These Beauty Moments Ruled 2018 (And Will Still Make Waves This Year!)
2018 was a glorious year for beauty; from the boom in homegrown beauty brands to rediscovering the color trend, to every product upgrade imaginable, it's safe to say that we beauty junkies had a ball! As we take a quick look back at the year that was—from Kaia Gerber's gemstone-covered eyes at the Valentino S/S 2019 runway, to Khloe Kardashian's newly dyed soft pink hair, more and more celebrities, models, and personalities experimented and and went the unexpected beauty route—and we all followed suit!
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It's 2019 and we're just at the brink of a brand new beauty chapter. But for now, it's pretty clear that a lot of last year's trends will surely trickle down to 2019, and we're not complaining! Join us as we take another look at the moments, trends, and personalities that made waves in the beauty scene the past twelve months. Enjoy!
1. The arrival of Sunnies Face
There’s no better way to start this list with the much talked about homegrown brand Sunnies Face, created by It girls Bea Soriano-Dee, Martine Cajucom-Ho, Georgina Wilson-Burnand and Jess Wilson. It was in August when they broke the Internet and got everyone buzzing (and patiently lining up) for the launch of the cult-status Fluffmate lipsticks. Beauty fans went crazy over its retro-minimalist packaging (think millennial-worthy aesthetic)—and of course its weightless modern matte formula! And just when we thought they were slowing their game down, Sunnies Face dropped another must-have product: the creamy, blendable multi-sticks called the "Glowboss", which couldn't have been more fitting for the past holiday season!
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2. Anne Curtis launches her first ever makeup line
Just when we thought Anne Curtis might not have the time for anything else this year, the self-confessed beauty addict launched her own makeup line, blk cosmetics. With the brand’s tagline “Uncomplicated Beauty", the team behind blk made sure that the brand would be accessible in terms of price point an availability without compromising quality and adapatation to current beauty trends.
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3. Celebrity makeup artist Albert Kurniawan collaborates with Heart Evangelista for the first collection of Teviant
To mark his 10th year in the makeup business in Manila, celebrity makeup artist Albert Kurniawan unveiled his very own makeup line Teviant. His collection includes a collaboration with longtime friend and muse, Metro cover girl Heart Evangelista. The Teviant x Love Marie line focuses on Albert's expertise on all things eyes, so expect to see eyeshadow palettes galore, eyeliner, false eyelashes, glitter liner—the works!
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4. The return of ‘90s hair accessories
History repeats itself, and the beauty industry is proof. This year, we saw stretch combs on models like Bella Hadid, elastic headbands at the Tom Ford show, scrunchies on Mansur Gavriel's, and let's not forget how Alexander Wang just made our laziest hair accessory, the claw clips, fasyon again. With that said, we feel like our '90s teen days are back to make us cool again!
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5. The blue eyeshadow and liner trend
The blue eyeshadow trend has really taken off this year both on and off the runways. We've seen a number of celebrities and models rock the hue in different ways in the past twelve months, either with a bright splash of color all over the lids, an electric blue liner on the top or bottom lid, or even on eyelashes! This was only a sign of more color moments to come, for not just blue made a comeback as big as this!
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6. Ingredients-conscious brand BeautyCounter takes the top spot for Google’s most-searched beauty product in 2018
This year's Google search report—a compilation of 2018’s trendiest beauty brands—showed us that BeautyCounter was most searched beauty label. Considering the brands straightforward mission of delivering safe, non-toxic, effective makeup and skincare products, it shows us that shoppers are now leaning toward cleaner and more transparent product options.
7. The explosion of the glitter makeup trend
Glitter, glitz, shimmer, and shine was everywhere in 2018. From Kaia Gerber’s gemstone-covered eyes to Rihanna’s glitter-coated tongue, there was just no stopping the sparkle, holiday season or otherwise! And with brands like Marc Jacobs, Fenty Beauty, and Kylie Cosmetics all releasing products not lacking in shine, even our own beauty looks can truly sparkle as bright as these stars.
8. We embraced gold highlighter
When Rihanna launched a pure-gold highlighter, we had no idea the effect it’d have on the beauty world. After spotting the musician-turned-entrepreneur rock her very own Kilawatt Highlighter in Trophy Wife (a vibrant, metallic yellow-gold), we saw dozen of bloggers, editors, and celebs do the same. Sure, it may not be the most subtle highlight hue option out there, but in the age of rainbow highlighter and holographic finishes, it’s a welcome addition to our makeup arsenal.
9. Beauty gadgets got even smarter
From cheekbone-defining face rollers, to acne LED light masks, there were tons of high-tech beauty releases that popped up left and right giving us the complete, upgraded beauty experience in the comforts of your own home. It started with the growing popularity of handheld facial cleansing devices, but now there are tools available in the market that do everything from reviving tired skin, depuffing your eyebags, to straightening or curling your hair with just one tool.
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10. The clean beauty movement
Sustainability and overall product safety is on everyone’s minds and beauty brands are no exception. There’s been a significant move towards clean beauty for a large part of the market, or at least cleaning up the act of how products are formulated, produced and packaged. Early this year, Milk Cosmetics became fully vegan, and Lush Cosmetics prides itself in lessening single-use plastic more and more as each year passes. With this movement proving to be more than just a passing trend, we won't be surprised to see lots more cosmetic brands following suit in 2019.
Lead photos via Sunnies Face, blk Cosmetics and Valentino.
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