New Year's Eve is upon us, at least in my neck of the woods, so let's take a hypothetical look ahead to 2015 and see what may be trending. Now, I have basically no evidence to back me up on what I think will be big in the new year, but it's fun to try to guess anyway.
First, I think the '90s comeback will continue. Since 1995 was nearly as big a year culturally as '94 was, it's my theory that 2015 will see plenty of '90s nostalgia. I don't think that it will take the form of marsala-colored everything no matter how much Pantone pushes it, since brown lips were everywhere in 2014. (At least I hope not – brown lipstick is awful on me and I find the dull, wine-brown of Pantone's 2015 color of the year to be really ugly.) Rather, it's my opinion that the other huge '90s trend – frosty eye shadow – may just make its way back to the mainstream. I know pastels are a perennial spring favorite, but I have a feeling that highly shimmery versions will be all the rage (particularly in purple or pink), and we might even see plenty of white shadow* as well, or white liner. They will be updated with a more modern texture, of course…I don't think we'll see full-on '90s frost either on eyes or lips, but something a little softer that still pays homage to the decade.
(image from popsugar.com.au)
Second, I think we may see a revolution in sample distribution and how samples are packaged. Something I didn't mention in my recap of the Makeup in New York show back in September was the enormous amount of sample displays. I'd say at least 50% of the vendors there specialized solely in sample packaging and repeated the importance of samples to consumers. Sample tramp that I am, here's hoping they make samples more widely available, and not just in beauty box subscriptions. And I'm grateful to get free samples from Sephora, Nordstrom, etc., but they're limited – a lot of times a retailer will offer samples of products that I have zero interest in trying. I wouldn't mind paying a small amount for a sample of a product I really want to test drive.
Third, contouring is shaping up (haha) to be huge. This trend I actually do have some evidence for, as Sephora, Kat Von D., Becca and Laura Mercier have already announced or released contouring palettes. We're only going to see more, I think, as the year goes on.
(image from sephora.com)
Finally, something that I don't think will actually take off but desperately hope for anyway is faux piercings. I fell head over heels for the faux eyebrow rings at Rodarte's spring 2015 show (the painted-on lip rings at Dries Van Noten were fun too). If you combine these, with, say, the aforementioned frosty pastel eye shadow, I think you'll have the perfect mix of a '90s vibe and a totally modern look, something that's super girly and badass at the same time.
(image from style.com)
So that's my last post of the year! What do you think of my predictions? Any other trends you think might be huge or any you're hoping to see?
*Circa 1996 I distinctly remember wearing a super frosty white Lancome shadow with an ever so slight pearly pinkish cast called Le Blanc. I don't think they make it anymore but it was my go-to back then…sometimes I also wore a pale silver they had, Platinum. So. Much. Frost.)