The beauty trends we'll love in 2024

What does the future of make-up, hair, nails and skincare look like? In 2024, we will continue to have a penchant for hyper-feminine aesthetics, ombré lips and the colour red, but we will also have new beauty obsessions. We will discover the potential of blue tones and experiment with peach fuzz, even choosing it as a colour for blush on the cheeks. We will explore the opposite sides of our character, sometimes embracing the girlhood core, sometimes the witchy beauty. We will learn to streamline our skincare routine and prioritise natural treatments and ingredients for the products we use. Maybe we'll swap our beloved bob for a more sensual, pared-down cut and adorn our nails with bows.

Here are the beauty trends we'll love in 2024.

Makeup:

A kind of blue

The standout color for makeup in 2024? Blue, in all its shades: dark blue, electric, sky blue, turquoise, azure, denim, cobalt, and, above all, aquamarine, perfect for the mermaid beauty trend inspired by the underwater world and the mythological figure of mermaids. It materializes with a wet look, sleek hair with an almost vinyl effect. If the maritime mood isn't for us, we can look to the past in the '60s or draw inspiration from film icons like Christina Ricci in Buffalo '66 or Anna Karina in Une Femme est une femme. Pair your favorite shade of blue eyeshadow with red lipstick or a palette of shimmer powders that add light and luminosity to the eyes.

Girlhood core

The coquette and hyper-feminine aesthetic will continue to mark makeup in the new year, blending sensuality and innocence with the skillful use of powders and lipsticks. Embrace all shades of pink, including the color of 2024, Peach Fuzz, for blushed cheeks with blush, lip gloss for a kissable pout, mascara, and eyeliner for a doe-eyed look that's irresistible. To complete the look, add a cascade of romantic bows.

A pop of red

The red wine makeup was one of the last trends that took over in 2023, garnering millions of views. It's just a taste of what will happen in the new year. Like fashion, the beauty world is falling in love with red in all its shades, not just for lips. Looks are becoming bolder, with cherry, crimson, burgundy, and purple tinting eyelids and cheeks for a guaranteed wow effect. Among the celebrities who have already embraced red makeup are Kylie Jenner, Kristen Stewart, Emily Ratajkowski, and Dove Cameron.

Ombré Lips

Ombré lips are a coloring technique inspired by the '20s, when women shaded their lips with black for a pronounced and sensual effect. In the combo of black and red, they've been renamed vampy lips, alluding not so much to creatures of the night but rather to the charm and charisma of Golden Age cinema divas. Equally popular in 2024 is the '90s version that favors nude and brown tones, loved by Kim Kardashian and Shay Mitchell. How to achieve them? The makeup relies on two colors applied to the lips creating plays of light and volume. First, apply a small amount of foundation and a veil of powder to the lips. Then, outline the lips with the dark pencil, blending it slightly inside the lip and especially, don't forget to fill in the corners at the lip edges. Finally, apply the chosen lipstick to the center of the lips.

Witchy Beauty 

Dior, Junya Watanabe, Jason Wu, Burberry, and many other brands have proposed witch-inspired makeup for the SS24 runway shows, anticipating a passion for gothic makeup that will last throughout the year. Dare with black lipsticks, pale complexions, graphic eyeliners, and smokey eyes ranging from black to purple and red shades. The boldest will find inspiration in old movies of the genre, as well as among images of New Romantics and the dark '80s.

Flushed Blush

For a few years now, blush has gained increasing importance in our makeup bags and shows no signs of yielding its role as the protagonist to lipsticks and eyeshadows even in the coming months. Learning how to achieve the beloved blushed cheeks effect, loved by Hailey Bieber and makeup artist Patrick Ta, will be one of the beauty resolutions for 2024. The benefits include not only a healthier appearance and perpetually sun-kissed look but, according to Ta, who calls it doll blush, "a youthful look that adds definition to the face thanks to how the blush sculpts the cheekbones." For a natural effect, using tints like Benefit Cosmetics Benetint Liquid Lip Blush or Orgasm Liquid Lip Blush by NARS Cosmetics may be enough, but to add drama, depth, and saturation, it's better to layer with cream blush formulas. How to apply? Generously on the entire cheek, like blush in '80s makeup.

Skincare:

Skinmalism

Get ready to say goodbye to multi-step skincare routines, such as slugging that floods the skin with occlusive balms and layers heavy active ingredients like retinoids and exfoliating acids, risking redness and irritation. According to experts, it's time to find a limited number of key products that work for us and stick to them for easy skin care. The secret to healthy and supple looking skin is to restoreor maintain the function of the skin barrier. A basic three-step skincare regime is all you need: Cleansing, a concentrated serum, e.g. with vitamin C, niacinamide or retinol, and a moisturiser with SPF. The key word for 2024 is skinmalism, less is more.

All natural

The skincare mission for the new year is healthy, radiant skin, achieved with natural ingredients and treatments. Dermal fillers and synthetic ingredients will be a thing of the past. Instead, according to industry experts, we will be booking more and more outpatient treatments such as microneedling, light therapy and lasers, which effectively rejuvenate the skin and increase its ability to deal with a range of issues such as ageing and inflammation. Ingredients such as proteins, peptides, amino acids, lipids and exosomes, a secretion derived from stem cells designed to signal to skin cells when to communicate, regenerate and repair, are also becoming increasingly popular. We will also hear a lot about ectoine, an amino acid found in or derived from various types of bacteria, which combines the moisturising properties of hyaluronic acid and the skin barrier strengthening effects of niacinamide by binding water molecules and forming a protective shield.

Hair:

Kitty Cut

The cut that is set to become the must-have of 2024 is called the kitty cut. It is a reinterpretation of classic animal cuts, from the wolf cut to the butterfly cut, which gives the hair movement and a sensual, "feline" look thanks to subtle and sophisticated scaling. The scales gently frame the face, while the ideal length is between the shoulders and collarbone, making it extremely versatile. It works well with fringes, but also with a side quiff, as long as the shorter strands reach the cheekbones and the longer strands reach the jawline.

Face framing layers

Remember the side-swept quiffs and scales that framed celebrities' faces in the 1990s and early 2000s? Get ready for a comeback, but in a layered version where varying lengths adding three-dimensionality and movement. The first to embrace the trend was Beyoncé, who closed out 2023 with a new icy blonde colour and a long, straight hairstyle with face-framing layers.

Nails:

Soap nails

Soap nails take the minimalism and clean, sleek design of manicures to a new level, making hands look like they've just emerged from the lather after a long, relaxing bath. But how do you achieve the equivalent of no-make-up nails? Step one: Cleanse. We remove all previous nail polish residue, polish the nails until they shine and carefully trim the rough cuticles. Now file them down so that they are symmetrical. Finally, give them a shine with a clear ultra-shine polish and a top coat, which can be pink or milky. To achieve the best effect, the hands also need to look manicured. That's why you should exfoliate them with a sugar scrub and then treat them with a moisturising cream or mask.

Ribbons and bows

The coquette aesthetic permeates every aspect of our appearance. Ribbons and bows will not only continue to adorn our clothes, hair and even make-up, but will also make our nails pretty. Those who dare go for a 3D effect by applying real bows over their favourite nail polish, others simply paint them on their nails.