The Skincare Trends to Know in 2023

Here are the trends worth keeping an eye on for a year of fresh, glowing skin. 

With so many new and unique trends showing up on a regular basis, you may want to know what trends we foresee taking hold in 2023. Whether you are looking for an environmentally friendly focus on skincare products, or want to improve the health and beauty of your skin as well as your inner soul, these are some of the best skincare trends in 2023 to watch out for. 

Sticking with Sustainable Skincare 

Many companies in the skincare industry understand that you don’t just want your skin to feel good, but you also want to feel good about the environmental choices you have made as well. In 2023, sustainable skincare will play a huge role in some of the hottest trends going around! 

Sustainable skincare focuses on a model that has the most positive impact on the environment. For example, excess packaging and the lack of recyclability has been a huge issue many companies are trying to overcome. In 2023, you’ll be seeing more and more companies reducing the amount of single-use plastics and moving towards fully recyclable and reusable materials. 

According to a public all-ages survey by McKinsey and Company in regards to sustainability, more than 66% of all respondents said when making a purchase of any products, sustainability was a large consideration factor. A second poll offered to millennial respondents found that number shot up to 75% putting environmental consciousness high on their list of concerns. 

Some excellent ways both companies and consumers can move towards sustainable skincare is through the use of reusable packaging including glass bottles, glass tubs, and reusable lotion bottles. Even if not placing the same product back into this container, you can thoroughly clean the container with a 2% bleach solution to ensure cleanliness. 

Recyclable packaging is also becoming more and more trendy as we move through 2023. Both glass and metal can be recycled just as easily as they can be reused, but some forms of plastic can be recyclable as well. When obtaining products in plastic packaging, check the bottom of the container to see if it is labeled as PETE, HDPE, or PET plastics. All of these are highly recyclable.  

Trying Out Skin Cycling 

Another common trend you’ll be seeing more of is skin cycling. This term was originally coined by New York City dermatologist Whitney Bowe MD. While the actual concept has been around for some time, the term is new and starting to gain traction throughout the skincare and beauty world. 

Skin cycling is the act of rotating your product usage across different days, with rest days falling in as well. Just like our brain needs sleep, and our body needs rest in order to perform at its best, our skin can benefit from rest days as well. Instead of applying your skincare products on a daily or twice-daily basis, consider setting aside one or two days a week as “rest days” in which no products will be applied. 

This not only helps your bare skin produce natural oils and recover from any rough exfoliation the day before, but it can also help eliminate the risk of irritation and inflammation from the repeated use of specific products. 

In order to start with a skin cycling protocol, select your favorite exfoliator, a topical retinoid, and a fragrance free cream moisturiser. Dermatologists recommend a classic skin cycling process being a four-night span. 

On the first day, use your exfoliator in the evening before you go to bed. On the second day, use your retinoid around the same time in the evening before bed. The third night will be where you add your cream moisturiser. And the fourth night will be a rest night with no products. After this, you can repeat the process or discuss with your dermatologist to set up a different cycle that works best for you. 

Embracing your Emotional Beauty 

Emotional beauty is a trendy term you will see throughout 2023. It’s no secret the previous years have been rough on the population as a whole, and we all know that anxiety, stress, and the feeling of being burnt out can be linked to how your skin looks as well as how your body feels. 

Emotional beauty focuses on your inner emotional balance and how your body’s natural regulatory system is used. For anyone that embraces total wellness both inside and out, you become more aware of how your body feels and can start to maximise your physical and emotional beauty. 

Your emotional beauty is a term that refers to how you achieve mental clarity and inner harmony between your mind and body. Whether you can embrace meditation or not, there are various ways individuals can embrace their own emotional beauty throughout the year. 

Enjoying Microbiome-Friendly Skincare 

This next trending idea involves microbiome-friendly skincare. We know this term can be very unfamiliar to most - in fact, we had to do quite a bit of research on it ourselves. Similar to your gut biome leading to intestinal health, your skin has a natural biome as well which contains helpful forms of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.  

If this biome gets misaligned, acne and other blemishes can appear on the skin. With a microbiome-friendly skincare routine, you put a focus on your skin’s natural biome in an attempt to prevent these acne breakouts and blemishes from forming. 

Some of the key terms you will hear mentioned when learning about microbiome-friendly skincare includes prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics. Each of these plays an important role in the overall health of your skin, how strong the barrier is, and how you can maintain that health over the long term. 

Prebiotics 

Prebiotics are, in simple terms, supplements for the microorganisms and helpful bacteria you want to have as part of your skin’s natural microbiome. Ingredients such as oat extract or thermal spring water are commonly known prebiotics that will stimulate the growth of natural good bacteria. 

Probiotics 

A term commonly heard with food that aids in healthy digestion, probiotics include microorganisms that you want to have on your skin and in your body. These microscopic microflora work together with other microorganisms to alter your skin’s overall microbiome for the better. 

Postbiotics 

This is the byproduct of the probiotics, and can be likened to a spice that helps turn a good soup into a great soup. These non-viable bacterial products increase the activity of microorganisms in your skin’s natural microbiome and encourage the growth of good bacteria while limiting the growth of bad bacteria. 

While they can be used separately, this trio of biotics creates a healthy space for beneficial microorganisms to grow. In short, the prebiotics can be likened to a flower bed with a perfect blend of soil and fertilizers. The probiotics would be the seeds and plants you want to grow. And the postbiotics are the end result of the nurturing. 

Relaxing Through Epigenetic Skincare 

Another term that may be confusing to many, epigenetic skincare is a term used to refer to how your DNA or genes and internal chemical factors change the health of your cells as you age. Epigenetic skincare focuses on these genes and how well they produce helpful proteins within your body. 

Epigenetics is also why we each have such unique skin, different from even our closest family members. It helps combine a myriad of different gene states, complex layers, and psychological markers to emphasize or downplay how certain factors are displayed and inherited. 

Epigenetic skin care targets key areas on your skin including moisture retention, elasticity and firmness, skin rejuvenation abilities, anti-oxidation, pigmentation factors, and more. Environmental stimuli can have just as much of an effect on your skin as genes, but external factors can also adjust how genes respond which, in turn, can create dynamic changes on your skin for better or worse.