What’s on the experts’ radars?
As another year comes to a close, we’re full of anticipation for what the new one will bring. While the last couple of years have brought unexpected challenges, there’s always the hope that the year ahead will move us closer to the happiest and healthiest versions of ourselves. This time also brings a lot of “New Year, New You” noise, sometimes it feels like we’re bombarded with messaging and products telling us what we need to do to reach our fullest potential.
Thankfully 2022’s beauty and wellness trends are shaping up to be more focused on thoughtfully chosen and considered products, practices, and treatments over excess. Expect to see a continued move away from high-intensity workouts, restrictive diets to more holistic and sustainable routines and habits. Of course, there’s definitely space for some indulgence and fun.
We should be moving towards having a better understanding of self and tuning into our own needs, choosing guidance that resonates, having ways to measure what is working, and discarding what is not.
Brooke Taylor
At Messycafe, who love a good beauty buy or wellness trend, we were excited to dive into 2022’s predictions. We’ve tapped some of our favorite beauty and wellness experts and sifted through the beauty noise to bring you the most exciting and buzzy trends that we bet will be everywhere in 2022.
Makeup.
Light, fresh, and dewy.
While this isn’t a new trend per se, we saw it emerge in 2020 with the advent of mask-wearing and days at home, but it’s here to stay. Not just clean and natural makeup brands, but products that focus on a light finish, while letting your natural beauty shine through. That new natural look will include acceptance of hair texture, freckles, wild-sourced products, and skin products with lighter coverage. Expect to see, pink and nude lip shades, cheek and lip stains, embracing freckles, multi-use products, skin tints, and moisturizers that still look like your skin. Thank you K-beauty!
Overlined lips.
Thanks to the 90s-inspired trend, well-defined lips are making a comeback. Play with a slightly darker liner for an ultra 90s vibe, or keep it natural by using a neutral lipstick and coordinating line to create the look of fuller lips without looking too overdone. Overline slightly and define the shape for the plumpest pout.
Colorful eyes.
On the other side of things, we’ll be seeing a bolder expression when it comes to eyes. While pretty much any color and style of shadow and liner goes. The easiest way to jump on this trend is with a thin and sleek, slightly winged, liner in a fun shade like blue or copper. Keep the rest of your makeup simple and soft to let the liner really shine.
Play up the cheeks.
Less mask-wearing means our skin and cheeks can shine. Blush has quickly become our favorite step in our makeup routine this year. Even while playing with lighter skin coverage and a more natural eye, blush is still a fun way to play with shades and placement for a pretty, flushed look. Try going beyond applying it on the apples of the cheeks and across the nose, to sweep it right above your cheekbones, on your lids, and across the forehead for a fun, sculpted, monochromatic look.
Hair.
Hello golden girl.
While ash blonde and toned-down brunettes have had their day in the sun, 2022 is all about the warmer tones. Warm-toned hair color is something we have also been seeing a lot. Everybody is embracing the golden, coppers and warm chocolate browns. And for good reason, warm tones reflect light while ash tones absorb it and can end up looking dull. It brightens the complexion and is so much lower maintenance than having cool-toned hair.
Embracing the waves.
While some are opting for sleek voluminous blowouts, many are turning to undone and messy. We’ve all seen the trend of embracing your natural texture in 2020 and 2021 — it’s most definitely safe to say that it’s not going anywhere. With fewer events and reasons to go out and about, the past couple of years saw lower maintenance hair, which meant more natural texture and undone waves. People are asking more and more for tips on embracing and enhancing their natural wave and curl. It’s such a beautiful thing and it’s so freeing. The product Oribe Curl Gloss for wavy to curly hair textures. With a medium amount of hold and a lot of hydration, it’s great for running through your hair when your hair is wet and scrunching — an awesome on-the-go product.
The chop.
Most of us at some point have made “the chop, “ sound a little, maybe impulsive, but the dramatic cut will leave you feeling like a new person. If you haven’t yet tried out a shorter style, 2022 may be your year. We think you’ll be seeing quite a few textured bobs and lobs in the new year. As we are still coming out of the pandemic, women are wanting a fresh look. What better way to do that than a fun bob? There’s been a lot of easy-flowing texture to these haircuts that don’t require a lot of maintenance. Just wash, apply a bit of texturizing product to your hair and go. Although, having some sort of paste will be a fun add-on piecey-ness and texture to the ends of your hair — a mousse is a great addition too.
Long bouncy layers.
