2018 was a gamechaging year in the beauty world. As social and cultural developments opened up bigger conversations around sustainability and technology, the beauty industry – known for always being ahead of the curve when it comes to advances – is aligning too. Here are the most talked about beauty moments in 2018.
Image credit: Indigital
Clean beauty movement
Sustainability is on everyone’s mind and beauty brands are no exception. There’s been a significant move towards “clean” beauty, or at least cleaning up the act of how products are formulated, produced and packaged.
Drunk Elephant, the no-nasties California-born brand that launched in 2014, gained a cult US following before rolling out globally to Australia, Singapore, Canada and New Zealand, landing in the UK this October. Its products are formulated with sustainable ingredients, using “clean actives” – i.e. ingredients that avoid synthetics and are biocompatible with the skin, enabling them to better penetrate the dermal layers and reducing further impact on internal health.
Haircare is on a similar trajectory. This year, L’Oreal Professional launched a vegan, plant-based line, Source Essentielle, created using 80 to 99 per cent natural origin ingredients.
Sustainable packaging is also on the rise – seeing a return to glass as an alternative to plastic, the use of recycled materials, as well as refilling services and initiatives.
The question is, will checking in with your favourite brands’ “clean criteria” become as instinctive as reaching for your re-usable coffee cup?
Image credit: Indigital
New classic scents
This was the year of new classics. The last few years has seen a shift away from the idea of having one signature scent; instead perfume has become as a transient as changing your clothes every season. But this year saw a resurgence of classics that might bring us back full circle.
Chanel launched a limited-edition of their iconic No.5, the reassuringly grand, powdery scent, reimagined in a red bottle to mark the holiday season. Dior’s new classic, a nouvelle vague if you will, Joy, spells intimacy and warmth in a grown-up fragrance, heady with sandalwood and musks. And Tom Ford launched Lost Cherry, syrupy sweet with cherry notes and tobacco, perhaps a bottled invention of lost youth.
