Beauty in the UK in 2022 will be bold.

The British retailer’s Beauty Bets report for 2021 forecasts customer trends for the coming year. Lockdown beauty practices have left behind at-home regimens that appear to be here to stay.

Consumers will continue to experiment with beauty during lockdowns, with a revived interest in bite-sized beauty. Advent calendars, gift boxes, and discovery packages will continue to be popular ways to try out new luxury brands and items before making a full-size purchase.

The notion of a “fragrance wardrobe” is also gaining traction, with customers trying various scents based on their mood or layering them to create a unique aroma. Long-lasting EDPs are chosen over EDTs, opulent scented body sprays and hand care improve hygiene routines, and scented shower oils, shampoos, and mists are redefining personal care.

People are wearing bolder makeup looks in real life. Lips will be the highlight of makeup as a nod to the 1990s, with highly pigmented, matte lipsticks designed to resist mask wear and lipliners making a dramatic reappearance. To complement the look, they have light-catching complexions and fluffy-yet-defined brows. Consider Emily in Paris to get a sense of what I’m talking about.

A new definition of “one for all”

Multi-purpose beauty is evolving. It ticks all the appropriate trend boxes, maximizing effectiveness while reducing packing. With amped-up active-based solutions that tackle several post-pandemic lifestyle-related skin issues in one go, skincare is the biggest seller in the beauty industry. Consumers aspire to bridge the gap between cosmetic and medicinal skincare in this sanitary era, looking for well-known basics like retinol, vitamin C, AHAs, BHAs, and hyaluronic acid to attain salon-level results.

Microbiome, the year’s buzzword, should attract even more devotees, while cosmetics and hair care formulae will be improved to provide various advantages. While beauty regimens may be reducing as a result of multi-use products, the at-home salon experience remains popular. The growing sales of LED light masks, face toning gadgets, and intelligent cleansers should benefit from this.

Meaningful beauty and well-being

Beauty regimens appear to be integrating into 24-hour wellbeing habits as well. Many customers have become more conscious of mental health issues, prompting them to educate themselves and seek out soothing essential oils and self-mixed aromatherapeutic blends for the day. Sales of Aveda ChakraTM 4 Balancing Mist, for example, have surged by 350 percent year on year at John Lewis. And it appears that the night is no longer a no-beauty zone, with sales of sleepscape items skyrocketing: aside from scented pillow mists, sales of silk pillowcases increased by +533% at the British department store. Collagen supplements are becoming increasingly popular as part of the natural beauty trend.

Beauty with purpose, a well-identified post-pandemic tendency, is considered by John Lewis as a new fundamental. They envisage refillable products being the standard in the future, with brands like Ouai, Rituals, Charlotte Tilbury, Hourglass, Evolve, and Voltary already leading the way. Sustainably sourced ingredients, ethical formulae, and planet-first packaging will be key advantages for beauty products, not simply desirable.