Skincare Continues Its Takeover

Skincare is the frontrunner in beauty's global expansion, according to industry analysts, and we can expect to see lots of innovation in this sector come 2022. With last year's rise of "skinimalism", where we shunned the extensive multi-step routines and began to adopt a more intuitive approach to product usage based on our own skin needs, skincare brands are now prioritising quality over quantity.

Many of us are becoming more focused on improving our skin health with products, over minimising ageing aspects like wrinkles (especially since we better understand what skincare can achieve, versus professional tweakments). Central to this is calming increased sensitivity caused by factors such as mask wearing, overuse of aggressive skincare, pandemic stress, and exposure to pollution.

It ties into Google Trend searches for "microbiome skincare" growing by over 5000 per cent in the last 12 months, alongside a rise in skincare featuring pre- and probiotic additions intended to rebalance and strengthen our skin. For 2022, trend forecasting agency WGSN predicts fermented beauty will play a big part in this. Big in Japan and Korean (as well as on TikTok, globally...), fermented ingredients have the potential to boost our barriers, plus the naturally occurring bacteria prolong the shelf life of formulas which will appeal to the sustainably minded.

Continuing to look forwards, we can also expect our make-up to act like skincare, too. A recent Mintel report reveals that 50 per cent of consumers now prefer to purchase hybrid cosmetics with skin benefits, a burgeoning beauty category that looks set to blossom next year. Producing make-up with skincare characteristics is a priority for both niche brands and household names.