Skincare Trends to Watch in 2022
We may not consider ourselves psychics at Allure, but we certainly recognize a trend when we see one. The beauty world looks as different as we all feel after a year of tremendous shifts in priorities, new skincare concerns, and supply chain challenges, all owing to COVID-19.
However, several important themes for the new year have developed from all of this. They reflect who we've been this year (smarter shoppers with healthy microbiomes and clean hands) and who we aim to be in 2022: more environmentally conscious, back acne-free, and a little closer to our celebrity beauty muses. Read on for a glimpse into your skin's future in 2022 – these are the skincare trends that experts believe will be prominent the following year.
Beauty Bars Are Back
We can only think Zeus is wiping away his wine lips and petty celestial grievances with a Dove Beauty Bar at the summit of Mount Olympus. Okay, bar soaps aren't as old as the gods, but they're at least as old as the Great Pyramid of Giza: around 4,500 years, to be exact. Bacteria were found between then and today, so our bars have definitely come a long way in terms of functioning, and because of the ever-present desire for more environmentally friendly packaging, bars are back in style. Shampoo, exfoliators, lotions, and other personal care products are now readily available.
We believe the next big trend in skincare will be the revival of bar soaps, which are eco-friendly and water-saving. This implies that masterpieces from decades before are having a comeback, and they're receiving the 2022 treatment. Consider Erno Laszlo's purifying, mineral-rich Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar, released last year with all-paper packaging. And, while bar soaps are ideal for their simplicity, user mistakes can make them difficult to use.
Soap sitting in a damp environment can harness germs that can readily move to other parts of the body. If you're going to use bar soap, make sure to rinse it thoroughly after each use!
There are, of course, some new additions to the beauty bar pantheon, assuming proper use. Megababe's paper-wrapped Space Underarm Bar uses activated charcoal and glycolic acid to fight pit odor, while Pharrell's Humanrace Reenergizing Whiteclay Body Bar uses hydrating snow mushroom extract to nourish skin while scrubbing away the day (it's now sold out).
Peach's Moisturizing Hand and Body Bar are created with coconut oil to lock in moisture while you're in the shower, but the hydration doesn't stop when you exit the shower and grab a towel. The Payot Face and Body Massage Bar are infused with Corsican rosemary essential oil and cocoa seed butter for a past-bathing routine worthy of even the most high-maintenance deities.
The At-Home Cryo-Boom
Congratulations, you were experimenting with cryotherapy — sort of — if you've ever swiped ice cubes underneath your eyes to take down some A.M. puffiness. It turns out that turning down the heat on your routine might really boost the ante, and there are an increasing number of tools and formulations that take advantage of these cold benefits.
At-home products and devices inspired by in-office cryo treatments that tighten and tone the body have increased in popularity. The premise behind cryotherapy is that cold temperatures force blood vessels to constrict and pores to shrink, resulting in skin that looks tighter and more regenerated. It's a terrific method to keep skin looking, feeling, and performing healthily.
Using skin care products developed with cryo-technology can actually improve the effectiveness of the remainder of your program. Use the Stacked Skincare sculpting roller to freeze out your limbs or Georgia Louise's frosty orbs to contour your face, instead of spending money on a few minutes in a clinic cryo-chamber. Cryotherapy can also temporarily enhance the absorption of topical products.
Charlotte Tilbury's latest eye serum helps depuff tired lids with caffeine, Swiss ice wine essence, and a metal applicator for an extra boost of coolness, and 111Skin's hyaluronic acid-infused helps prep the skin for the rest of your products, and Charlotte Tilbury's latest eye serum helps depuff tired lids with caffeine, Swiss ice wine essence, and a metal applicator for an extra boost of coolness.
Major Lip Service
If you're anything like us, your lips aren't in the best shape. While maskne and perioral dermatitis has grabbed the most of our attention over the last two years, dryness has caused our lips to crack, flake, and shrivel, which may become the villain origin tale if the situation isn't addressed.
And we are not the only ones with happier lips on the brain. As the trend goes, people now want to flaunt their lips at every opportunity. Keeping your lips hydrated and healthy is a good place to start. Thankfully, several of our favorite companies have released some serious lip care in recent months – and will continue to do so throughout the year.
But we're not just talking about balms here. Sloughing off all those stubborn flakes is the first step toward more supple lips. That's why Mario Dedivanovic, Kim Kardashian's go-to makeup artist, has added the vitamin E and sugar-infused Perfecting Lip Scrub to his Makeup by Mario collection. The sugar-based Milk Makeup Kush Lip Scrub, which comes in a twist-up bullet so you can apply it anywhere, is another Allure fave.
But we're not just talking about balms here. Sloughing off all those dead, dry flakes is the first step toward more supple lips. That's why Mario Dedivanovic, Kim Kardashian's go-to makeup artist, has added the vitamin E and sugar-infused Perfecting Lip Scrub to his Makeup by Mario collection. The sugar-based Milk Makeup Kush Lip Scrub, which comes in a twist-up bullet so you can apply it anywhere, is another Allure fave.
