Having experienced with beauty during lockdowns, consumers will continue to do so with a renewed interest for bite-sized beauty. Advents calendars, gift boxes and discovery sets will continue to be key to trial luxury brands and new products before committing to full size.
The concept of ‘fragrance wardrobe’ is also building momentum, with consumers exploring new fragrances based on their mood, or layering them to create a bespoke scent. Long-lasting EDPs are preferred over EDTs, luxe scented body sprays and hand care elevate hygiene routines, and fragranced shower oils, shampoos and mists are taking over personal care.
Going back IRL, people are boasting bolder makeup looks. In tribute to the 1990s, lips will be the focus of makeup, with highly pigmented, matte lipsticks meant to withstand mask-wearing, and lipliners making a dramatic comeback. With light-catching complexions and fluffy-yet-defined eyebrows to complete the tableau. To picture it, think Emily in Paris!
One for all, new definition
Multi-use beauty is taking a new form. Maximising efficacy and cutting down on packaging, it ticks all the right trend boxes. Biggest seller for beauty, skincare drives this, with amped-up active-based products that target, in one go, multiple post-pandemic lifestyle-related skin concerns. In this hygienic era, consumer look to bridge the gap between cosmetic and pharmaceutical skincare, seeking well-known staples in the likes of retinol, vitamin C, AHAs, BHAs and hyaluronic acid to achieve salon-level results.
Buzz word of the year, microbiome should get yet more adepts, while makeup and haircare will also boost their formulas to offer multiple benefits. And while beauty routines are potentially shrinking around multi-use products, the at-home salon experience is still high in demand. Which should profit the soaring sales of LED light masks, facial toning devices and clever cleansers.
Wellbeing and meaningful beauty
Daily beauty routines seem also to be blending into 24-hour wellness routines. The raise in mental health awareness led many consumers to educate themselves and seek calming essential oils and self-mixed aromatherapeutic blends for the day. As an example, at John Lewis, the sales of Aveda Chakra™ 4 Balancing Mist have increased by 350% year on year. And it seems the night is no longer a no-beauty zone, with sales of sleepscape elements going out the roof: apart from the scented pillow mists, the British department store recorded +533% in sales of silk pillowcases. This holistic beauty movement is seeing collagen supplements becoming customer favourites on our shores too.
A well-identified post-pandemic trend, beauty with meaning is seen by John Lewis as a new essential. They foresee waste-reducing refillable products becoming the norm, with the likes of Ouai, Rituals, Charlotte Tilbury, Hourglass, Evolve, Voltary already well into the movement. Not just preferable anymore, sustainably sourced ingredients, responsible formulas and planet-first packaging will be core benefits for beauty products.
