Many of us have amped up our skincare game by wearing less makeup, and spending more time using at-home face masks. To keep you going strong, here are the 2021 trends and ingredients to be on the lookout for.

Trend #1: Skinmilism

Move over, “Glow Up”, there’s a new trend in town. Skinmilism is a newfound focus on gentle products that are clean or have natural ingredients. It also emphasizes the minimization of product use, so you can kiss your 10 step skincare routine goodbye! To get in on this trend, do a basic detox and focus on using 2-4 essential products. Gentle cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreen and minimalist formulas are great candidates.

Shobana’s Tip: Wait at least one month before introducing a new skincare product to determine what each product does to your skin. 

Products:

• Vichy LiftActiv HA Wrinkle Filler
• Supergoop

Trend #2: Microbiomes

Lots of us have heard of the microbiome in relation to the gut, but our skin also has a microbiome! This is a little ecosystem that protects the surface of our skin. It can become unbalanced through various factors, including hormones, stress, weather or products. When the microbiome is unbalanced, it can result in inflamed skin and poor overall skin health. You can protect the microbiome by using gentle products and avoiding harsh exfoliant, high pH products and over-cleansing. You can also use products that have probiotics in them.

Shobana’s Tip:  Gut health is linked to skin health. Optimize your gut health with probiotic-rich fermented foods and supplements such as broad spectrum oral probiotics.

Products:

• Detox Market
•  Vintner’s Daughter Active Treatment Essence
• Synergie Skin Perfecting Mask
• Osea Probiotic Polish

Trend # 3: Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a holy grail antioxidant with so many benefits. This is the “it” ingredient, and you will hear about it in everything. To boost this in your skincare routine, stick to serums and look for “L-ascorbic acid”. This is the best form of vitamin C for the skin. A concentration of 15-20% is great, but if you have sensitive skin, start with 10%.

Shobana’s Tip: Use a few drops Vitamin C serum in the morning after cleansing and before moisturizer. When a Vitamin C serum becomes brown, it is no longer effective.

Products:

• Skinceuticals CE Ferulic
• Moisturizers with 10% L-ascorbic Acid

Trend #4: Clean Beauty

We hear this term a lot, but what does it actually mean? Clean beauty products are made of ingredients that do not have harmful components. This helps guarantee your health and safety in the long run. Since the beauty industry is not regulated, you need to really search to find clean beauty products. Some industry experts like Sephora and the Detox Market have clean lists. The David Suzuki Dirty Dozen and EWG Skin Deep Data Base are also great resources. Some companies also align themselves with European standards that ban close to 1130 ingredients which are suspected to be unsafe, such as cancer-causing agents or hormone disruptors.

Shobana’s Tip: Be aware that just because a product is clean, it doesn’t mean it’s vegan, cruelty free, organic or sustainable.

Products: