7 Beauty Trends to Look Out For in 2018

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How to cite: Wong M. 7 Beauty Trends to Look Out For in 2018. Lab Muffin Beauty Science. November 29, 2017. Accessed December 22, 2023. https://labmuffin.com/7-beauty-trends-look-2018/

2017 is almost over. In beauty, we’ve seen the continued rise of glowing skin, the slow death of contouring, and the huge success of multistep skincare routines and anti-aging products. What’s coming next? Here are some beauty trends to look out for in 2018:

7 Beauty Trends to Look Out For in 2018

Ingredient-conscious advertising

Consumers are getting more knowledgeable about the specific ingredients in products, so expect to see more ingredient-focused marketing and labelling. You’ll see ingredients like hyaluronic acid, retinoids and alpha hydroxy acids featured front and centre in advertising. As always, natural ingredients will still be popular, but expect to see a bigger focus on locally-sourced and sustainable ingredients too. You’ll continue to see the list of “XXX-free” products grow as well.

Environmentally friendly packaging

There’s been more focus on being environmentally friendly in the beauty industry. As well as products with eco-friendly ingredients, there’s been a consumer-led push for products with packaging designed with environmental conservation in mind as well. Expect to see more materials like Surlyn, a clear resin that require less energy to produce from the raw materials than more common packaging like PET. Containers produced from sustainable natural materials like bamboo and bulrush fibres will also be making their way into stores.

Convenient facial masks

Sheet masks were big business in 2017, and they’re only going to get more popular. They’re conveniently packaged with all the ingredients together: just open the foil package and apply. There’s also very little clean up since you can just throw out the sheet and you don’t need to rinse.

Sheet masks have been popular in Asia (especially Korea) for ages, but only really started making their way into Western drugstore brands in 2017. 2018 will see more of them, and in more forms as well, apart from just hydrating: tanning sheet masks, clay and mud sheet masks, body sheet masks…

Anti-pollution skincare

With more scientific research coming out on how pollution affects skin, products are starting to arrive that promise protection from the pollutants and dust in urban environments. These products usually contain SPF, coupled with specialised protective ingredients like charcoal and film-formers. Look out for more of these next year. You might also see more products designed to protect against long wavelength infrared radiation from the sun as well, instead of just focusing on UV.

7 Beauty Trends to Look Out For in 2018

Probiotics in skincare

Probiotic products help add good bacteria to skin. They’re getting more attention now with the microbiome (the microorganisms in and on the body) being a hot area of research in health and medicine. Probiotics can aid in protecting skin from environmental damage. They can also be anti-inflammatory, making them great for helping with skin conditions like acne and psoriasis.

Skincare for men

Men are taking their skin more seriously, and as a result the beauty industry for men is growing. While male skin isn’t that different from female skin, a lot of the marketing will be different, and products will emerge to target specific male habits that may make their routines different. Some male-specific items you’ll see more of include cleansers designed to help recover from too much sun or shaving, dark spot correctors to help even out skin tone, and beard oils to keep facial hair moisturised and hydrated. You’ll see more male-targeted beauty treatments in salons too.

Customisable beauty products

Customisation is a huge trend in fashion (hello monogrammed everything!), and it’s catching on in skincare too. You’ll see more online and in-store assessments that will measure metrics like brightness, pore visibility, texture, wrinkles and redness. A personalised set of products will then be created to meet the customer’s specific needs – likely with personalised packaging as well.

7 Beauty Trends to Look Out For in 2018

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This is a sponsored post; however, the opinions expressed are still my honest opinions. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.


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17 thoughts on “7 Beauty Trends to Look Out For in 2018”

    • Hahaha! Fair enough – they can be a bit annoying when they’re on! I still prefer quick 3 minute in-shower masks – someone told me they did sheet masks in the shower and I’m yet to try it but I think I could handle it!

      Reply
  1. It’s about time men took more care of their skin.

    I haven’t encountered any customised skin care products yet but am looking forward to seeing them around.

    Reply
  2. IR filters! Hooray!! Seems I’ll finally find some sunscreens that doesn’t make my skin’s reaction to sun even worse. I have one with IR filter already, and it’s together with physical-only sunscreens the only one I can tolerate.

    Reply
  3. I agree that i can see more and more ‘customisable/personnalisable’ products out there but I wonder if it is not BS with the current set of regulations. Don’t know about how it is done in australia but in europe each single formula has to be throurougly tested (stability, microbiology etc..) and approved by a safety assessor so I am failing to understand how one could really do personnalised formulas??

    Reply
    • The way I’ve seen Kiehl’s do it is that they have a base formulation, with some actives that are concentrated solutions in the same base formulation, and they add two to a big bottle depending on your skin diagnosis. I assume all the individual concentrated solutions and the base are approved…

      Reply
  4. True enough all the things mentioned above have really been trending this 2018. Yes, sheet masks are convenient and I also get attracted to environmental friendly packaging. I think this is a good sign. People are becoming more and more informed and they are becoming more interested in beautifying themselves

    Reply
  5. Your post based on beauty trends is unique and good.As well in this post you have mention abouut the products with eco-friendly ingredients, there’s been a consumer-led push for products with packaging designed with environmental conservation in mind as well.

    Reply
  6. Appears I’ll at long last discover a few sunscreens that don’t make my skin’s response to the sun far more atrocious. I have one with IR channel as of now, and it’s as one with physical-just sunscreens the just a single I can endure.

    Reply
  7. Helpful blog, Lots of information about beauty trends. Thank you, Michelle, for providing this information.

    Reply
  8. All the things mentioned above have really been trending this 2018… Wating for a new 2019 article 🙂

    Reply

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