2017's Biggest Moments In Beauty

2017 has proved an exciting and eventful year for beauty, for fans and industry players alike.

It was the year we embraced vegan products, weighed up the benefits of both synthetic and natural ingredients, and reached for the scissors to crop our hair. Blonde in all its shades – from cream soda to champagne – reigned supreme, as did sparkly, shimmery makeup.

We’ve had long-anticipated UK launches, bricks-and-mortar store openings, and landmark government bans, but while there’s been more diversity in campaigns and makeup ranges, the media has at times struggled to keep up, being called out for conspicuously altering images of women’s natural beauty.

This year was a thrilling one for all things skincare, makeup and hair – let's hope 2018 brings more diversity and representation, more creative techniques, and more innovative launches.

Click through to see our beauty highlights of the year.

**The Government Banned Microbeads**
In a landmark ruling that signalled a huge step forward for the industry, the government announced in July that it was banning microbeads, with effect from early 2018.
Following calls from environmentalists for the tiny manmade exfoliants to be banished from our daily-use products – think toothpaste, face scrub, and body wash – Michael Gove announced the ban in his first speech as Environment Secretary.
The ban is only relevant to wash-off products, as they have a direct correlation to what's found in the world's oceans, with 300 billion pieces in the Arctic Ocean alone.
While we have a mammoth task ahead of us in tackling the world's plastic pollution – 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced since 1950 – nationwide changes like this can make a real difference.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.

**Glossier's Triple Threat**
In October, after years of anticipation from British fans, New York-based beauty brand Glossier launched in the UK. Having hosted a fleeting pop-up in London in July, the brand announced international shipping to the UK, meaning beauty fans could try every product we'd seen on our Instagram feeds.
The brainchild of Into The Gloss 's Emily Weiss, the simplicity of the products – the motto is skin first, makeup second – and the millennial pink packaging has garnered a cult following. To add to the excitement, the brand announced another London pop-up soon after, giving fans a chance to try out the products for themselves, from the skin-saving Milky Jelly Cleanser to the brow-defining Boy Brow.
On top of this, Glossier launched its first fragrance, You, soon after. "The ultimate personal fragrance", it's designed to enhance your own natural smell, much like the makeup aims to highlight your natural beauty. 2017 truly was Glossier's year.

**Enter Fenty Beauty**
The same month, after three years of anticipation, Rihanna's Fenty Beauty finally launched. Available exclusively in Harvey Nichols in the UK (and Sephora in the US), fans queued for hours to get their hands on the star's makeup.
With a campaign that showed some of the most exciting and diverse faces, from Duckie Thot to Slick Woods via Leomie Anderson and Halima Aden, Fenty's tagline is "The New Generation of Beauty".
The campaign reflected the makeup's inclusivity, with 40 foundation shades sending customers wild – YouTube reviews proved that Rihanna had created products suitable for albino skin and very dark tones, plus every shade in between. Competitor brands then fell over themselves to boast their (not quite as wide) shade offering.
Since the initial drop, Rihanna's released the Holiday Galaxy collection, full of shimmer and shine, and the Stunna Lip Paint, a universally flattering red liquid lipstick. All hail Fenty.
Courtesy of Fenty Beauty.

**Bleach London Launched Makeup**
Colour pioneers and the salon responsible for making us all experiment with sea greens, fiery reds and acid yellows, Bleach London expanded their signature hues into makeup in July.
The Dalston-based salon, headed up by Sam Campbell and hairstylist Alex Brownsell, launched the line with an in-store glitter press, encouraging customers to mix and match their favourite shades of iridescent, pearly and holographic sparkle to create gel eyeshadow palettes.
The brand's waste-not attitude (all products are vegan, too) led to their genius customisation palette, which allows you to buy individual colours and collect them in a magnetic box.
From pigmented eyeshadow to liquid lipstick that matches their Super Cool Hair Colours, Bleach London's makeup offering was a fun and creative breath of fresh air this summer.
Courtesy of Bleach London.

**ASOS Launched Its Own Beauty Brand**
Having played host to some of the biggest beauty brands for some time, it made complete sense for the e-tailer to expand its own brand to makeup, which launched in September.
With 46 shades of vibrant matte lipsticks, contouring palettes, iridescent eyeshadows and highlighting chubby sticks, the packaging was as Instagrammable as you'd expect.
According to ASOS, the collection, named to reflect certain moods ('Uncompromising', 'Overqualified'), "is about embracing and expressing the full range of who you are" and empowering "twentysomethings to confidently be themselves, however they choose to do so. We believe your face and body are a canvas, an adventure in individual self-expression, an opportunity to experiment and play."
The real highlight, though? Alongside the launch came a campaign to rebrand the site's beauty department, Face and Body. Featuring women of colour, plus-sized women, men, and gender non-conforming people, the ads showed what real inclusivity in beauty looks like.
Courtesy of Asos.

