might be counterintuitive, but preservatives actually make products more safe than less safe.
Science-y names may actually be beneficial because they are standardized and regulated by pharmaceutical companies. For this trend, I would check out brands like Drunk Elephant and Biossance. They are not 100% natural and they do have synthetic ingredients, however they claim to exclude ‘suspicious ingredients from the list.’”
2. CBD Beauty
Ahh CBD, marijuana’s cousin. There are many indications for what CBD can be used for including: relaxing blowouts, helping with period cramps, and even acne. Experts in the field claim that CBD works at the follicular level to improve your skin oils, shed discarded cells, and suppress bacteria. CBD deeply penetrates the skin, unlike other skincare products that remain at the surface level.
Honestly, I would be hesitant before using CBD products on my own skin. The science is still pretty vague and in its early phases. Before more people have tried it out and commented on how it changed their skin, I wouldn’t trust the hype just yet.
3. Green Beauty
Green beauty, sustainable beauty, eco-beauty, etc. Now, this is a trend that I will happily jump on the bandwagon for. Eco-beauty emphasizes being more mindful of the environment we live in beyond our makeup and skin. It pervades beyond skincare into fashion and beyond. In addition to the products themselves being free of toxic chemicals, the packaging the skincare products comes in is also sustainable i.e. recyclable containers.
Unfortunately, these sustainable packages are not as appealing as typically high end products and there will have to be a tradeoff. Some of my favorite sustainable products are the Odacite Bioactive Rose Gommage (Odacite.com) and the Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil (PaiSkincare.us).
4. Personalized Skincare
As technology continues to advance, it becomes easier and easier to deliver more personalized formulas for specific skin types. Bespoke skincare – products with personalized formulations – will be big. You can quote me on that. As of right now, the product customization is mostly limited to quizzes that consumers can take about their skin type. These quizzes ask very specific questions about UV exposure and air quality in your city. Consumers can even choose specific products they would like in their formula. In the future, we can look forward to DNA testing and AI to advance the field of skincare to eliminate user error and misdiagnosis that are likely to occur in personalization profile quizzes. Check out these websites and play around with quizzes yourselves (SkinCeuticals.com ; Madison-Reed.com ; Kiehls.com)
And there you have it, the 4 trends most likely to pervade the skincare industry this year. Stay healthy, safe, and glowing!