Sixteen years is a long time to be paying attention to anything. In beauty, it means I’ve watched trends arrive with enormous fanfare and quietly disappear, seen the industry shift in ways nobody predicted, and learned a few things that I wish someone had told me at the beginning.
Here’s what actually stays with me.
People are finally taking their skin seriously…and it’s a beautiful thing.
When I started, the conversation was almost entirely about makeup. What you put on your face, not what you were working with underneath. That has genuinely changed. People are investing in their skin now…understanding ingredients, building routines, asking better questions. And I think it’s one of the best shifts I’ve witnessed.
Because here’s the thing: good skin is the foundation for great makeup. Always has been. When your skin is healthy and well looked after, everything you apply on top of it just works better. Makeup sits differently, lasts longer, looks more like you. Skincare isn’t the competition to makeup…it’s what makes makeup better.
The minimalist approach changed everything
If you’d told me sixteen years ago that “your skin but better” would become the most aspirational makeup look, I might not have believed you. We were in a very different era…full coverage, heavy contouring, more was more 😀 . Watching the industry move toward celebrating skin texture, natural finish, and a lighter hand has been one of the more genuinely exciting evolutions I’ve seen. It’s not just a trend. It reflects a real shift in how people want to look and feel.
Trends come and go. Some faster than you’d expect.
I’ve watched so many trends explode and then quietly disappear that I’ve stopped being surprised by any of it. Overlining the lips is a good example. It was everywhere for a while, a whole technique built around it. And then one day the tide shifted and suddenly the goal was the opposite. That’s beauty. That’s always been beauty.
The lesson I’ve taken from watching trend after trend cycle through is this: build your foundation on what works for you and let the trends be the fun part. The things that genuinely suit you will outlast whatever is having a moment right now.
Sixteen years in and I’m still learning. But those three things…I would have found my way a lot faster if I had known them sooner.
Hugs and Kisses,
Msglam
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