A Look Back at 2022's Biggest Beauty Moments

On June 24, the Supreme Court rescinded Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 vote. Leading up to the decision, many beauty brands banded together with Don't Ban Equality, the largest network of businesses supporting reproductive rights, to support access to abortion as a fundamental healthcare right. Sixty-three beauty companies — ranging from big legacy brands like Benefit Cosmetics and Anastasia Beverly Hills to celebrity-owned entities like Pattern Beauty and Fenty Skin — joined together to donate funds and make a difference.

Over the last year, there's been a noticeable shift in the beauty industry. Minimalist beauty trends have crept their way into every category — from hair, nails, skin, and makeup to even cosmetic and plastic surgeries — replacing the over-the-top, super-in-depth practices that we might have sworn by for the last few decades. Celebrities and fans of the "clean girl" aesthetic on TikTok have been the biggest supporters of this evolution. Some of the reigning minimal beauty trends include milk-bath nails, slicked-back buns, and the supermodel lip — and that's only the beginning.

Celebrities launching their own beauty brands has been a trend for the majority of the 2020s, but in 2022, more unassuming famous men joined the party. Brad Pitt launched Le Domaine, Jared Leto founded Twentynine Palms, Travis Barker launched Barker Wellness, and we also saw Michael Strahan Daily Defense, and that's not even an exhaustive list. This isn't just a fad: by 2029, it's predicted that the global market for men's skin care will reach $28.3 billion. So you could say these celebrities are getting in on the movement early.

Behind every trend, there are naysayers; however, the top hair trends of 2022 were especially divisive. The jellyfish haircut, wolf cut, and octopus layers are a few of the year's biggest standouts, but they flourished among people looking for a big, brazen change in 2022.

If there's one app that has allowed beauty trends to take off unlike ever before, it's TikTok. We've seen the biggest return of influencer and creator-driven looks and hacks since YouTube's heyday in the 2010s. From viral products to heatless hair hacks and makeup tricks that level up your look, BeautyTok thrived in 2022. But not all of it was good. A handful of questionable trends, like teeth filing and blood face masks, also took off without expert approval, shedding light on the dangers of such a fast-moving platform.

Perhaps the biggest overarching trend of the year was the viral sensation that is glazed-doughnut nails. Created by Hailey Bieber and her manicurist Zola Ganzorigt, glazed-doughnut nails rocketed to fame after the 2022 Met Gala, but the trend didn't end there. The ultra-shiny, highly reflective finish extended past our fingertips to glazed hair and glazed skin.