**Gigi Collaborated With Maybelline**
Creating her first ever makeup line, Gigi Hadid collaborated with Maybelline, channelling her international lifestyle into three drops: East Coast Glam, West Coast Glow, and Jetsetter.
The East Coast collection gave us everything we need to emulate the glamour of New York, with a smoky eye palette, eyeliner pen and three sultry lip colours. The West Coast look was all about a downtown LA vibe, with strobe highlighters, siren-red lipsticks, and a contour palette.
Finally, the Jetsetter offering was an all-in-one kit for those on-the-go, reflecting Gigi's own global lifestyle. The line was a near-immediate sellout. Will the model develop more makeup next year? Watch this space...
Courtesy of Maybelline.

**Munroe Bergdorf's Triumphant Return After Being Dropped By L'Oréal**
We were thrilled when L'Oréal announced its landmark partnership with trans model Munroe Bergdorf. Just days later, however, the brand came under fire for parting ways with Bergdorf following a Facebook post she wrote calling out white supremacy and systemic racism.
Twitter rushed to defend Bergdorf and question L'Oréal's authenticity and ideas surrounding representation. Bergdorf also received death threats and violent messages during the furore.
The model came back triumphantly, though, fronting makeup brand (and longtime collaborator of Bergdorf) Illamasqua's Christmas campaign. Full of colour, creativity and individuality, the campaign, 'MERR Y X MAS: Celebrate Without Chromosomes' was a breath of fresh air.
Courtesy of Illamasqua.

**Pat McGrath Labs Finally Reached The UK**
In the same week she announced she was joining Edward Enninful's line-up at British *Vogue* , industry giant Pat McGrath revealed that her innovative makeup brand, Pat McGrath Labs, was launching globally on Net-A-Porter.
Having been the creative vision behind the cosmetic launches of brands like Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, it was only a matter of time before McGrath brought her experience, spanning two decades, to her own line.
From Metalmorphosis 005, a Midas-touch eye colour, to Dark Star 006, an '80s-inspired kit of electric shades, everything from Pat McGrath Labs has been a near-instant sellout.
It's been a great year all-round for the legendary makeup artist, who most recently was awarded the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at the Fashion Awards. Here's to an equally game-changing 2018, Pat.

**The Legendary Sam McKnight Launched Haircare**
Debuting back in February at Halpern's LFW show, Sam McKnight launched his eagerly awaited haircare line to the masses in June, allowing fans and beauty lovers alike to emulate Sam's styling at home.
Following a huge exhibition at Somerset House charting the stylist's 40-year career, Sam's line is made up of four hero products: Lazy Girl, a dry shampoo for longevity between washes; Modern Hairspray, a firm-hold brushable formula; Cool Girl, a texturising spray promising hair as rock'n'roll as Kate Moss's; and Easy Up-Do, a base for any kind of 'do.
On top of the pretty packaging, which you're bound to want to give pride of place on your bathroom shelf, the products' scent was conceived by Lyn Harris of Miller Harris perfume, waving goodbye to stale hairspray and dusty dry shampoo scents.
Courtesy of Sam McKnight.

Misguided Photoshopping In The Media

Two incidents of misguided photoshopping took place later on in the year, the first from The Evening Standard. Interviewing musician and cover star Solange, who regularly uses her platform to celebrate her natural hair, the magazine curiously photoshopped her crown of braids out of the issue's cover image.

Solange, who clearly wasn't aware of the edit before it went to print, took to Instagram to write 'DTMH', an abbreviation of “Don’t Touch My Hair,” the name of a song from her much-lauded album A Seat At The Table. The second instance came from Grazia, which featured actor Lupita Nyong'o on the cover of a November issue.

Once again, Photoshop was used to edit natural hair out of the cover shot. Lupita remarked on Twitter: "Disappointed that @GraziaUK edited out & smoothed my hair to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like. #dtmh."

Fans criticised both magazines for their wrongdoing, and important conversations were had about censoring black women, embracing natural hair, and the insidious nature of Photoshop. Both publications apologised for their editing of the photographs.