Makeup is now a part of skincare! Imagine how much skincare has improved in the last 50 years. Now makeup has been in major reform. This century’s makeup is high-performance skincare. This trend called “skinification” looks like it is here to stay. During the pandemic, the focus was on skincare since many people were at home and not wearing much makeup. During this time, makeup took a back seat, but now it’s back, and stronger than ever with its skin-enhancing abilities.
The benefits of makeup that acts as skincare helps your skin’s natural functions throughout the day and can act as an armor of protection. Estheticians are now recommending makeup as a part of the client’s morning skincare routine for enhanced barrier protection as well as prevention of water loss. The old formulas that were heavier, opaquer, and dehydrating are becoming a product of the past unless they are being used for TV or stage performances.
The old foundation was always considered more of a mask to eliminate all the visible imperfections of our complexion, now the new foundation formulas are created to strengthen the skin’s ability to protect itself against environmental aggressors and give it added hydration and super-power antioxidants while enhancing the beauty of the complexion. The movement of beauty buyers has been more towards tinted moisturizers and tinted SPFs, bb creams, cc creams, and lighter coverage foundations. Many brands are racing to create more makeup skincare products that focus on improving the skin than ever before. Skin is in … The makeup is on its way.
In some ways, makeup mimics fashion, but in a different way than you might think. Fashion and beauty have been in a full makeover, or should I say makeunder? The social movement of people owning who they are and embracing their skin has been the fuel behind letting their skin show through their makeup. Generations like millennials and Gen Z have made loving their natural skin and loving their heritage with its unique traits. The focus in current marketing strategies has been showcasing models with skin conditions such as vitiligo, and showing how their skin is uniquely beautiful.
Think about the clothing marketing campaigns that have moved away from the “perfect” body type models and instead they are embracing and showcasing all body types, all races, and all people. Covering up what is unique about their own personal story and their ancestry is a thing of the past. Now they want to highlight their unique traits such as freckles, scars, or melasma. Therefore, this change in makeup formulas is now following the change in the fashion industry, a much more inclusive idea that translates into more product options that focus on the beauty of skin. People will continue to look for products that align with their beliefs and fit into their lifestyle.
With the busy lives most of our clients live, they are also looking at streamlining their routines, so they prefer products that have less steps, multiple benefits, and have multitasking features. These beauty hybrid products often feature hyaluronic acid to plump the skin, antioxidants that strengthen the skin, and pigment refractors that are used for light diffusion, aka highlighting. Other products will boast a lot of skincare nourishing ingredients like squalene, phytosphinosine, green tea, chamomile, and jojoba oil to help the skin retain more moisture, soothe any inflammation, calm redness, and increase its pliability.
The demand for makeup with skin nourishers has been a focus in the beauty market, so products are being created with higher concentrations of skincare ingredients like glycerin, a well-known humectant. Some products are going the more anti-aging route by featuring ingredients such as red camelia extract that regulate cellular irregularities like skin cells that stop dividing and clog up the turnover process, preventing other healthy cells from producing.
Other makeup products are focusing on the natural bacteria that we all have a plethora of at one point, and then as aging, sun damage, blue light damage and hormone changes happen, our natural gut and skin bacteria reduces, leaving our skin vulnerable to redness and dryness. There are some two-in-one makeup products that combine probiotic lactobacillus with minerals, providing a multi-functional tinted moisturizer that provides SPF. This is what you call protection on the inside and protection on the outside! Some makeup products like cheek tints have ingredients to balance oil production. Next, the eyes have it with new formulas of “eye serum concealers” that nourish the eyes with brightening and firming peptides plus buildable coverage. We will see more products continue to come to the market that will be makeup with skincare superpowers, so look to the new millennium of skincare makeup and embrace it and share it with your clients as skincare and makeup are becoming one.