The Impact of Fashion Trends on Beauty Practices

The beauty industry is one of the oldest trends in business. Seriously, some of the practices still in use these days date back as far as Ancient Egypt. The desire to feel pretty, desirable, and confident is one of our species main driving forces. However, it would be hard to ignore that the rise of mass media and, even more importantly, social media turned this craft into an entirely different beast.

Today, the beauty industry is one of the most stable and lucrative business sectors generating over $100 billion in revenue each year. It is only natural that such a vivid and massive playground is influenced and shaped with just as many different factors and trends.

The fashion landscape and its massive footprint on social media and global zeitgeist is one of the most essential contributors. Well, let’s take a look then at some of the ways the fashion industry affects beauty practices and what we can expect to see in the future.

Natural beauty and individualism

This trend is not strictly related to the fashion industry and it has a very deep roots in where we are as a society. Social media gave birth to a strong sense of individualism, a need to stand from the rest, and make some kind of statement. As a result, natural look as an opposition to artificially driven trends and strong personal styles are becoming the new norm. These sensibilities are spilling over to the beauty practices as well. So, the only rule is that there are no more rules, and that artificiality is gradually becoming frowned upon. Gentler touches and more bohemian looks might just be a way to go.

Expansion of shopping channels

Due to its very nature, the fashion industry was pretty much always more open to this communication and commerce channel than the beauty sector. If you want to take care of your oily skin there are only so few things you can do before visiting the skin care salon. Although this fact still rings true, the beauty industry is, as of lately, picking up a lot of cues from its bigger brother. This transition comes in the form of more viral content marketing, shift to selling knowledge as services, and expansion of various promotions, bundles, subscription packages, and gift boxes that are the easiest to sell online.

Broadening definitions of beauty

Broadening horizons in terms of what’s considered desirable have been present in the fashion industry have been with us practically since the sixties. The beauty industry was much slower to take better use of this mindset. Therefore, the current broadening definitions of beauty are driven as much by fashion standards as the general climate of modern culture. So, if you want to achieve a stunning look with classic lash extensions, you don’t really have to pay attention to the type of your skin or shape of your face. Modern beauty trends are much more egalitarian and accessible to all who want to express themselves.

The rise of influencers and makeup artists

Once again, we are getting back to social media and its place in the global culture. Be that as it may, the fashion industry and beauty industry as its component are moving away from brand faces and appointed business figures, and more in the direction of social media influencers. Or it might just be that these are the preference of the younger social media audience. Influencers are simply more in touch with the pulse of Gen Z and people who are going to dominate this space in the following years. Like in the fashion space, trends will be passed down by them rather than distant faces and Hollywood celebrities.

Setting up color patterns

The way how arbitrary trends in terms of colors influence the way we make a bulk of day to day choices may not be so evident but it’s there. The most obvious example, of course, comes in the form of Pantone’s Color of the Year which is a massive force in terms of interior design. The tendencies from the fashion industry are making similar albeit subtle splashes in the beauty pond as well. This reaches back as far as decade ago when the rise of electric blue pieces gave birth to the hype around OPI’s cobalt blue range. Cosmetics and makeup always tries to keep up with the rest of what you’re wearing.

The rise of designer products and services

This last trend is the direct consequence of jobs in the beauty industry being more open to wider groups of creative and talented individuals. The similar thing occurred in the fashion industry when big-brand ready-made pieces gave way to more authentic, bold, and experimental designer pieces. The world of beauty services and cosmetics, admittedly, does not offer the same level of freedom, but there is a growing sensibility that people care much more for personal brands, rather than corporate uniformity. This applies both for cosmetics as well as premium services.

Well, there you have it – top ways the trends in shaping the fashion industry are sending major ripples even down the neighboring beauty pond.