4 Current Beauty Trends
Thanks to Instagram and YouTube beauty influencers, trends are reasonably easy to track. We can also see trends through product launches as they come! One month we may have every brand putting out liquid highlighters, the next month they’re jumping onto the oil-based lip gloss train.
There’s a lovely mixture of trends going on at the moment: those which are all about nourishing the skin (i.e.clean beauty and cleansing oils) and those which are all about expressing fun and creativity (i.e. glittering brows and neon lids). Here are some of our favs!
1. Rainbow palettes and wearable fluro lids
Remember when everyday glam was all about smoky eyes in neutral shades? When bold color appeared it was often in the form of a liner or subtle blend into a neutral crease. Now (and it’s been this way for a while), color means COLOR, no natural crease or transition needed, thank-you-very-much!
We’ve got the multi-color looks with bravely contrasting shades side by side. We’ve got the monochrome neon shades with nothing but a pack of color and mascara. Makeup is as much about creating art as it is about enhancing beauty, so I’m so happy to see so much color! Long may it stay.
2. Glassy, glossy skin
A while back, ‘dewy’ or ‘glowing’ often meant a matte base with a powerful punch of high-shine highlight on the cheeks, nose and brow bone. Now, glowing skin really means glowing skin: a glowing primer and skincare routine, hydrating base, minimal powder, cream blushes, wet-look luminizers and dew-enhancing setting sprays. (Lisa Eldridge made a wonderful Glass Skin tutorial late last year). Katie Jane Hughes is also a champion of the dewy, fresh skin which looks like skin.
I think this is a movement toward a more natural approach to glam, and the pursuit of “healthiness”. That’s not to say matte skin is “out”! It’s up to you, your skin type and how you feel on the day. But I’m sure glad the fear of “the shine” has abated!
3. Colored liners and floating liner
My favorite trend at the moment is the “floating liner” look, especially when it involves a bold or neon shade. Check out this neon floating eyeliner look from the amazing Lottie of Lostar (again!) to see what I mean. I think it’s completely wearable and flattering, but interesting and creative at the same time.
You can place the line wherever it flatters your eye shape the most, and make it as extended or clipped as you wish. Use a colored liner pencil or a bold shadow dampened with setting spray.
4. Lip gloss
Lip gloss is back! Did it ever go away? Kinda. I think once the super matte lip trend really dug its heels in, gloss totally took a back foot. Now we’re all about the juicy, plumped, super reflective lips, and I am here for it.
Makeup is so geared toward light reflectiveness and glossy youthfulness that it makes sense for lip gloss to be a firm favorite once more. However, the formula has got to be right. With so many more consumers taking a more discerning approach to cosmetics, a gluggy, sticky, hair-catching gloss won’t pass. They’ve got to be soft and moisturizing with minimal sticking potential. Fenty Beauty, Pat McGrath, Colourpop, Nars and of course, LiveGlam are all heavy hitters in the lip gloss game, creating wearable and nourishing formulas with high-shine finishes and pretty shades.
What do you think about beauty trends? Is there something you’d love to see emerge? Anything you’re sick of? Let us know!
Gin Mabey