That isn't to imply that all of the delectable and visually appealing selections aren't worth your time and money. On the contrary, this thick, glossy cream receives its restorative qualities from Japanese peach extract, squalane, and the mega-hydrating Japanese camellia oil in the Tatcha Limited Edition Kissu Lip Mask. (Its charming hue, inspired by the red blooms of the camellia tree, is merely a bonus.) Try the high-shine LYS Beauty Speak Love Glossy Lip Treatment Oil or spend on the oh-so-luxe Augustinus Bader The Lip Balm, which contains candelilla wax to prevent moisture loss.
And Many More Celebrity Skin-Care Lines
JLo Beauty kicked off 2021 (what a way to start!), and the rest of the year followed suit. Pleasing, Harry Styles' baby, debuted a dazzling serum as well as a dual-ended lip and eye oil, and tennis royalty Naomi Osaka launched Kinl, a skincare product aimed at melanin-rich skin that focuses on sun protection and recuperation. Fenty Skin by Rihanna, Humanrace by Pharell, and Keys Soulcare by Alicia Keys have all expanded their collections — the latter's new body oil is even a Best of Beauty winner — and we're already hearing whispers of trademarks indicating an explosion of celeb-centric skincare in 2022.
Cardi B has 'Bardi Beauty' down down, Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner appear to be expanding the Kardashian-Jenner family business with their own skincare lines, and Hailey Bieber's Rhode might debut at any time.
Body Care Has Never Been Bigger
The days of utilizing your acne-fighting face lotion to get rid of body zits are long gone; the body care sector surged this year, making body acne care a top priority for 2022. Clearing acid-infused lotions such as CeraVe's salicylic acid hydrator and Drunk Elephant's glycolic acid-powered alternative, as well as enzyme body washes like Kosas' to exfoliate mid-shower, are now available. We've also got a lot of easy-to-use cleansing mists now: Soft Services' niacinamide solution purifies skin after a workout, Topicals' fades acne scars, and Versed's mist targets stubborn breakouts like back-ne on-the-go. Back acne is becoming as common as facial acne, and it's a big issue at the dermatologist's office.
Back acne is caused by an inconvenient and terrible cycle of clogged pores, irritation, and poor skin turnover. It can appear everywhere on the body — butt acne, anyone? — but it's, fortunately, both avoidable and treatable. Prather advises her patients to look for anything that could be causing outbreaks.
Hair treatments containing silicones and oils, such as conditioners or leave-in products, can leave a residue on your skin, resulting in clogged pores and acne. So if you have back acne, look for substances known to be comedogenic in your products, and choose lighter lotions instead of heavier creams and massage oils that might aggravate acne when receiving a massage. In 2022, a flood of new body-specific products will undoubtedly suit the bill.
On TikTok, Trusted Ingredients Are Buzzy Again
TikTok is a trend-setter, a meme factory, and a skincare time machine in 2022. Thanks to content creators and skinfluencers, some of the most popular components from previous years have resurfaced. These renaissances are unavoidable; the history of beauty inevitably repeats itself. However, TikTok's viral power appears to have accelerated the return of chemicals like bakuchiol, caffeine, and niacinamide to the spotlight — and product labs — in the coming year, and they reveal a lot about what customers want for their skin in 2022.
Bakuchiol is an ingredient we have enjoyed for a long time as it stimulates collagen and cell turnover for smoother, brighter skin. If you have sensitive skin, bakuchiol is a gentle exfoliant: Beekman 1802's Bakuchiol Booster Serum actually improves redness while keeping skin tone even and preventing it from drying out.
It's a fantastic plant-based alternative to retinol because it's more universally well-tolerated and doesn't have the irritating and purging side effects. People will be focused on the glow beneath the masks over the following year, with masks coming on and off as situations permit.
Another antioxidant, caffeine, has a similar impact that most of us, especially those who film Tiktoks on a regular basis, are looking for: a perked-up stare. Caffeine does for your skin what it does for your soul — it wakes it up a bit. It's an antioxidant that acts as a vasoconstrictor, or blood vessel constrictor. This traditional ingredient has already made an appearance in late 2021 launches, including L'Oréal Paris's new eye serum, and there are more on the way in January.
Since 2020, the beauty industry has been obsessed with niacinamide, and TikTok has amplified it with over 185 million views heading into 2022. It's the star of Glow Recipe's new highlighting serum, which moisturizes, protects, and brightens all in one shot, thanks to its near-do-it-all qualities. Niacinamides work with your skin's natural chemistry to enhance overall skin texture by rebuilding a lipid layer, decreasing the appearance of pores, and preventing UV damage and inflammation as an antioxidant.
More Aluminum Packaging
Ah, the never-ending debate over the packaging of beauty products. It's more challenging to recycle things than you would imagine, but aluminum stands out in terms of recyclability. Everist's new Waterless Body Wash Concentrate is encased in an aluminum tube, while Love Beauty and Planet released reusable aluminum bottles for its shampoos and conditioners this year, indicating that brands are taking its worth seriously and will be using it more in 2022.
Refills have also provided an opportunity for change: Allure got the scoop earlier this year on Dove's largest environmental attempt yet: refillable deodorant in an aluminum pod and Necessaire's The Body Wash refill comes in an aluminum bottle that holds two normal-size body washes worth of product. If this year is any indicator, 2022 is becoming increasingly metallic by the day. Visit us for more information
