As a new year rolls on, a new array of skincare products and treatments enter the limelight that aims to provide help for particular conditions or maximise a particularly popular look.
It is important to look ahead at these new trends and see which ones are destined to last, and which ones are more hype than substance.
Whilst some essential treatments such as a laser skin clinic or layering start out as a trend and then become a necessity, others can sometimes fall by the wayside.
Cold-Pressed Skincare
If you have ever juiced or made certain kinds of olive oil, you may be aware of the concept of cold-pressing in food production, and the same principle applies in skincare.
Cold-pressed products are products made by extracting ingredients without using heating or cooking methods to create the extracts, as is common in manufacturing.
In food products, it can have a massive difference, as can be seen if you compare cold-pressed juice to juices made from concentrate, due to a breakdown of nutrients, vitamins and the fats present in oils, which in theory makes them healthier.
Cold-pressed skincare is made in the same way, but does it work the same way? Cold-pressed juice’s benefits are in part caused by drinking them, whilst certain ingredients such as peptides and retinol need to be heated to become soluble and mixable together.
The jury is still out on the benefits of skincare, but with no regulatory approval and a reliance on preservatives and the potential changing climates caused by shipping, it is probably more marketing than good skincare.
LED Light Therapy
Along with laser treatment, LED light therapy has increased in profile in recent years with both in-clinic and home treatments that help to stimulate the production of collagen.
This is a trend to trust in clinics, although exactly how effective the home versions of the treatment are remain to be seen. In any case, make sure that your light therapy is done first before applying any products.
Water-Free Products
The cosmetics industry uses a lot of water in products, with ‘aqua’ being a major filler in a lot of creams. This has led to an eco-friendly trend in products that replace ‘Eau’ with butters, waxes and oils, which in theory can be even better for your skin as they do not damage your skin’s oil barrier.
Having been popular in Korea and other parts of South-East Asia for a while, the waterless trend is heading to the rest of the world and could be a potential game-changer, albeit one that comes at a price premium.
Anti-Waste Sales
Here is the secret to skincare most people don’t want to hear; almost every product expires, and chances are there are some treatments you have that have gone bad over the years.
Whilst this is a mild annoyance for most individuals, for the industry as a whole it is a massive problem, but one that could be solved in a way that makes absolutely everyone happy.
Pioneered by Gallinée, the anti-waste sale is a way to stop vast quantities of unsold, unopened, expired products from ending up in landfills, by selling them at a massive discount (up to 70 per cent in this case).
The products are still good for at least half a year, meaning that customers can still enjoy a product for a while.
This could be a chance for customers to try a new product for them or get onto the latest beauty trend without committing a large amount of money and helping the environment in the process.
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