After 19 months of living with COVID-19, cosmetics haven’t really been top of mind for many. However, that isn’t to say the industry hasn’t been evolving. A lot of what’s happened in the past two years is impacting our industry, including supply chain issues and extreme weather patterns. These disruptions, however, may have an upside, by driving us toward a more accountable, sustainable, and transparent industry. It’s certainly increasing the prevalence of upcycling, the concept of transforming waste materials into something valuable or useful. Here are some other trends you can expect to see more of in 2022:
Trending Ingredients:
- Fermented ingredients like fermented rose, millet, fig, barley, and soy are on the rise.
- As probiotics and prebiotics continue to trend, postbiotics (made from bio-fermented microbes) are also coming to the forefront.
- Vegan ingredients like vegan ceramides, squalene, mushrooms, and algae are in demand.
- Brands are exploring other cannabinoids like CBG, thought to reduce inflammation, pain, and nausea, and CBM, which could have potential in treating metabolic disorders and diabetes.
Continued growth for “cleanicals,” a combination of clean and clinical skincare:
- As conventional experts like dermatologists are leaning towards plant-derived ingredients versus similar synthetic ingredients, plant-derived actives will continue to grow.
- An increase in clinical studies showing efficacy, benefits, and mechanism of plant-derived actives
The line between wellness and beauty will continue to blur:
- Beauty will continue to take cues from wellness. One example is the idea of restoring the microbiome with probiotics and using superfood/adaptogenic ingredients.
- More wellness brands will introduce beauty products and vice versa. We’ll also see more beauty brands launching supplements.
Cosmetics will get a reboot:
- Functional color cosmetics will take center stage. We’ll see more color formulas across foundation, eye makeup, blush, lips, and even nails incorporate treatment ingredients to appeal to consumers who want to treat their skin 24/7. For example, toward the end of 2021, we saw many brow gels with brow-enhancing ingredients, like KIMIKO’s The Brow Sensei.
- Conventional color cosmetics will also be reformulated with newer, cleaner ingredients as ingredient supplies ramp up R&D with clean ingredient offerings.
