From the BB craze to multi-step skincare layering, it's safe to say Asian beauty is one of, if not, the leading trendsetter in the commercial beauty industry right now. Products and concepts that become big there eventually wind up on our shores and in our stores a couple years later.

 BB creams had been around for years and years in Asia before gaining traction in the American market a few years ago. After that, the Korean multi-step skincare approach caught on, and now essences, cleansing oils, brightening emulsions, and more have filled the catalogue of brands like The Body Shop and Chanel, with Asian brands like Laneige now available in Target and TonyMoly trickling into US stores more and more. 

 It wasn't long until the big ombre lip trend caught on here a bit later, and only just now is cushion makeup truly having a huge moment in drugstores and high end. I suspect, to some degree, prolific makeup artist Lisa Eldridge, as the new Creative Director for Lancôme, had an instrumental hand in that. If you've ever watched her YouTube channel, you'll see she's been a long time fan of Asian beauty trends since her days working with Shisheido. All things considered, it's not a surprise she jumped on cushion foundation, and since they're all under the same corporate umbrella, this trickled down to L'Oreal and other brands like Physician's Formula jumped on it too.

One of the newer products starting to make waves in the beauty community in the RiRe Lip Powder, which starts as a powder base and turns to a gel on the lips and leaves a beautiful stain of color. It promises to be non-drying, and really, what a fun concept! I wouldn't be surprised if we see something like this in drugstores or from high end brands in a few years depending on how popular this gets and if other Korean brands dupe RiRe's product.

As we're seeing more Asian brands pop up directly in the US, like Dr. Jart, TonyMoly, SkinFood, and (despite their rather terrible nature) Urban Outfitter's well-curated selection, I really believe if one wanted to know where things were probably heading in the immediate future of the beauty world, one only has to turn their eyes East.