The trend of slathering your face with make-up for glow is slowly being replaced with the trend of ‘glowing from within’. More and more people are choosing to pay attention to their skin care rather than use foundation and concealer to get the perfect base.
Korean skin care, with its 10 steps became quite the rage a couple of years ago. But due to its extensivity, people are cutting down their skin care routines to the basics. Statistics from Mintel show that 28 per cent of women in UK have started becoming more modest with their product usage and have considerably cut down the number of products.
54 per cent of millenials between the ages of 20-29 have simplified routines. Multi-step skin care routines start with a double cleanse. But the number of women using just one cleansing product have risen by 3 per cent a year. In a move to be environmentally conscious, the usage of make-up removal wipes have also gone down from 54 per cent to 43 per cent. Toner, once said to be an essential, is also seeing a decline in its usage.
These trends are in line with two beauty movements predicted by Harper’s Bazaar: Commitment to sustainable products and streamlining of regimes. The regimes we see now are simplified versions of Asian routines. “Much of the beauty innovation and product adoption we see in the West (UK and US) is influenced by Asia,” Lisa Payne, senior beauty editor at global trends company Stylus said.
“Korea specifically is a hotbed of ingredient innovation, new regimes and beauty tech, but it’s also renowned for its laborious, multi-step approach, and as such we’ve seen the UK follow suit,” Payne added.
This new year has all been about the minimalist approach to skin care, by using fewer and more potent ingredients to give you that perfect ‘glass-skin’. Products are now hybrid, with them having toning and moisturising properties both. They also have a concentrate of multiple active ingredients like Vitamin E and green tea. This approach has a more gender-less and age-less appeal and also does not clutter your bathroom, or the environment.
In the past one year, the beauty industry has introduced thoughtful packaging, refined formulations and sustainable alternatives to products like polyester wipes. The statistics also show that the consumer has become conscious of consumption as well.
“Disposable wipes have been hit particularly hard as consumers become more aware of the product’s negative effects on the environment. As sustainability grows in importance, many beauty consumers are deliberately cutting out these single-use products,” said global skincare analyst at Mintel, Alex Fisher.
Another noticeable trend was the 31 per cent decline in the sale of make-up. People want to achieve perfect skin rather than use heavy make-up to conceal the flaws. The desire for naturally radiant skin too has been sparked from Asia.
“K-beauty is all about ‘glass skin’. Using skincare and make-up to achieve a luminous, almost wet look to the base, heavy foundations and powders are replaced with luminous tinted moisturisers and face oils,” said Hannah Martin, celebrity make-up artist.
Fisher also said: “In the last few years, women have moved from matte make-up looks towards glittery highlighters, and are now choosing to ‘glow from within’ using skincare, rather than make-up. Serums and oils are the products of choice for creating this luminous look, while other options have been dropped from the routine.”
