Beauties, we’re in a new decade and excited to see what’s next in this industry. The beauty industry is known for thriving on newness and constantly on the pulse of finding the next big thing, and of course this is something that will always be a part of it… but we’ve found that perhaps we will see a slower, more thoughtful, ethical and sustainable approach to the industry this year.

Here are some of the things that we think will be at the forefront of the beauty industry this year.

Increase in sustainable and zero waste packaging

The Beauty Industry creates a lot of waste and this is something that is getting shone a light now.

More and more brands by the day are finding new ways to reduce their carbon footprint – to move towards either more eco conscious packaging such as sugar cane, or even moving completely towards zero waste with products being ‘naked’. This is something that Lush is well known for, but it’s becoming increasingly popular with solid shampoos and conditioners becoming more well-known and used, along with things such as solid serums and more.

There’s also been an increase in the ability to recycle packaging – with many brands teaming up with TerraCycle to encourage consumers to recycle old packaging.

One gripe I had was that if I had bottles from multiple brands – it could be difficult to find the time to go back to each individual store to recycle – but there’s schemes with stores such as John Lewis’s ‘BeautyCycle’ where you can recycle packaging from all sorts of brands in one place… perfect!

This year, we only think this is to grow and become much more of the norm!

 A deeper and clearer understanding of ‘Clean Beauty’

Clean beauty is a phrase that is thrown around a lot in marketing and this industry… but it very much feels like people are still finding their feet in really understanding what this means and the impact it could have.

It is perhaps partly my own hope, that this year will bring clearer understanding of what clean beauty means, more clarity on why the ingredients that are called ‘bad’ are not good for the skin, backed with more scientific research and perhaps a few clinical studies.

‘Waterless’ Beauty

This also ties in a little being more eco conscious, but it’s also about what waterless beauty can do for the skin.

Water is very often used as a filler in skincare, sometimes making up to 90% of the formulation – and this alone with the sheer number of products being created, is having an impact on the amount of water wasted. Brands are starting to move toward saving water – in fact, L’Oreal has pledged to reduce its water consumption by a whopping 60% (per finished product unit) by next year while other brands are formulating products with zero, or minimal, water and those that can be used without (or with less) water.

In many cases, by removing water in formulas, it not only increases the potency of the other ingredients in it, but it also means that products may not need preservatives as water is what causes the bacteria to form – this would lead to cleaner, less inflammatory formulas.

Vitamin C serums also benefits from waterless formulas for example – water can make the notoriously unstable vitamin less effective and less stable when combined.

There’s certainly more to discuss in regards to waterless products, but we certainly think it’s something we’re going to see more of, not only to save the planet but to lead to lesser packaging for products and more stable, concentrated and more effective products.

Growth in spiritual healing interests and acceptance 

Over the last few years there’s been a resurgence in the popularity of spiritual healing based specialisms, such as reiki, Qi gong, crystal therapy, meditation, sound baths etc… Let’s face it …there’s a lot of stress and anxiety in the world and it’s not getting any better. The combination of work stress, digital overload, climate change concerns and the like has so many of us  looking for practices to support us emotionally, psychologically and physically, as we try to manage our lives.  2020 is a year ripe for the greater expansion of these various modalities as more of us seek alternative ways of navigating our lives.

Results of the Mental Health Foundation’s 2018 study:

The study was an online poll undertaken by YouGov, and had a sample size of 4,619 respondents. This is the largest known study of stress levels in the UK. “In the past year, 74% of people have felt so stressed they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope.”

Growth in psycho dermatology 

This was a trend that I presented to Stylus last summer because I believe that increasingly consumers tire of failed skincare regimes, they’ll start to question the way that their skin behaves on a deeper level.

“Psychodermatology practitioners treat skin the way a psychotherapist treats behavior — by learning how it responds to emotional and environmental stressors and helping to moderate those responses.”

It’s perfectly logical to explore the effects of stress, toxic work environments, unhappy relationships etc…on our wellbeing and ultimately our skin.

Stress can aggravate any skin condition… “Generally, the mind and skin are very closely linked,” explains Dr Anthony Bewley, a consultant dermatologist who specialises in psychodermatology & Chair of www.psychdermatolog.co.uk ‘If you get stressed, it can lead to skin problems, and skin problems, in turn, lead to stress.