We’re on the brink of a new decade of beauty – will these 20s be roaring or reserved? While none of us have a crystal ball, we’ve looked at the emerging beauty trends over 2019 and chosen five that we don’t think are going anywhere in 2020…
Natural, natural and natural
Natural is here to stay; with the enduring popularity of plant-based ingredients in Asia, as Nicole Fall, Head of Trends Asian Consumer Intelligence confirmed, and clean beauty trending worldwide. The percentage of natural ingredients in products will grow – already brands are billing products as ‘97 percent natural’, Fall notes – and in 2020, the hot ingredients will include cica in the form of ‘tiger lily’ as well as high-performance, bio-engineered naturals.
In the mood for beauty
Next year, the wellness trend will prompt a move into ‘mood beauty’, that is products that support and stimulate emotional wellbeing. Holistic beauty is transitioning from a focus on physical health – i.e. superfoods – and tuning in to mental wellbeing. So, products paired with an element of mindfulness, for example, will be the result. CBD is the prime example, often lauded for its stress-relieving properties. Described by Cherie Buziak, Founder of BeautyEdge, as the ‘biggest whirlwind’ in the US and emerging in Japan and Australia, CBD has enormous growth potential. Buziak sees it being coupled up with other soothing ingredients to create a marketing story in 2020.
Cruelty-free, but not just for animals
While cruelty-free and vegan products have been gaining momentum over the last decade, we’ve seen little focus on the human cost of our cosmetics. Following a number of industry bullying claims this year, the field is wide open for a brand with anti-bullying messaging, and, as fair trade and slavery free increasingly trends over in the food aisles, it’s bound to crossover to beauty too. Will we see the Tony’s Chocolonely of beauty launch next year?
Less is more
The minimalism trend has swept across the globe this year and is changing our approach to everything. In Europe and the US, the focus has been very much on sustainability with the zero-waste movement prompting a stripping back on over-consumption as well as the rise of eco-packaging and formats – bar soap and shampoo being a prime example. In 2020, we predict the rise of ‘lifetime’ products, a move from disposable to durable as well as water-optimised products.
In Asia on the other hand, the minimalism trend is embodied by the clean beauty movement, with a cull of the ingredients list, prompted by consumer concern over sensitivity, as well as a reduction of the number of products used overall as awareness grows of bioaccumulative elimination.
The cycle of life
While gender neutral has undoubtedly become a popular position, there’s some interesting innovation to come in both the male and the female categories, we say. Dior’s recent runway show shows the growing acceptability of male make-up and, while we can’t see the majority of men sporting lime green eyeshadow any time soon, more and more brands are catering to a demand for functional ‘skin care adjacent’ colour cosmetics for the male market. Meanwhile, for women, there’s a rise in cycle-based lines and we can expect more brands similar to P&G’s recently launched Kindra to emerge as the population ages both in Europe and Japan.