As a hair and makeup artist who does a lot of weddings, there’s been an increase in requests for glam waves or soft and billowy loose curls over the messy beachy waves that formerly led in popularity the past few years. The 90’s bouncy layers are back, often paired with curtain bangs. To achieve the look at home with your layered cut, apply a volumizing mousse and blow out in sections, curving the front pieces away from your face. While hair is still warm, wrap in velcro rollers and let cool before taking them out to reveal big soft layered curls.
Skin.
Alternative facial treatments that’ll include the whole body, head to toe.
While products and derm treatments have long been used to care for and treat skin, more people are turning to alternative modalities. Things like facial acupuncture and buccal massage focus on the actual muscular system and its effect on your appearance while taking into account whole body wellness. Bodywork like massage, lymphatic massage, myofascial release, and acupuncture are starting to gain popularity as well, as people look south of the neck to influence their overall skin quality.
Utilizing Chinese medicine to assess and diagnose works on the entire body through a whole system approach of acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, breathwork, gua sha, or cupping, and importantly, the emotions — it turns out years of life and emotions can be stored in the map of your face. This helps you understand how every part of your body is being reflected in your skin — that is where the magic happens.
Tech neck.
As we spend more and more time on devices, we inevitably find our skin suffering. One such effect is tech neck, the lovely term for the development of premature lines on one’s neck. Hopefully in the new year, a focus on reducing “tech neck” and improving our necklines, especially when we’re young.
Hello, beauty devices: preventive treatments that can be safely done at home.
Born out of necessity during covid when many people couldn’t get their regular appointments, they turned to at-home treatments: facial steaming, peels, red light therapy, and microcurrent. Turns out these products aren’t just gimmicks and can have lasting benefits for your skin. While in-office peels and lasers may reap more immediate results, consistent care at home definitely can improve your skin. In 2022, we will see people incorporating these tools into their monthly skincare routine.
Embracing the natural face.
In the same way, as people have opted for more holistic routes to health and healing and a lower maintenance look, we are seeing this affect people’s faces cosmetically too. Instead of Botox and fillers, people are turning to other methods for improving the skin, and taking a slight step away from the ‘curated’ face. Personally, we’re still going to recommend a holistic intervention to get your best skin before a more invasive approach. Try face yoga, facial sculpting massage, cosmetic acupuncture, and watch your skin transform.
Clean beauty is here to stay, and is better than ever.
The past few years have seen a surge in “clean” and “nontoxic” body and skincare. While it also has been used as a marketing ploy, the high demand for cleaner, safer products has brought about a shift in the beauty industry. You can both have clean and organic products that are also well-formulated and pack a punch. Cleanical skincare will continue to grow in demand, as brands work to create cleaner formulas and research-backed skincare that actually works.
Simplified skincare.
Do it all skincare and minimal routines are catching on more and more as complicated multi-step skincare routines are losing favor. Skinminimalism has gained traction over the past year and will continue to do so, as people look to soothe skin that’s been sensitized from too much exfoliating and too many actives. Instead, in 2022 we’ll be focusing on the products that actually work for us and implementing rituals, and focusing our efforts on what we actually enjoy. It has felt like a free-for-all when it comes to advice and grasping for something to make us feel better, and more is not necessarily better.
More sustainability.
Recycled packaging, wild-sourced ingredients, and luxury, but not wasteful. As clean formulations and sustainable packaging continue to trend, the focus will zero in on ingredients that are sustainably sourced, as well as packaging that looks aesthetically pleasing and can be responsibly replenished. Wild foraged beauty that takes a sustainable approach to sourcing ingredients is an emerging trend in skincare, with brands finding better ways to source ingredients and products incorporating more plant extracts. Still, the products are more than a homemade beauty creation whipped up in your bathroom. In 2022 we’ll continue to see thoughtfully crafted luxury brands take the lead.
Inner beauty.
Embracing the full-body microbiome.
The research and awareness on the importance of our microbiome have drastically grown over the past few years. It’s moved beyond just awareness of our gut and moved into the complexities and synergy between the microbiomes of our gut, skin, mouth, and even hair. Often the best course is a less is more approach, and just as we try to keep the gut humming along with prebiotics and probiotics, we are seeing this in skincare and even toothpaste. We’re seeing supplements pop up on the market like as well as skincare and even toothpaste geared at keeping your biome balanced and happy.
Supplements are getting a personalized upgrade.
Many are becoming more hands-on and aware when it comes to their health. No longer satisfied with just being told what to take, eat, and given quick fixes, people are looking for solutions and supplements that go beyond the cheap grocery store brand. Many lower-end supplements are full of fillers, synthetic, and less powerful vitamin sources and can end up hurting more than their helping. We predict more thoughtful, well-formulated, research-backed, and personalized supplement regimes to emerge on the scene.
