The future of beauty: A look at the top beauty trends for 2020

Let's look at the top beauty trends for the coming year.

It's hard to believe that we've reached the end of another year and somehow, another decade! The year 2019 has certainly been an interesting one for beauty, and a particularly busy one when it comes to celebrity launches and collaborations - by Lady Gaga, Millie Bobby Brown and Victoria Beckham, to name a few.
The beauty industry also helped make the world's youngest self-made billionaire, with Coty's $600 million acquisition of the majority stake in Kylie Cosmetics, and it's safe to say that the beauty world will continue to boom over the next year. Let's look at the top beauty trends for the coming year.

Skincare continues to shine: You might have noticed that images of popular skincare products in trendy packaging have begun to creep onto your social media feeds; skincare has generally been busier than ever. There has been a great deal of innovation in recent years and this has led to awareness about skincare reaching an all-time high. Consumers have been spending more than ever on premium skincare and this comes at the expense of full-coverage makeup, which we are reaching for less and less. We anticipate this will continue in 2020.

Conscious and responsible beauty: Consumers are more conscious about their spending than ever, and the beauty world is no exception. This means a greater emphasis on transparency when it comes to product labels and minimal ingredients in formulations. Increasingly, a brand's commitment to vegan, cruelty-free and sustainable production are becoming the norm and a prerequisite for success. Organic makeup brands will continue to grow in popularity with bolder and more sophisticated formulations that seriously rival those of traditional cosmetics. Organic makeup has traditionally been available in natural, muted hues and brands are finally starting to recognise that consumers don't want to sacrifice colour in favour of safer ingredients.

Nineties-inspired looks dominate: Our collective obsession with all things nineties is unlikely to wane as both fashion and beauty looks inspired by the iconic decade remain heavily on our radar. This means we are saying goodbye to heavy contours and matte lips and welcoming a fresh new decade with beauty that doesn't take itself too seriously. Think raw, naturally glowing skin paired with lined lips that are finally going to be glossy again. Eye makeup will be bold but playful, incorporating sheer textures and metallics and graphic statement looks.

Bespoke and personalisation: Personalised beauty is nothing new, but we expect that it will come into the mainstream, particularly in haircare and fragrance. This doesn't necessarily mean that products will be fully-customised based on DNA quite yet, however, what we can expect to see are custom colour options, wider ranges of formulations to which customers can be matched, or base formulas, which can then be customised.

Beauty embraces technology: Brands and retailers have already started to embrace technology that helps with colour and scent-matching and product recommendations, and we can expect to see much more of this. Gadgets have been growing in popularity over the last couple of years, such as Foreo and Clarisonic's cleansers, and this trend will continue in 2020. Facial massage devices, lip enhancers, LED masks, and devices which track hydration and UV exposure are set to become increasingly common. We can also expect haircare to get a lot more high-tech.
(Ayat Toufeeq is co-founder, Powder.ae)
wknd@khaleejtimes.com