It's Official—These Are the Best-Selling Beauty Products of 2022

When I think back on the past 12 months, I believe 2022 has been a year full of defining beauty products and moments. Undoubtedly, social media—and TikTok in particular—is one of the biggest influences on the beauty products that we decided to purchase. Whether it be expensive-smelling perfumes or celebrity-favourite moisturisers filling our For You Pages, 2022 has seen real mix of products, both new and old classics, which have taken pride positions in our makeup bags, dressing tables and bathrooms. 

After a couple of years of uncertainty during the pandemic, 2022 was the year that we finally had a sense of normality. As such, we made our way back to our beloved nail salons and hairdressers, however, we also became used to tending to our beauty routines and continuing to implement the skills we learned during lockdown. 

A spokesperson from retailer Millies.ie noted how much these two important factors have continued to shape our purchasing habits: "We understand how much make-up trends can change over time, from the pandemic changing how people viewed make-up to everyone being allowed out again and embracing going out again. This, and social media trends have hugely changed which products are becoming cult favourites.”

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(Image credit: @emmahoareau)

You see, many of us, the Who What Wear UK team included, utilised our time spent indoors to experiment with new makeup, skincare, and haircare. And after a good year of being able to live our lives a little more freely, it begs the question: which products did we remain loyal to now that we're back to some form of normality? With our interest piqued, we set about finding out. 

From luxurious investment purchases at Net-A-Porter and Harvey Nichols to the favourites we continue to stock up on at Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic, we sifted through beauty’s top retailers to find out which beauty products are most in demand. Keep scrolling to discover the most popular beauty products of 2022, and see how many you can tick off your bucket list. 

NET-A-PORTER

At Net-a-Porter, super-luxe skincare devices and gifting reigned supreme. From candles to fragrance and makeup to skincare, there were a real mix of customer favourites in 2022.

Shop Net-a-Porter's most popular beauty products:

HARVEY NICHOLS

Harvey Nichols has also seen customers lap up luxury beauty products en masse, only this time around it's makeup that leads the way. Notably, brands such as Dior and Fenty Beauty came out on top.

Shop Harvey Nichols's most popular beauty products:

LOOKFANTASTIC

Over at Lookfantastic, it was all about those TikTok-famous beauty buys, as well as firm favourites like Olaplex which had people stocking up in 2022.

Shop Lookfantastic's most popular beauty products:

Sephora

Beauty lovers were sent into a frenzy at the news of Sephora launching in the UK this year, and there are some clear bestsellers from the retailer, which carries just about any brand you can imagine.

Cult Beauty

Cult Beauty hosts many cult beauty brands, and in 2022, it's the classics which made most of its best-sellers. 

Next Up: 15 Affordable Beauty Products That Are Just as Good as These Expensive Ones.

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Eleanor Vousden
Beauty Editor, Who What Wear UK

Eleanor Vousden is the beauty editor for Who What Wear UK. She was previously deputy editor at Hairdressers Journal, health writer at Woman & Home and junior beauty editor at beauty website Powder. She has also contributed to Wallpaper and Elle Collections with written and styling work.Working as a beauty journalist since 2015 after graduating in fashion journalism at the London College of Fashion, she has been highly commended at the BSME Talent Awards for her work on Powder and also contributed to the title winning Website of the Year at the PPA Awards.Eleanor’s journalistic focus is to provide readers with honest and helpful beauty content. Through words, video and live broadcast, she has interviewed several celebrity makeup artists, hairstylists and top dermatologists throughout her career, as well as celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Scarlett Johansson. She has a particular interest in finding solutions for acne and eczema, which she has experienced firsthand. She has also amassed a large collection of fragrances and can never say no to a new candle.When she’s not writing or testing the latest beauty product or treatments, she’s on the seafront in her hometown of Brighton and Hove, where she lives with her partner and her miniature dachshund.