2024’s top beauty and wellness trends to watch out for

What will the coming year bring us? Here are 2024’s top beauty and wellness trends to watch out for, as forecasted by Singapore’s leading doctors, image makers and thought leaders.

The rise of hybrid skin and make-up products

“AI-driven beauty experiences, edible skincare, and clean minimal beauty will continue their upward trajectory in 2024,” remarks Diana Ong, founder of The PR People. “2024 will also be the year for lazy girl beauty as more brands launch clean skincare with make-up or coverage properties. With international brands such Kosas and Supergoop and local brands such as IDS and Porcelain championing these multi-taskers, this trend is fuelled by a demand for that healthy, glowing second skin no-makeup make-up look, and a growing prioritisation in injecting fun and pleasure in skincare routines, as compared to too-serious, austere regimens,” says Ong.

It’s the year of NeuroGlow

“With the lull of COVID finally over, 2024 is going to be the year of healthy hustle with things ramping up in all sectors, so it’s all about efficiency and maintaining one’s best state to perform starting with preventative skincare—the highlight ingredients I’m loving more and more are retinaldehyde, mushroom extracts (especially sarcodon aspratus extract) and copper peptides,” predicts Dr Shauna Tan of The Covette Clinic.

Psychodermatology comes to the fore

“Incorporating mental hygiene, lifestyle and skin health into daily routines as we work on the gut-brain-skin axis for healthy skin from inside out,” says Dr Shauna Tan of The Covette Clinic.

“The next chapter of wellness will be mind-body beauty, where mental wellbeing and physical appearance are interconnected,” shares Skininc founder, Sabrina Tan whose SABI+ AI app has intentionally merged wellness with beauty over the past few years, launching a period tracker that correlates skin and mood with your period to “coach you to better skin and mind.”

“Wellness is a huge category in itself, and in 2024, we’re going to start seeing mental wellness play a bigger role as consumers start to prioritise its importance in every aspect of their lives. There’s no denying the mind-body connection; when you’re healthy mentally, it benefits your skin positively. Feeling good is the new looking good.”

Preventative care and rehabilitation will rise

“In 2024 we will see huge breakthroughs between the medical and fitness worlds. We are already seeing moves within the fitness industry to reflect this, and in 2024 we will see an increasing number of traditional health providers venturing into lifestyle medicine. With a focus on preventive care and rehabilitation, fitness will play a crucial component in these provider’s overall approach,” shares CEO Will Skinner of UFIT Singapore.

Bye, bye mermaid-esque locks. Hello, sleek and straight hairdos

“In 2024, we expect people to seek flatter and straighter looks rather than voluminous and wavy hairstyles. Having voluminous hairstyles was the preceding trend that we saw people slowly moving away from in 2023. We expect a final shift towards flatter styles being seen as younger and trendier,” explain Jun Park and Jacob Kim, director’s of Jo:Hwa Hair & Living.

We’ll want more customised wellness experiences

Kathy Gabriel, co-founder of Soma Haus shares: “Peoples’ understanding of wellness is moving beyond rituals of bubble baths, herbal teas and fitness workouts.

“At Soma Haus, we have seen more consumers who are emotionally literate, body-aware and seeking out bespoke offerings and customised programs such as Nervous System Assessments & Consultation and Guided Sweat & Freeze Programming which allows them to have the impact they desire and more.”

Hair and nail looks will get softer

The Viva Group’s CEO and founder, Vivian Twiss. “The Viva team is starting to see a big demand for voluminous, face-framing hair and intricate layered cuts. The emphasis on rounded “U” shapes and seamless colour blends through air balayages aligns with the current demand for natural-looking yet sophisticated styles.

“Similarly,” Twiss adds, “the shift in nail trends towards delicate pastels with super-thin chrome coatings, along with rich cherry colours paired with liquorice coatings and soft almond shapes, reflects a preference for chic and classic nail aesthetics.”