All about the immune system.
After nearly two years of life spent living in a world so different than before, thanks to a global pandemic, we should be more aware than ever of the importance of taking care of and building a strong immune system. In 2022 we’ll see more of a focus on quality supplementation, healthy eating, stress relief, getting plenty of sleep, and self-care take priority as people look to implementing healthy, immune system boosting practices into their every day.
Self-care.
Psychoacoustics or sound therapy.
While sound therapy has been around for centuries, we’ll see a surge in auditory experiences in the coming year. As people look for more ways to destress and boost their well-being we’ll see everything from technology-driven sound therapy to ancient techniques like sound baths. Sound therapy deconstructs music into pure sound, believed to have a powerful effect on our emotions and internal frequencies.
Mental health: entering the age of a more trauma-informed world.
While therapy is no longer taboo, we’ll see it become the latest trend in the coming year. We are so thankful for the way conversations around mental health and trauma have shifted over the years. Now more than ever, education and free resources are readily available. Everything from nutritionists, counseling services to personal trainers can play a part in one’s mental health, and there’s nothing as valuable as investing in your mental and emotional health.
Let’s talk about sex, baby.
Sexual wellness is another area that’s shown drastic growth when it comes to open dialogue. Sexual wellness market is expected to reach $125 billion by 2026. No longer something just simply not talked about, people, and women in particular, are taking charge of their sexual health and pleasure. From vibrators to body products to books, and higher demand for health specialists are going to be the biggest trend in 2022.
Say goodbye to mouth breathing.
You may have seen mouth taping on Instagram or Tiktok and wondered what it was all about. Turns out, the detriments of chronic mouth breathing are real. Breathwork, in general, can have amazing benefits.
Buzzy drinks without the alcohol.
In an attempt to curb excess drinking, or at least make sure it has the proper place in our life, many have chosen to reach for no/low alcoholic beverages rather than the harder stuff. Thankfully there are delicious options when it comes to kicking back and relaxing, alcohol-free. And these drinks don’t just taste like cocktails. Many of them are infused with adaptogens, herbs, hemp, roots, and mushrooms geared towards reducing stress, producing a calming effect, or boosting your mood and energy depending on what you’re looking for.
Period and post-period health.
We view the menstrual cycle as a barometer of overall health and determine how it impacts not only the skin but overall quality of life. In customized herbal formulas, the dynamic treatments shift as your health shifts, with the overall goal being to cut you loose after getting you on track, or seeing you for maintenance as needed. Sorting symptoms around a period can be life-changing as there are many with severe symptoms they have been led to believe is just their ‘normal’. There are many new organizations and brands working to educate the young on sexual health, menstrual health, to eliminate period poverty and shame, and mitigate the amount of time missed in school from periods and lack of supplies, and so on.
This also applies to menopause and perimenopause awareness removing the stigma around this phase of life and improving resources for how to cope with some of the lesser-known and more severe symptoms like anxiety, brain fog, and loss of sleep.
Exercising in nature.
2020 brought a wave of popularity for workout apps you could use at home, with many folks heading outside for fresh air, and a yoga session or run in plain air. Since then, many have avoided going back to crowded gyms in favor of time outside. Whether you decide to go for a hike or getting in a stretch on your patio, working out outside boasts double the benefits thanks to the endorphins from both the workout and the time spent in nature. Spend some of your time barefoot for extra grounding benefits. Even though there is development in the tech world to measure and fine-tune our health, tech should ultimately operate to free us from devices to return to nature for health, try taking a walk, earthing, grounding.
Optimized zzz’s.
Most of us know chronic stress affects our skin negatively, but it can also impact sleep and digestion. There will be a huge emphasis on sleep health in 2022 as restorative sleep touches every other aspect of our health. From supplements to technology like wrist devices, rings, and even high-tech gadgets like the ‘qi coil’ are meant to track and improve sleep. Sheets with cooling technology, luxury mattresses, light bulbs, guided meditation, and breathwork apps, ingestibles, and supplements continue to evolve to target sleep improvement. Acupuncture is an excellent place to start for getting to the root cause of your sleep issues as we break it down further — trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, restless, or not waking rested, the treatment is more targeted than a one size fits all pill.
Keeping up with the beauty and skincare industry is important because we want to enhance your natural features by producing innovative products that should be safe to use. The reason why some beauty trends populate faster than others is because of us, consumers, we change the face of the beauty world, what works and doesn’t work for us, what we want and need — they provide for us.
Messycafe 