Makeup trends 2022: The wake-up of makeup & return to routine

Celebrity brands in makeup: The shift to online culture due to the pandemic appears to be here to stay. The switch from in-store shopping and advertising to marketing via the world wide web has allowed celebrities and influencers to enter the beauty and personal care market and hold their weight against big brands. Due to pre-established fan bases and hordes of loyal followers, celebrities can promote their own products to translate directly into sales. 

A few celebrities to successfully break into the scene include Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, Halsey’s About Face, and Lady Gaga’s Haus Laboratories. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty has been a consistent staple in the beauty industry, whereas Hailey Bieber’s attempt to launch Rhode Skin was met with trademark infringement.

Bringing joy back to makeup: After 2 years of pandemic panic, the return to a sense of normalcy ignites a yearning for true joy in all aspects of life. With renewed interest in makeup routines, bringing a sense of joy and experimentation to colour cosmetics is on the rise. 

Brands are collaborating with non-beauty brands to bring out-of-the-box products boasting bright and bold colours, fun textures, and evoking a sense of entertaining nostalgia. For example, Morphe partnered with Sour Patch Kids to release the Sour Then Sweet Artistry + Eyeshadow Palette. OPI released a Spring 2022 collaboration with Xbox highlighting bright colours with fun, game-related names modelled holding controllers. 

Return to Y2K: What goes around comes back around in the beauty and personal care industry! As trends are recycled, we’re heading back to the late 90s and early 2000s. Gen Z is officially old enough to make a significant impact on consumer behaviour and are increasingly fascinated with the styles before they were even born. The return to Y2K trends is multiplied tenfold when social media and advanced technology is added to the mix. 

The bright, bold colours and fun accessories of Y2K style coincide perfectly with Gen Z’s belief that expressing individuality and being unapologetically vibrant is important today. SPATE reports +108.9% year-over-year growth for Y2K makeup in the US with +42.1% predicted growth within the next year (1).

What is the best makeup for 2022?

1. Lip crazed 

Lips have taken centre stage as pandemic restrictions relax! After living without seeing people’s mouths for two years, consumers are jumping at the opportunity to put their best style forward and not take for granted the impact of expression through makeup. Lip products are growing at the highest rate amongst the colour cosmetics and NPD reports that lipstick sales were up 44% year-over-year in Q1 2022 (2).  

The rebound of lip product sales is not unforeseen. In times of recession or distress, women will indulge in discretionary purchases that provide emotional uplift without breaking the budget, and NPD reports lipstick as a product more purchased on impulse. After COVID-19, consumers are harnessing the power of the ease of lip products that can completely transform your total look with one swipe. Brighter, more dramatic colours are on trend this season. 

Lean into the lip movement with Croda’s Unicorn Lipgloss, a fun colour changing lip gloss with emollients designed for easy application, high shine, and long wear. Get bright, bold lips with our Limitless Wear Clean Kisses Lipstick. Formulated to meet growing trends in clean beauty, this lipstick uses minimal, non-toxic ingredients to provide a long-lasting, clean formula perfect for wear all day, every day. 

2. Hybrid Makeup 

 Convenience is key! Blurring the lines between categories within the beauty and personal care industry and multi-functional products is fast becoming the new norm. You have likely heard of the “skinification” of hair care, but the trend is now making its way into colour cosmetics. According to Mintel, 57% of women who usually use makeup products look for skin-benefitting ingredients when choosing cosmetic products (3). Three growing claims within colour cosmetics include moisturising, anti-ageing, and UV protection.  

The data doesn’t lie—according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey, 67% of beauty product users surveyed stated that they needed less than 15 minutes for their make-up routines. Multifunctional makeup formats such as lip and cheek stain, lash and brow serum, or foundation with SPF are gaining popularity as consumers shift towards a desire for a simpler and more sustainable routine with fewer products.  

Showcase your lips and perk up your cheeks with just one product: Croda’s Essentially Effortless Cheek and Lip Stain with Volarest™ FL. This versatile and multi-functional lip and cheek stain creates novel texture and elegant finish with just a few swipes.  

 3. Skinimalism in makeup  

What do you get when you combine skin and minimalism? Skinimalism! This trending approach to showcase natural beauty and simplify BPC routines is gaining momentum among consumers as the desire for sustainability rises and social media like TikTok spreads the word on products. According to SPATE, searches for natural makeup, no makeup makeup, and minimalist makeup are all on the rise, indicating consumer’s desires to ease back into their everyday routines now that pandemic restrictions have lessened. Opportunities across all colour cosmetics vary, but eyeshadow, foundation, and brow products are standouts when it comes to achieving the desired natural glow.  

In the US, 58% of female makeup wearers describe their makeup routine as enhancing their natural look, compared to 11% describing it as transforming their appearance (3). Despite there being 19 million posts on Instagram using the hashtag #NoMakeup, cosmetic sales are increasing alongside the skinimalism movement. 

Join in on the dewy makeup trend with our Flawless Fluid Foundation, which has been specifically developed to create skin that appears dewy and flawless. As a bonus, this multifunctional product also provides daily UV protection of SPF 15 and fights against pollution damage to the skin. Croda’s Flawless Radiance Day Cream helps restore, smooth, and even skin while promoting a glowy complexion. The formulation and its ingredients follow the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and is of natural origin (natural origin content of 99.30%*) according to the ISO 16128-1 and ISO 16128-2 standards. 

 4. Graphic eye makeup with ease 

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, therefore, eye makeup is the decorative curtains that draws attention! There is a rise in graphic looks that can be achieved with ease to add that extra “oomph”. With an average monthly search volume of 1.3 million and +16.4% predicted growth in the next year, it’s eyeliner’s time to shine (1). A few examples of standout eyeliner trends include the reverse cat eye with +1566.6% YoY growth, Kbeauty inspired puppy eyeliner, illusion-making white eyeliner, and versatile water activated eyeliner.  

The desire for a simplified beauty routine has also found its way into the eye makeup sphere. One such innovation to be born of this demand is eyeliner stickers. The aforementioned graphic eyeliner looks are made easy with these super simple stickers. Eyeshadow sticks are another breakout star amongst eye makeup due to its ability to offer an easy and fast way to create a variety of makeup looks. There has been a +105.8% increase in eyeshadow stick product releases from Q1 2021 to Q1 2022 (Mintel GNPD).  

Get graphic looks with Croda’s Perfect Stroke Matte Liquid Liner. It is a matte, smudge proof & water-resistant formulation with added benefits for eyelash nourishment and growth. Enhance any eye look with our Go the Distance Mascara and enjoy luscious, long lashes for a polished look throughout the day. 

What colours will trend in 2023?

Exciting news! While last year’s Pantone Color of the Year, Veri Peri inspired beautiful colour cosmetic looks, 2023’s color has been announced. The Pantone Color of the Year for 2023 will be Digital Lavender, a warm, happy, purple hue representing blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds as the pandemic comes to an end. Align with all the predicted trends, lavender is gender-inclusive, joyous, and represents the serenity we are all searching for.

One thing is for sure– makeup is back with a vengeance! Restrictions have made consumers restless, and now they are yearning for bright, bold makeup looks that make a statement and/or effortlessly natural makeup looks. Whether its trends, convenience, or circumstance that drive the uptick in the makeup industry, colour cosmetics are back and better than ever. 

Sources:

1. Joy-care Beauty in the Name of Pleasure, SPATE, September 2022

2. "The Evolution of the 'Lipstick Index'", Natallia Bambiza, NPD, May 2022

3. A year of innovation in colour cosmetics, 2022, Mintel