From the Perspective of a TrendScout: 5 Trends From Cosmoprof North America 2015

Last month, I was honored to be invited as an Official Trendscout at Cosmoprof North America (the largest professional beauty show in the country) along with four other fabulous beauty influencers (Pictured clockwise from top left: Stacy Cox, Jennifer Chan, Andrea Arterbery & not pictured Susan Yara.) The five of us were hand selected as beauty trendscouts to walk the floors of this prestigious show in search of new, exciting, different, unique and eye-catching products, brands and trends that caught our professional and discerning eye for beauty. Needless to say, it was an action packed non-stop three days of scouring the show floor in search of exciting new beauty trends/brands to share via social media, with show attendees and all of you. And it was even more fun covering it with my favorite beauty partner in crime Stacy Cox!

Following are 5 trends that I uncovered during CPNA and am excited to share with you:

1) Amped Up Sheet Masks – I am sure many of you have seen single use face sheet masks (which originated in Asia) becoming more and more prevalent on the beauty landscape over the last few years. It seems as though almost every major beauty brand has come out with their own version of this affordable spa-like facial treatment. However, while walking the floors of CPNA, I spied many sheet masks on display with one common difference from the first generation ones, these new masks are enhanced and amped-up in some way when compared to their earlier counterparts.

Some of these new school face masks have fun and whimsical designs like a masquerade ball mask or animal prints; others have rejuvenating ingredients that activate upon contact with your skin like charcoal or oxygen, and my personal fav Dermovia Lace Your Face Mask which features LaceTex gauze compression technology which administers a comfortable pressure to your face and facilitates the absorption of clinical-grade anti-aging ingredients which deliver a noticeable firming and lift. Obsessed!

2) An Increase in At-Home Anti-Aging Devices – Over the last several years, I have noticed an increase in at-home skincare devices being made available to the general market, in an effort to make typically costly spa/med spa/doctors office treatments more affordable and accessible to consumers. This trend was equally noticeable at CPNA this year too, with a significant number of brands offering devices that utilize light therapy, LED and lasers to stimulate skin rejuvenation, healing, acne treatment and hair growth. My fav discovery in this mix was LightStim (a top 5 winner in the Beauty Pitch competition with Mark Cuban), a SoCal company that designs and locally manufactures their hand held LED devices to treat wrinkles, acne and pain. I’ve been testing out their device that treats pain/heals inflammation and I’m LOVING it! It’s totally helping the arthritis in my hands.

3) Men’s Grooming Products are on the Rise – Everywhere that I turn lately, I am seeing beauty brands focusing on and coming out with products designed to appeal to men. This trend is super hot right now and brands seem to be creating lots of grooming products that appeal to men’s tastes and masculine desires. I’m talking about darker heartier packaging, multi-use products and products with more manly fragrances. This year more than ever, I noticed many more men’s grooming products have a presence at CPNA, and 1821 Man Made (also a top five finalist in Beauty Pitch) was the cream of the crop. This brand has nailed it with their meticulously crafted premium grooming provisions which feature the essences of tobacco and vanilla and packaging that looks and feels like an old fashion bottle of booze. Sultry, sexy and fab!

4) Hair Styling Products That Can Be Used As . . . This was the most unexpected trend that I uncovered at Cosmoprof this year, several haircare brands that I met with kept making a point of telling me that their styling and treatment products have uses beyond the hair like being a hand or body moisturizer, a shaving cream, or a cuticle treatment. My favorite more than just haircare products were from Obliphica Professional. I’m obsessed with their Seaberry Moisture & Styling Creams because they smell ah-mazing, absorb instantly, and not only does it smooth and hydrate my parched hair (thanks to healing Sea berry Oil), they also keep my hands and feet supple and yummy smelling. And having a hunky celeb stylist Brand Ambassador like Sacha Quarles makes me adore them even more 😉

5) Kitschy Packaging Straight Out of Korea – Last but certainly not least, is a noteworthy new trend from beauty country pioneering Korea, with their cute attention-grabbing packaging. Not only are these new style packages fun, whimsical and super noticeable on a store self, but they contain yummy smelling active ingredients too. I noticed many fun and colorful product packages as I walked the floor, but Tony Moly took the cake. Beyond adorable, collectible packaging and products that smell so good you almost want to eat them, their banana hand cream and sleeping mask have stolen my heart. Banana cream pie anyone? Deelish, calorie-free and sensory heaven!

Disclosure: I was given samples of some of the products mentioned above during CPNA for editorial consideration, however all opinions and trend insights are my own.