As far as skin-care trends go, 2021 was all about "skinimalism" [1] — as in, natural, minimal, or no-makeup beauty looks — but this year is shaping up to be all about "status" skin. Over the last two years, there's been a big shift from makeup-first to more skin-care-focussed trends, and "status" skin is a part of that. It's one of Net-A-Porter's top trend predictions of the year, and it puts a focus on self-care as it relates to skin care.

What is status skin, exactly? It involves using fewer, more strategic products to achieve healthy skin [2]. It's less about perfecting and more about pampering; enhancing rather than concealing. The pandemic has taught many people about the importance of putting themselves first and treating their skin in a similar fashion. As a whole, we're spending more time on the act of taking care of our skin — be it through science-backed ingredients [3] or high-tech beauty gadgets [4] — than we are trying to make it "flawless."

"With customers taking consistent and dedicated care of their faces, they've reaped the rewards and seen huge improvements," Newby Hands, Net-A-Porter's global beauty director, says in a press release. It's all about investing in yourself.

According to the beauty retailer, they've seen an overall increase in demand specifically for beauty tools and devices over the last year — and that's especially true for Gen Z shoppers. That interest is visible in the latest TikTok trends and even the entertainment space with shows like "Euphoria." [5]

The trend is in keeping with the spike in curiosity surrounding additional areas of the skin-care industry like plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures [6]. Consumers are showing an interest in things that were once reserved for later in life with a goal of prevention in mind rather than correction.

Make no mistake: "status" skin isn't about shelling out a ton of money to get better-looking skin. Instead, it's about investing time in your self — whether you're using a NASA-backed beauty gadget to deliver concentrated ingredients to your epidermis via the Droplette or tapping into traditional Chinese medicine [7].