From the hydrating hero set to take hyaluronic acid's crown to the nail art we'll all be wearing, here's what we've got to look forward to in the world of beauty
While 2021 was all about nostalgia (nineties and Y2K references, we will not miss you) 2022 is set to be a whole lot more futuristic. Get ready to dive into ultra-optimistic, eco-concious beauty with a raft of new ingredients set to impress.
Bedazzled beauty
Image: Instagram @nathalieeleni_beauty
Pinterest, everyone’s favourite inspiration site, has reported a huge rise in searches for bling in unexpected places. Crystal eye makeup has risen in popularity by 110 per cent, pedicures with rhinestones saw a 150 per cent rise and even tooth gems are getting a look in, with searches are up by 85 per cent. Head-to-toe accessorizing just got a whole new meaning. Find it in Huda Beauty's Rose Quartz Eyeshadow Palette, £58.
We love Nathalie Eleni's glittery take with the Rude Cosmetics Sin of Glittony palette, £26.99 .
Incredible inulin
Inulin is a small but mighty prebiotic ( the dietary fibre that helps maintain a healthy gut microflora, which is important for good skin ) that’s found it's way into skincare, being hailed as the next hyaluronic acid thanks to its unique way of boosting moisture.
Google has seen a 50 per cent spike in searches for the water magnet. Derived from chicory root, the natural fibre, which we've seen in supplements such as The Nue Co Debloat, £40 and Manifesto's Beauty Gummies, £39.90 , is starting to crop up in our creams and serums, thanks to its ability to draw moisture from the environment into the skin and keeps it hydrated. Plus, it's packed with antioxidants to help fight pollution and other environmental aggressors.
Find it in Pai Labs Prebiotic Inulin Booster 4%, £19 and Manifesto Edible Beauty Supplements, £39
Nailscapes
Images: Instagram @the_gelbottle_inc @tessa.lyn.nails & @wownailsiom
An escape is at your fingertips, according to Pinterest predictions. In 2022 you’ll be swapping your neon talons for landscape-style designs. Mesmerising sunsets, far away galaxies, sci-fi deserts and constellation-inspired nail art are all coming to a fingertip near you. Searches for galaxy nail art have risen by 115 per cent: stargazing just got a little closer to home.
Magic mushrooms
No, not that kind. Different types of mushrooms have been appearing in supplements for a while now (last year we reported on the brain-boosting power of the shaggy Lion’s Mane 'shroom) and this is another edible ingredient crossing over from inner beauty to outer.
The superfood has a whole host of benefits, from fighting signs of ageing to protecting the skin from external aggressors, thanks to their stress-fighting adaptogenic powers. They’re also packed full of selenium, known to aid in hair growth.
You'll know if you've ever tried to wash a mushroom, that they go instantly soggy and this is highly useful in skincare, helping the skin retain moisture. Snow mushrooms (aka tremella), are particularly skilled, holding up to five times their weight in water.
Herbivore’s Cloud Jelly Pink Plumping Hydration Serum, £45 is rich in tremella. You can find the powerful antioxidant-packed chaga mushroom in the Origins Dr Weil Mega-Mushroom line while the 'concentrated mushroom extract' is front and centre in Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Foundation, £34.
Try also Youth to the People Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream, £15 which is unscented and uses the adaptogenic powers of reishi mushroom to help the skin manage dryness and stress.
Space buns
Images: Instagram @hairbymallorie_ / @joshuaburch & @rowisingh
Y2K inspired looks aren't actually gone for good – in 2022 space buns will be back and they’ll be bigger than ever. Pinterest is predicting that people will celebrate their natural texture with big hair-styling techniques, think sectioning hair into two or more space buns as well as high puff hairstyles taking centre stage. Go big or go home we say.
Waterless beauty
H20 is becoming an increasingly scarce resource – it’s predicted that two-thirds of the world population will face water shortages by 2025, and 1.1 billion people globally will lack clean drinking water.
What’s the beauty industry got to do with this? Many beauty products contain 80 to 90 per cent water. It’s usually the first ingredient listed which not only is an often unnecessary use of this precious ingredient but it makes products heavy which increases the C02 emissions. What's more, any beauty with water in it requires a preservative which some people prefer to avoid in skincare.
Luckily, there are some exciting brands emerging which either contain no water or require no water to use and in January 2022 we'll be seeing the arrival of the first skincare tablet with the launch of Mono Skincare. These organic microbiome-friendly cleansers, moisturisers and toners come in tablet form, which you pop into water as needed like a Berocca.
Ethosa offers powder-to-gel body washes that are activated upon contact with water. Swair’s Showerless Shampoo cleans hair without needing rinsing (which allegedly saves six gallons of water per person a week) And Hanni’s no-water-needed hybrid Shave Pillow - a balm that looks like a stick deodorant - is a first in waterless shaving this side of an electric razor.
The glossy blow out
Image: Instagram: @maeve_madden & @denisdervisi
Adele’s back and so is her ultra-bouncy Hollywood blow-dry. Hair Stylist Syd Hayes, who has worked with tennis champ Emma Radacanu, thinks that “there will be a return to the glossy blow-dry, moving away from the more loose and beachy waves we’ve seen over recent months. Full-bodied, glossy, glam hair.” Your at-home tool of choice is the hot brush , which makes big blow dries idiot-proof. Our favourite is the Amika Hair Blow Dryer Brush, £65 which scooped gold at the Get The Gloss Beauty and Wellness Awards 2021 .
Stick it on
Google searches for press-on nails rose by 32.2 per cent this year, while searches for nail stickers were up 55.3 per cent. Call it lazy-girl beauty, or call it a genius time-saving hack, but what’s certain is that nail stickers are a long way from the let's-play-dress-up stickers of your childhood. Ciate London's Cheat Sheets, £16 will transform a mani instantly.
ManiMe creates bespoke gel nail stickers according to the size of a customer’s finger while Glaize uses computer vision technology to create made-to-measure gel nail stickers based on nail/hand images submitted by the customer. It’s not just nails that are getting the sticky treatment though. Cosmetics line Simihaze offers neon eyeliner transfers that can easily be applied to the face and removed later without the need for a steady hand.
Bespoke beauty
Over the past few years beauty brands have rushed to increase their shade offerings in everything from foundations and brow pencils to lipsticks and bronzers but even a 60 shade offering doesn’t guarantee you’ll find your perfect match. That’s about to change, with personalised beauty levelling up in 2022. As well as giving you products that you love, true bespoke beauty will hopefully help to minimise discarded beauty products that left on the shelf or destined to the bin because they don’t suit you.
Foundation brand Dcypher uses AI tech to scan your face before creating a personalized formula that can be sent back until your perfect shade has been reached. YSL's soon-to-launch Rouge Sur Mesure , £250, is an innovative lipstick-making tool that creates endless shades bespoke to you at home.
Vegan makeup brand Code8 also knows the power of the perfect lipstick and its virtual colour ID lab, instore and online, allows you to create and name the shade you want and reorder it time and time again.
Men’s Manis
At-home spa service Ruuby reported a 300 per cent increase in requests for men’s manicures over the past year, while Harry Styles’ beauty brand Pleasing launched with a set of four pearlescent nail polishes. Rapper Machine Gun Kelly is in on the act too, with his vegan nail polish line un/dn laqr.
Keep your eyes peeled for more male manis in 2022.
MORE GLOSS: Find out what the Get the Gloss team are loving right now