With fewer reasons to leave the house over the past two years and more time on our hands, we’ve all ditched our make-up bags and turned our attention to smart skincare routines. While trending TikTok hacks come and go, great skin is always in fashion. Keep reading for a rundown of the skincare trends everyone will be talking about in 2022. 

1. LESS IS MORE   

Lazy girls rejoice! Gone are the days of heavy make-up and complex skincare routines. As Korean beauty (you might know it as K-beauty) influences continue to make waves in the skincare world, the trend for healthy, stripped-back, glowing skin is welcome after years of contouring and covering (hello Glossier).  

Instead of mimicking glowing skin with a highlighter, we’re seeking true radiance, only using the products we really need to for healthy, luminous skin. Perhaps it’s that we’ve reached peak products – our beauty cabinets are bursting at the seams and enough is enough. Skincare influencer, Donna Bartoli, says that for the year ahead, she is taking it back to basics and adopting a “skin minimalist” approach. 

Not only will our skincare cabinets become more minimal, so will the ingredients within those products, and the packaging they arrive in – a gentler approach will reign supreme, and our skin will be thankful. 

For skin minimalism, a good cleanser, moisturizer, and SPF are your holy grail, and if you need to, you can add particular products that tackle specific skincare concerns, like retinol or serums but simple, natural, nourishing ingredients like hyaluronic acid and ceramides are the ones to seek out. Clean, hydrated, protected skin doesn't age. 

2. ECO-CONSCIOUS SKINCARE 

The skincare and cosmetics industry is one of the biggest contributors to plastic pollution on the planet.  

As we all become more aware of the outcomes of our actions on the environment, we will look for more sustainable skincare choices. From vegan and green formulas to transparent processes and policies, and plastic-free packaging, more brands than ever are pledging to do better for the planet (with refillable and aluminium packaging) by giving back to communities, and using innovative formulations to do their bit. 

Despite a lack of regulation in the skincare industry, consumers are becoming more attuned to brands that use greenwashing. If you want to make more eco-friendly skincare choices, research a brand’s practices and certifications before you buy. 

3. AT-HOME SKIN CARE TREATMENTS 

Thanks to the rise of technology, and with more of us at home than ever before, many have started to invest in skincare tools, and at-home technology and treatments that can provide salon-worthy results without the trip. 

Deeply hydrating overnight masks, cryotherapy contraptions, LED light masks, and more transform your bedroom into a makeshift skincare consultancy clinic and spa where you provide the glow-up surrounded by home comforts. 

And on that note, we’ve all become skincare experts. From the cult product to the cult ingredient. It only takes a Google search to determine whether you should be implementing vitamin C, retinol, or hyaluronic acid into your skincare regime to address your key concerns. 

Thanks to the wealth of information out there, we can all design a very specific (or indulgent) skincare routine that works specifically for our skin type, concerns, and lifestyle; a sense of skin individualism for all. The good news? Great skin is now even more accessible. 

4. SCIENCE-LED FORMULATIONS 

Thanks to the oversharing and frankly overwhelming wealth of information with the rise of the internet and social media, we’re all looking for scientific evidence to back up skincare claims. 

We’re not so trusting as we used to be, and we required science-backed formulations to convince us to do right by our skin. When it comes to skincare, we seem to be floating between opposite sides of the spectrum. On one hand, we want all-natural formulations with only the essentials to care for our skin, whilst we also seek a scientific or technology-lead approach that ‘proves’ its effectiveness and safety. 

For many brands and products, it’s about finding the mix between the two to appeal to 2022’s consumers. 

5. SUPPORTING THE SKIN’S BARRIER & MICROBIOME 

This pared-back approach to skincare could be great for your skin too. Our skin is sensitive and can become irritated easily, mostly by environmental aggressors and harsh routines. Go easy on retinol, products with sulfates in, too-hot water, and over-exfoliation. With the weather becoming harsher with global warming on the rise – from freak storms to scorching heatwaves – our skin is taking a battering. 

When you add pollution, irritating skincare ingredients, blue light radiation from digital screens, chronic stress, and face masks (thanks, mask-ne!) to the mix, we’re all experiencing more skincare sensitivities caused by an unbalance microbiome – things like redness, acne, breakouts, and rosacea. 

In the past 12 months, people searching for ‘microbiome skincare’ has seen a 5000% rise on Google, and fermented ingredients are popping up in more products recently. Just like fermented food can support your gut health, it’s thought that fermented skincare ingredients support healthy skin. 

Environmental stressors can cause free radical damage and oxidative stress that contributes to premature aging, skin problems, and sun damage like discoloration, uneven skin tone, hyperpigmentation, and dark circles. 

Products, ingredients, and routines that protect and reinforce our skin’s barrier function becomes paramount, and reaching for hydrating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich products with targeted ingredients and supplements are the best way to protect it. 

SKINCARE GOALS  

From skin minimalism to science-led formulations, plant-friendly products to skin-barrier protection and at-home skin treatments, we’ve got a year of healthy, glowing skin ahead of us. All that’s left to ask is, which one will you be trying first?