In a 12 months stuffed with myriad launches, these were the standouts  when it comes to innovation, imagination — and, after all, sales.

Product of the Yr 

Hair: K18 Biomimetic Hairscience

Mix beauty’s buzziest driver — biotech — with the industry’s social media sensation, TikTok, and the outcomes are stratospheric. Such is the trajectory of K18 Biomimetic Hairscience, created by industry veterans Britta Cox and Suveen Sahib. To develop the product, the team mapped the keratin genome, “to determine the sequence which might actually repair the polypeptide chains within the hair,” Sahib told Beauty Inc, explaining that unlike bond-building technology, K18 works on the keratin chains of hair’s structure to “actually reconnect polypeptide chains.” While the science is complex, consumers definitely understood the outcomes after they used the product, snapping up bottles despite the lofty price of $29 for a .50-ounce bottle; sales for 2022 are projected to top $100 million. Numbers like which have prompted inevitable comparisons with Olaplex, one other disruptive player within the hair space. And though they’re competitors, Sahib doesn’t mind. “They’re those who built the bond-building category, it didn’t exist before that,” he said. “To us, it’s about creating synthetic biology as the following category — we see this impact in hair, skincare, cosmetics, all the pieces.” 

Makeup: Nars Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation 

The skinification of makeup was one in all the highest trends of 2022, and Nars Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation nailed it. The medium-coverage foundation, which launched in 36 shades, claims to even skin tone over time and defend against environmental aggressors and blue light. Introduced in February, the product also represents the larger ambitions of parent company Shiseido to be the leading skin beauty company on this planet. Light Reflecting Foundation was born from insights the team gleaned globally and formulated as a collaboration between Shiseido’s Global Innovation Center in Yokohama, Japan, and the Americas Innovation Center within the U.S. The strategy was a winner: Nars Light Reflecting Foundation is the largest launch within the history of the brand, with sales said to be double the initial forecast. 

Skin Care: Trinny London Skin Care 

Trinny Woodall’s claim to fame could also be as the final word fashion whisperer, but in relation to beauty, she’s proven herself to be a natural. Her eponymous brand, launched in 2017, has been a world sensation, with sales said to exceed 45 million kilos and the corporate achieving profitability in late 2020, due to a community-based, digital-first approach that appeals to everyone whether 18 or 80. In February, Woodall leveraged the acceleration of her brand by launching skincare, starting with cleansers and quickly expanding right into a full range of ingredient-packed serums, moisturizers and exfoliants. Coupled with an expanded distribution strategy that included pop-ups in Australia, the U.K. and Canada, in addition to a launch at Saks Fifth Avenue in Recent York, the brands looks set to wash up this 12 months, with sales expected to shut to 100 million kilos. 

Fragrance: Dries Van Noten Eaux de Parfum

Dries Van Noten is understood for his use of prints, colours, original fabrics and layering in his ready-to-wear, and when it got here time to create his debut fragrance collection, the Belgian designer followed an analogous path. The family of 10 fragrances, which Van Noten concepted together with his parent company Puig, are a riot of colours, scents and textures. “For me, something perfectly beautiful is boring,” Van Noten said at launch. An avid gardener who said he likes to take risks in his plantings, Van Noten aspired to create unusual and unexpected olfactive combos, as with Voodoo Chile, which has notes of rosemary and patchouli, or Soie Malaquais, with chestnut and vanilla notes. All the scents contain no less than 85 percent natural ingredients, and the apothecary-like bottles, each with a novel design, are product of responsibly sourced, recyclable materials. In a incredible 12 months for fragrance overall, Les Eaux stood out for bringing a latest level of originality to the designer market.