4 'New' Beauty Trends That Are Actually Old Techniques With Different Names

Certain trends in fashion and beauty are recycled every generation or so, like A-line miniskirts, flared jeans and the cat eye. Movie remakes are common, too. (And I would argue sometimes completely unnecessary.

For example, why are they remaking  the already-perfect '90's film, "Point Break"?) But over the past six months or so, beauty companies and the media have presented some ostensibly new trends, that upon closer inspection, could more accurately be considered rebranding of old trends and products.

I get why this happens, and I'm totally guilty of it, too. Kind of like that time I wrote about hair lanyards, otherwise known as the four-strand braid. Everyone wants to be the first to find the next contouring or coconut oil. 

Most of these so-called new trends play off trends that are really popular now and are named accordingly. So here, I present to you  four new beauty trends  that may give you déjà vu.

Strobing 

 

I've been traveling a bit over the past month, and I panicked when I realized everyone was writing about "the new contouring," aka strobing. What was I missing out on?! But after reading about it, I thought it sounded like plain old highlighting, albeit with a really cool name. Turns out, it is. Both Alex Box, the makeup artist responsible for the look at the spring 2015 Issey Miyake show (above), and Allure confirmed it for me. Box wrote on her Instagram: "Yes its the media who have coined 'strobing ' for me it's just working with light Reflection highlighting and pigments in different textures adding glows buffing , bringing love to re face !" 

I'm not mad that strobing is being hailed as a trend because I'm all for anything that will replace Kardashian-style contouring, plus it's a zillion times easier. It actually inspired me to dig out my RMS Beauty Living Luminizer and play with my facial angles. It's an ideal look for summer, and suitable for any skin tone with little to no color matching required. Just swipe on something shimmery. 

Sleep Mask = Night Cream

This one I'm blaming on South Korea, the land of 10 zillion different product categories. A sleep mask, which is generally a thick cream or gel that comes in a jar or tube, provides certain skin benefits like brightening or moisturization — every one touts some different benefit. You apply it at night after all your other various serums and potions, and it locks in all that goodness, or so the marketing copy goes.