One of the best things about skincare — if we have to choose, obviously — is that there’s always room for innovation. Whether it’s a sleeping mask or a highlighting serum, you can always count on a new, exciting formula to add to your Skincare Wardrobe and impart healthy, radiant skin. And 2021 will be no exception. Based on what we’re seeing and learning, we’re calling out some of the biggest trends to keep an eye out for in the new year. Here, exactly what to watch.

The Hot Topic: Skin Immunity

Fun fact: Did you know that your skin plays a huge role in your body’s immune system? It’s not all that surprising, seeing as your skin barrier is the first line of defense against environmental aggressors, microbes, and other potential invaders alike. So, bolstering your skin immunity is essential for keeping your skin healthy.

One easy way to do that is by supporting that skin barrier. Ceramides (which are naturally found in the moisture barrier) will become a headliner for their ability to fortify and replenish the skin barrier. Same goes for gentle exfoliation. On our end, we always balance out chemical exfoliants, such as polyhydroxy and beta hydroxy acids, with ample hydration to ensure you’re getting benefits without damage. (Case in point: Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner.) You can continue to count on that in our formulas.

The Star Ingredient: Niacinamide
Niacinamide is on the rise as an active ingredient to watch, and for good reason: It addresses all kinds of skin inflammation (think redness and breakouts), plays well with other actives, is safe for sensitive skin, and is generally an easy ingredient to use and incorporate into your routine. While you could find it in the Avocado Melt Retinol Eye Sleeping Mask, it’s also the headliner in the Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops Serum, a highlighter serum that harnesses its brightening power to boost radiance and leave skin with a dewy (never greasy) sheen.

The Next-Gen Formulas: Skincare-makeup hybrids

We already got a headstart on this category with our tinted lip balm and new highlighting serum, and it’s just the beginning. As skincare takes over the beauty scene, expect to see more skincare products with makeup benefits — or, of course, makeup products created with only skincare ingredients. The major advantage here is that, like Dew Drops, these hybrids may offer both immediate and long-term benefits.

The New Frontier: Skin-ification of Body

Next year, you may see the skin-ification of bodycare — or, the rise of the same high-quality active ingredients common in skincare for your face now being used to treat the skin on your body. Who says your arms and legs don’t deserve the same TLC as your face? (Hint: They definitely do.) Watch out for alpha hydroxy acids in your body products for gentle exfoliation, or heavyweight ingredients like hyaluronic acid to soothe and moisturize.

The Realistic Goal: Healthy Skin Texture

The idea of super-smooth, so-called “flawless” skin is so 2020. These days, the idea of skin texture as being normal and healthy is finally at the forefront, because it’s a) actually attainable, and b) part of life. (That’s why we show the skin texture without any retouching in our visuals. It’s real life!) Breakouts, and the requisite acne scars, happen. So do pores, which, P.S., are essential for releasing both sebum (nature’s moisturizer) and sweat. All of this contributes to your skin’s texture. Consider embracing it, and working with your skin — be it with retinol, like our Avocado Melt Retinol Sleeping Mask, or gentle exfoliating acids — to smooth and soften without erasing your skin texture.

The Way to Shop: Ingredient Lists

One of the fastest ways to know what’s in your formula (and what’s not) is to check your ingredient list. That’s not going to change in 2021. But as you’re doing a close read, don’t forget to consider the overall formula. “The context of the entire formula should be considered,” says cosmetic chemist Al-Nisa Ward. “People should look at the ingredient label as it relates to the product.”

Translation: A high concentration of a particular active doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more effective. Any active ingredient has to be balanced within the formula, which is why you should have a holistic approach when shopping for skincare — taking reviews, clinical studies or trials, and the application and texture (when possible) into consideration.

Plus, ingredient order is not the end all, be all. If you notice that glycolic acid is one the last ingredients, you might think that you’re not getting much exfoliation from it. But that’s not exactly the case. “Ingredient labels are structured from greatest to least, up to one percent. After the one-percent level, ingredients may be listed in random order,” Ward explains. “[However,] many actives are effective at levels below 1%.” Clearly, a single ingredient (and where it lands on the list) doesn’t tell the whole story, so again, a nuanced approach is key.

The Stubborn Side Effect: Maskne

Even with progress in the works, masks won’t be going away anytime soon — and therefore, neither will maskne. While the acne portion of maskne can be addressed with a combo of gentle exfoliants and retinol (as we explored in our blog post dedicated to the topic), we’ll see that taken to the next level in the coming year with ingredients and hacks that target red, irritated, or generally inflamed skin. To tackle redness, there’ll be an uptick in soothing ingredients like allantoin, cica, and ginger, which can help heal skin damaged or compromised by masks.

The Smart Routine: Developing your skin intuition

It can be all too easy to stick with one unchanging skincare routine, waking up each morning to cleanse the same way, use the same old serum, and applying the usual moisturizer without seeing or even expecting any improvements in your skin. But that’s doing you a disservice! That’s why our skincare philosophy entails listening to your skin, assessing how it feels and looks in order to determine what your skin needs that day — so, Take It Day by Day, Skin by Skin™. That’ll help you build your Skincare Wardrobe, too, ensuring you have everything on hand to start your New Year with a glow.