This year has been busy in beauty land. The best beauty moments of 2022 have, of course, served up plenty of Y2K trends in the form of bleached brows, skinny brows and spiky buns. But the return of in-person awards ceremonies and fashion weeks have rekindled a desired to experiment, push boundaries and set our pulses racing with hair and makeup looks we can’t wait to emulate at home.
Over the past 12 months, celebrities have blessed us with the type of next-level transformations that Instagram eats up, while beauty brands have been breaking new ground with innovative technology and a laser focus on diversity, inclusivity and sustainability.
And lest we forget the power of Beauty Tok, our favourite content producers have inspired us to pair artful swirls of glitter eyeliner with little more than a low-key highlighter on the cheekbones, while skin cycling made even retinol bearable.
But most of all, there’s been a feeling of renewed optimism as a new post-pandemic mood swept in. Dubbed ‘dopamine beauty’ it’s a movement that encouraged us to inject joy back into our beauty routines. It’s also been the underlying narrative of almost every single hair, makeup and skincare moment this year.
As we prepare to bid 2022 a fond farewell, these are the biggest and best beauty moments of the year.
1. “Glazed donut” entered our vocabulary
Hailey Bieber called it: “glazed donut skin”, achieved by flooding skin with moisture and layering on multiple gleaming skincare products, was her prediction for the biggest beauty trend of 2022. It was also a genius marketing ploy – six months later, in June, Hailey dropped her debut beauty brand, Rhode Skin, in the US. By then everyone was so obsessed with achieving glazed donut skin, the peptide glazing fluid struggles to stay in stock even now. As if that wasn’t enough, Hailey’s “glazed donut nails” racked up more than 30M views on TikTok, first in icing white, then a more statement chocolate hue. Who knew Krispy Kreme would inspire a new beauty vernacular?
2. Chanel launched No.1
No1 de Chanel is a new line of products that launched in 2022 and marks the brand’s first foray into sustainable beauty. Its star ingredient is the red camellia japonica, which is cultivated in an open field in the south-west of France, according to environmentally friendly agricultural practices, without the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers. Rich in a powerful antioxidant known as protocatechuic acid, it may also slow down the onset of cellular senescence – a natural process in which ageing skin cells lie dormant, causing dryness, dullness and slackness in the skin. Precisely why the Chanel No1 de Chanel Revitalizing Serum-in-Mist won the Editors’ Choice Best Skin Product in the Beauty Power List 2022.