The beauty world is constantly changing, and the past few years have really put the industry into hyperdrive. We’ve learned a lot about our hair and skin over the course of the pandemic, and looking ahead toward 2022 beauty trends, we’re gonna see a much bigger focus on science-backed formulations and inclusivity.
“There are really kind of three moments throughout my career that really I think punctuate trends, in a big way,” says Ali Finney, long-time beauty editor and Well+Good’s deputy editor of brand initiatives. “The first was when Marc Jacobs sent people down the runway without makeup, which kind of launched the whole no-makeup-makeup moment. Then, when Rihanna launched Fenty, it really kind of opened up and changed the game for foundation and how many shades should be in each range. And then I think the past year has really just solidified that skin care is kind of the name of the game in a much bigger way, because despite us not going places and not really seeing people, we still want to take care of ourselves and take care of our skin.”
During this week’s episode of The Well+Good Podcast, general manager Kate Spies sat down with Finney, our senior beauty editor Zoë Weiner, and myself, beauty writer Kara Jillian Brown, to discuss what’s to come in beauty as found in our reporting for our 2022 Wellness Trends package.
One thread that was evident throughout our reporting was that smart formulation and product efficacy would dominate beauty in 2022. For example, a wave of anti-aging products that address skin health on a cellular level will overwhelm shelves.
“People are now realizing that the pursuit of healthy skin is a lifelong one. It’s not something that starts when you see a wrinkle or when you see a sunspot,” says Weiner. There are certain cellular processes that slow down as you age.” One of them is our body’s autophagy system, which works to clean out build-up and debris. “There’s a new wave of products that actually work to stimulate this internal cellular process,” she adds. “[We refer to it as] the ‘Monica Geller of the skin-care world,’ in that it comes in and really cleans up all the things in kind of a hypercharged way, which can help keep our cells healthy and stave off the effects of aging.”
On the hair-care front, as more funds go behind the research necessary to formulate products that effectively work to care for textured hair and national retailers stock more of these products on shelves, Black people will have an easier time taking care of their hair. For a long time, brands making products for textured hair weren’t even using Black tresses for testing—they would chemically alter white or Asian hair to mimic Black hair and then test on that.
“Now, we’re seeing brands that have adequate funding and more science behind them come to the forefront,” I shared in the episode. “So we can actually get products out there that do work, meaning that Black people can reclaim some of their time because when you’re using a product that doesn’t work, it might need to sit on your hair a bit longer, or you might have to use a ton of different products to get a single result. And now the process is getting streamlined as products become more sophisticated in their formulation.”
If you want to learn more about the beauty trends that will make a huge splash in 2022, you’ll have to listen to the full episode above, on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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