The Boots Beauty Trends Report for 2022 has landed, revealing this year’s top six big beauty trends as predicted by Boots in-house experts using the latest market research and insider knowledge. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be unpacking each of the trends in turn to give the full lowdown on what’s new, what’s top of the agenda for beauty-lovers, and what products and deals are available at Boots to help customers stay on-trend.
Trend one: Skin-centred
When it comes to looking after our most precious canvas, skin health is the way forward, with customers preferring to research their own skin type and its individual needs.
The unprecedented access to information about skincare ingredients has turned us all into skin-tellectuals in recent years. But as our knowledge evolved, so have our requirements. The Future Laboratory has tipped 2022 to be the year of the expert.¹ Researching and understanding our skin type and its individual needs is increasingly taking precedence over brushing up on so called ‘miracle cures’.
We’re helped with this by a welcome democratisation of skincare expertise. On Instagram and TikTok, skincare scientists and dermatologists are packing their feeds with the kind of knowledge once only gleaned from a private consultation.
68m views of TikTok hashtag #DermTok² don’t lie: science-based and doctor-led skincare knowledge is a big trend. This thirst for skincare expertise and techniques has driven an increase in sales of facial skincare tools at Boots. In the last 12 months, Boots has introduced even more lines to meet the demand, with year-on-year sales of facial tools increasing by 1,531%.³
With the increase in skincare knowledge comes a focus on skin health, not just skincare, as the way to great skin for life. A healing, nurturing philosophy is taking over with products that seek to care and preserve the skin, such as brand-new barrier-boosting brand Byoma growing in popularity.
Ingredients are still important, but the ones to drop into the conversation are now slow-but steady ceramides, niacinamide, lipids and peptides (on boots.com, searches for ‘ceramides’ are up 54% and ‘peptides’ are up 66% over the last 3 months).4 Meanwhile barrier repair and preserving the skin microbiome are officially a priority.
And it needn’t cost the earth. Best-selling Facial Skincare brands with the biggest growth in sales at Boots this year are science-based brands The Inkey List (up 96%), CeraVe (up 54%) and La Roche Posay (up 49%).5 Which explains why the Expert Skincare category at Boots is outgrowing other facial skincare, with a 41% increase in sales year-on-year.6
Introducing: No7 Pro Derm Scan
In response to the demand for a more in-depth understanding of our skin, the UK’s number one skincare brand7 No7 is launching Pro Derm Scan,a game-changing new diagnostic service that will give customers the ultimate in personalised,accessible skincare and cosmetic recommendations for free.
Pro Derm Scan will launch exclusively in Boots stores nationwide and uses a hand held diagnostic device to analyse both skin condition and skin tone.
This technology, combined with the expertise of the No7 Beauty Advisors, is the first and only service of its kind to be available nationwide, providing free skincare analysis for Boots customers with a dermatologist-grade device. This will enable UK shoppers to make informed decisions about their skincare regime, giving them the confidence that they are purchasing products that are tailored to their specific needs and concerns.
Expert View – Kirandeep Sandhu, No7 Global Skincare Innovation Manager
“No7’s Pro Derm Scan service is a game-changer, bringing skin analysis technology with a human touch to the high street. Through a personalised consultation with our No7 Beauty Advisors, No7 consumers will be able to see their skin like never before, understand how their skin is performing and receive expert advice on the right skincare and cosmetics products and regimes for their skin.
“We are delivering a significant step-change in consumers’ experience of skin diagnostics and their understanding of their own skin, by continuing to bring even more personalised services to consumers, underpinned by our scientific credibility and skin expertise.”
1 Taken from the LSN The:Future:Laboratory Future Forecast 2022 Report.
² Source: Tiktok, 2022
³ based on Boots revenue data: Jan 1 2020 - Jan 1 2021 vs Jan 1 2021 – Jan 1 2022
4 Based on boots.com search data 17 Sept 2021 - 16 Dec 2021 vs 17 Dec 2021 - 17 March 2022
5 Based on Boots revenue data 1 Sept 2020 - 28 Feb 2021 vs 1 Sept 2021 - 28 Feb 2022
6 Based on Boots revenue data 1 Sept 2020 - 28 Feb 2021 vs 1 Sept 2021 - 28 Feb 2022.
7 Source: Kantar Total Market | 52 w/e 26th December 2021 | Boots No.7 Value Share of Mass Female/Unisex Skincare