Ah, the customary 2017 round up. A look back at the beauty trends that triggered a double-take, the celebrity make-up ranges with kudos and the headline hitting stories that made waves across the world, not just in beauty circles – microbeads, we’re looking at you. Whether you embraced them, missed them or just want a little reminder, here’s what would make the beauty world’s Instagram Best Nine….
In the past it was Riri’s crazy hairstyles and colours that would get the beauty press chattering but not in 2017 for this year it has been about Fenty Beauty. Exclusive to Harvey Nichols, the all-inclusive make-up range with 40 foundations, skin-flattering highlighters and now a red lipstick that suits everyone (it actually does), it’s not just us that’s excited for her forthcoming make-up collections.When Miley Cyrus got a buzzcut we chalked it up as a moment of madness. Then a year later (ie 2017), Cara Delevigne did it. Then Kristen Stewart, Kate Hudson, Zoe Kravitz and anyone else who could get their hands on a pair of clippers. A two-finger salute to the traditional long hair that used to be part of the parcel for red carpet treadders, it beats the lob hands down.Millennial pink packaging, check. Addictive Instagram grid, check. Quirky formulas, check. Worldwide hype, check. Except when Glossier arrived, it wasn’t just hype and the products have been giving us good skin since July. After ogling what our American counterparts had been indulging in, Emily Weiss from Into The Gloss, finally let us Brits in on the action. From the Milky Jelly Cleanser to the Cloud Paint and most recently the fragrance, You, so far this beauty brand can’t put a foot wrong. We’ll be interested to see what happens when another US cult competitor Milk lands on our shores. Rumours are that it will be here by spring 2018.It takes a lot for the crowds to get pent up about hair products but when hair deity, Sam McKnight launched his signature styling sprays in summer it was like someone had handed over Kate Moss hair in a can. Legendary. The texturiser comes in top of our list but we’d re-buy them all again and not just for the fact that their powdery toned tins make our shelves look so damn cool.Some celebrity fronted make-up lines are piffle but the Gigi and Maybelline mash up was not one of them. Partly because rather than just being the ‘face’ she worked with the brand on products that represented her own kit. Smokey eye palettes, contour kits and lip colours that want to be photographed, there was no denying it got make-up fans giddy with excitement!From January 1 no UK manufacturer will be able to produce a beauty product that contains a rinse-off microbead, and by June 2018, they’ll be considered contraband. Those plastic spheres that create the exfoliation effect in scrubs and shower gels might have been good at getting rid of dead, flaky skin but they’ve also been killing marine life in the process. With 300 billion pieces of plastic in the Arctic alone, the beads are being swapped out for more natural alternatives that do the same job. Get ready for the three S’s – sand, sugar and salt – to start doing the dirty work for you.When Kim Kardashian dyed her hair blonde, colour correction services at salons soared after too many people ‘did’ try it at home. But that didn’t put her off another radical dye job and in September it was platinum that had replaced the peroxide blonde. With whisperings of grey Balayage being one of 2018’s hottest colour trends and ‘metallic’ hair dye being added onto salon menu’s across the country, steely silver won gold as the hair colour of the year.Libertine chose pink fluff, Jeremy Scott went dotty, Gucci opted for crystal-studded, House of Holland plumped for a checkerboard design and Balenciaga and Marc Jacobs both championed monogrammed mani’s. If you needed a sign that nail art was cool again, the 2017 shows were the obvious candidates.Home hair dye, moisturisers, serums, sheet masks, scrubs, lipstick, highlighters…we don’t think there’s a product that there isn’t a vegan version of anymore. Yes, 2017 was the year we all went plant obsessed. But these products aren’t your airy-fairy formulas with amateur results – they’re neck and neck with their more chemically inclined counterparts. Our go-tos? Algenist, BYBI, Axiology and another big launch of the year – BLEACH London’s debut make-up range. Want more vegan make-up? Then you best get these 10 brands on your beauty radar.
