How Lockdown Has Taught Us To Love Ourselves Again

The last year has been one unlike any other, with lockdown disrupting our plans and holidays we’ve had booked in advance—we’ve been forced into our homes desperate for things to do. It seems that one of the biggest trends emerging from lockdown is that we’ve taken to our own personal #glowup to pass the times.

After months of being locked in doors with little reason to get out of bed and ready for the day, many of us have felt demotivated and not our best selves. We’re breaking out—dubbed lockdown skin—we’ve got fewer reasons to groom our appearances, and lockdown loungewear is becoming tedious.

The pandemic and lockdown have revolutionised how we consume beauty. According to data reported in Vogue, there have been four beauty trends that have gained momentum during the pandemic. These are:

  • Innovative beauty hacks
  • Purple haircare products that preserve hair colour
  • Skin serums
  • Blue-light-blocking skincare

A popular trend seems to be learning more about how to look good naturally. After all, there is less need for make-up with our plans dwindling in uncertainty due to ever-changing lockdown restrictions.

Here, we’ll look at some of the most popular beauty trends that have emerged during lockdown.

The ultimate at home beauty hacks

TikTok has proven useful for many different things—cooking and cleaning to interior decoration and beauty hacks. TikTok has given the creative people of the world a platform to innovate simple tasks to keep us feeling good and in high spirits, like the perfect instant tan routine. For example, Isle of Paradise’s self-tan drops broke the internet during lockdown, with users discovering a low-maintenance, effortless, and easy way to achieve a natural glowing tan with the ability to customise the intensity of the colour.

It only makes sense as when we look good, we often feel good too! So much so that even those of us with poor make-up and hairstyling skills have been getting involved. Now’s the time, if any, to try some new beauty hacks to make our lives easier when things eventually return to normal.

Heat-free curled locks

The hack to end all hacks when it comes to haircare—this tip works especially well for the men and women with long and thick hair who are looking for heat-free ways to curl their locks. It keeps hair in healthy condition while simultaneously being able to style it flawlessly.

All you need to do is take your robe belt, split your hair in half and then the two halves into another two sections, so you have four in total. Then, wrap your hair around the belt in criss-crosses. Secure it at both ends and sleep in it overnight. Check out the video below for a full demonstration

https://www.tiktok.com/@mxchellewx/video/6819854278857936134

So, you can ditch that heat protectant spray now!

Soapy brows

Beauty trends are known for changing dramatically over time—remember pencil thin eyebrows? For those of us—and there are a lot—who overplucked our brows, we’re constantly looking for ways to give the illusion of full-bodied and natural brows.

This is especially a great top tip for those dreaming of fuller brows when microblading might be too expensive. All you need is a bar of soap and a spoolie brush. We highly recommend using a soap for sensitive skin when giving it a go—this is perfect for protecting the sensitive skin on your face and around your eyes.

For the ultimate fluffy brow look: dampen the soap with setting spray and rub the spoolie on the bar to coat all sides of the brush. Then, run it through your eyebrows to get the desired shape and style you want. Once you have applied this, press down with your finger to hold the shape, and when dried, if you want to, fill in any gaps in upward feathery strokes.

https://www.tiktok.com/@millieleer/video/6841185212014087429

Removing brassy tones

Bagging yourself a hair appointment is still quite difficult as the nation is desperately booking in for a colour touch up, with lower capacity limiting how many people can be in at once, as well as everyone trying to freshen up their colour after five months of roots and dead ends. We’ve been looking for the perfect solution to get salon results from the comfort of your home…

Not only have we got hair curling tips, we’ve found the perfect way to escape those brassy blonde tones without the need for bleach or toner. Blonde-enhancing purple hair products have soared in popularity—if they weren’t popular enough already! According to Google Trend data, searches peaked for ‘purple shampoo’ in April and then again in July, showing a growth of 173% from April 2019 to April 2020. These products are giving the luscious locks we’ve been dreaming of in between our salon appointments as well as saving a bit of money too.

Skincare prevails

Although we never thought we’d see it, one of the most interesting shifts in beauty trends is from makeup to skincare. People are staying at home more, wearing less makeup, and paying more attention to the health of their skin. This has caused avid make-up lovers to ditch foundation for skincare, embracing a much more low-maintenance and natural look.

In 2019, Britons spent around £27.2 billion on beauty products and services. However, 2020 is expected to look very different in comparison—dependent on our ‘new normal’. ‘Maskne’, acne caused by wearing face masks, is also causing us to assess the needs of our skin and how we can minimise unpleasant breakouts from warm and humid masks.

Facial serums are booming in popularity, particularly those containing active ingredients. With brands such as The Ordinary and Revolution gaining momentum and often being sold out, more and more brands are branching out into skincare designed by chemists with simple packaging, ingredients, and outcomes. The global personal care active ingredients market is expected to reach $4.85bn by 2025, with male customers driving the demand for this growth as skincare is marketed more gender-neutral than ever before.

Ingredients such as vitamin C, retinol, hyaluronic acid, squalene, salicylic acid, niacinamide, and ceramides are among some of the most searched active ingredients according to Harper’s Bazaar.

Blue light

As we park ourselves in front of our desktop as we work all day or when we take a break by scrolling through our social media, our screen time usage has increased significantly over lockdown. This is raising concerns of the effect of blue light on our skin, issues beyond disrupting our sleeping pattern and eyesight. Protecting our skin against UVA and UVB rays is the key to preventing premature ageing, as evolving research finds that the blue light emitted from the sun, as well as our devices, is bad for our skin. That’s bad news for millennials who are checking their phones an average of 150 times a day, as well as those of us spending around three hours in front of our phones.

Because of the exposure to our digital screens, we’re getting much more blue light than we usually would, so products containing blue light protection—topical antioxidants—are rising in popularity. Ingredients such as vitamin C and vitamin E are great for preventing this long-term and irreversible damage.

Beauty and wellness post-COVID are set to revolutionise everything we thought we knew about the beauty industry. Although we’re no less interested in making ourselves look and feel good, our needs are pushing global brands to innovate their offerings and adapt to the new normal our new habits are driving.

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