The skincare trends and ingredients to know in 2024, according to experts

While 2023 might have been all about LED masks, face yoga, skin icing and double-cleansing, with the new year comes new skincare trends. Although we will be taking some of our tried, tested and beloved beauty routines and products into 2024, it’s always thrilling to see where the ever-evolving skincare industry could take us next. To get the inside scoop on what is set to be all the rage in the upcoming year, Vogue Scandinavia sat down with three industry experts – get the low-down below.

“When we look at next year, we can already see what’s been trending at the end of this year, and right now, we’re putting in a lot of effort to obtain a glowy complexion and a more even skin tone, so much so that we wouldn’t have to wear any makeup – this has already been seen on the red carpets where celebrities wear little makeup or nothing at all,” says Lotta Taipalus, founder of Helsinki-based medical aesthetic clinic Klinik Linnea.

Whether it is the skincare products we stock up our beauty cupboards with or the results we’re looking for when booking facial treatments, 2024 is about achieving that healthy, lit-from-within glow by natural means. Dermal fillers and synthetic skincare ingredients become a thing of the past. Instead, the focus shifts to in-office treatments like microneedling, light therapy and lasers that effectively rejuvenate the skin and boost its own ability to address a host of concerns like ageing, skin texture and inflammation.

In terms of skincare products, brands are increasingly researching and introducing new ingredients derived from natural sources. “There’s a new era of skincare on the horizon, where enhancing the skin’s function with natural ingredients takes front and centre,” says Taipalus. “Using innovative ingredients like proteins, lipids, and exosomes will probably become hugely popular in the next few years.”

Our unique Nordic nature boasts many gems like arctic berries, birch and pine that can all be utilised in skincare. And while brands like Lumene have already been doing pioneering work with such ingredients, 2024 might see a surge in science-backed products that use these super-charged components even more. “I definitely see a trend in exploring these raw and clean, nature-found ingredients further,” says Minna Monthan, facialist and founder of Hilla Helsinki Day Spa. In the upcoming year, we might see a rise in products that no longer contain popular lab-made ingredients like vitamin C and retinol. Instead, these components have been sourced from nature, like cloudberries, sea buckthorns, bakuchiol and even carrots.

Related: Skincare science: This is why you should be using cloudberries in your skincare

If anyone is still doing their 10-step skincare routine, it’s time to say goodbye to the excess serums, oils and creams. This trend has already reared its head this year, going stronger into 2024 as we keep streamlining our beauty routines. Next year, the main thing is to find the key products that work for you and stick to them. “If we have three great products instead of 10, we won’t over-treat the skin, and that will minimise the appearance of any problems,” says Monthan. “For example, perioral dermatitis [tiny red bumps that appear around the mouth or the nose] has blown up in the past years, and that’s solely because people keep over-treating their skin with too many products and active ingredients like acids, while constantly switching up their beauty arsenal.”

Anne Kathrine Hansen, a skincare specialist at Norway-based Scandinavian Beauty, which owns skincare clinics nationwide, agrees. “The focus will now be on simple skincare – we want to restore the barrier function and the skin’s immune system so that inflammation goes down and the skin looks healthy and supple.” A basic, three-step regime usually consists of cleansing (double it if you want), a concentrated serum, such as vitamin C, niacinamide, or retinol, and a moisturiser containing SPF. However, we all have unique skin concerns and a visit to a professional is advised when determining the suitable regime for you.

Perhaps you’ve encountered some of the teenage skincare enthusiasts on TikTok who are already incorporating powerful anti-ageing ingredients, such as retinol, into their routines? While that might be a slight overkill (Taipalus, for instance, recommends starting retinol at 25), it shows how educated Gen Z is about preventing some of the biggest skin concerns, such as acne and premature ageing.

Although the younger generation is the one flaunting their knowledge online, the last few years have seen people in general become more interested in learning about what we’re putting onto our skin and what the ingredients will actually do. “Now, we are preventing the damages rather than trying to fix them after they’re already there,” says Taipalus. Much like retinol, using SPF daily plays a major role in fighting signs of ageing, and Taipalus reckons that a host of beauty brands will introduce even more advanced SPF products next year.

Related: You are probably still making these retinol mistakes, say skincare experts

Similar to what we witnessed this year, with at-home LED masks and face massagers starting to pop out everywhere, skincare tools aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they’re bound to develop even further next year. And while these at-home gadgets can help improve many skin concerns, in-office treatments are inarguably much more effective.

“The popularity of in-office device treatments is only growing, with Morpheus8 being one of the most sought-after treatments – that will most likely carry on to next year as well,” says Taipalus. Morpheus8 is a non-surgical facial treatment that utilises radiofrequency technology and microneedling to restore the skin and stimulate collagen production. Other in-office treatments that our experts say are likely to reign supreme next year include intense pulsed light therapy (IPL), which targets skin texture, fine lines and wrinkles, as well as Platelet-Rich Fibrin (PRF), a newer and much more powerful development of PRP, which uses one’s own blood serum to regenerate the skin.