2020 has been a year of many ups and downs, with the pandemic hitting the whole world, people everywhere have suffered differently. The same way beauty fanatics also suffered as beauty salons, barber shops and spas closed down temporarily due to lockdown. But people learned to turn disaster into opportunity and many beauty trends which didn’t exist before came out this year. Let’s explore the top 5 beauty trends of 2020. 

5. Organic beauty products

This year people seem to be inclined towards organic and natural beauty products which are absolutely chemical free. Especially, people affected by Covid-19 faced skin problems and extreme hair fall after recovery, they opted more for natural and organic products. In Pakistan online companies like Conatural, Jo’s Organic beauty, Food for the Face by Firefly, Khishmish beauty products and Calm and Balm flourished. These companies are known for their chemical free skincare products like shampoos, soaps and face washes. 

4. Natural makeup and dewy skin 

Continuing the trend from 2019, natural makeup still dominated the scene, which showcases a dewy, glowy look. This looks is so smooth and poreless that it’s called ‘glass skin’. It is inspired from South Korea, which has been a country on the rise because of its kpop idols that are extremely popular these days. People love this look because it is opposed to the heavy makeup; people adhered to in the past. Rather it shows the skin looking natural and beautiful. To achieve this look here in Pakistan Korean beauty brands like Becute, Laniege, and Purederm, etc have made their place. American brands like Glossier also launched their products which to compete with the Korean market. 

3. Extreme eye makeup

The way we use makeup has changed drastically because face masks have taken over most of the world. A trend which reached the heights of popularity is the usage of products like eye shadows, brow pencils and mascaras. With face masks people had to learn to smile with their eyes which mean that eyes should be highlighted. That’s why people started using bold colour palettes, smoky eye shadows, floating eyeliners, spider lashes and highlighters to express themselves. That’s how sales of eye makeup have soared during the pandemic. In China, where the virus began in 2019, famous e-commerce Alibaba claimed that the term “mask makeup looks” began trending on social media in early 2020.

Read also: Everything you need to know about diamond painting

2. The downfall of lipstick

Where the sales of eye makeup soared, sales of lipsticks went down. This is also because of the introduction of face masks as the daily necessity. People abandoned the bright colours in favour of natural lip shades that wouldn’t smudge the face masks, relocating lipstick to the bottom of the makeup drawers. 

1. DIY hacks and YouTube

Because this year most people have been forced to stay home, the social media industry boomed. People turned to Facebook, Instagram and YouTube as well as TikTok to showcase their talent as well as try many trending beauty DIY projects which have shown different results, be it good or bad. Using YouTube beauty tutorials people started attempting different experiments with recipes of facial masks, waxes, DIY hair styles and braids. ‘Quarantine nails,’ which is one of the largest trends of the Pandemic, saw people sharing innovative attempts at nail art, for example pastel colours with almond shaped tips and rainbow nail art. Lockdown also saw the return of the buzz cut, with men, women and celebrities all around clipped their hair short in order to save it.