Major Beauty Trends Of 2022

Newby hands, the global beauty director at Net-A-Porter, happens to also be the woman tailoring the beauty section to every consumer’s needs and wants. She discusses the growth behind the luxury site’s beauty department, and identifies 2022’s major beauty trends

- Chelsea Tang

The latest facial that Newby Hands, Global Beauty Director at Net-A-Porter, experienced was an acupuncture treatment in London, with cosmetic acupuncturist Sarah Bradden. With special needles inserted at specific points of her face — temples, cheek, jaw — Hands recalls why the unorthodox pampering session remained particularly memorable for her. “It was a top-to-toe skin, body, mind and spirit treatment,” she says. “Facials today have to provide more than [the usual] cleanse, peel, mask, and massage. We can all do that ourselves at home. It’s something like this one that really gives you so much more.”

More. A concept not the least bit foreign to Hands. This beauty guru — who’s successfully turned her passion into her career — is the power woman who’s obsessed with giving more, and doing more for Net-A-Porter’s customers. Think of it as a favour from one beauty lover to another. She happens to also be the one who built up Net-A-Porter’s beauty repertoire to what it is today — what started off as seven brands in 2013 for the APAC region has rapidly expanded to become an extensive offering of 250, a range that includes cult Western labels (that can be hard to find here) like Victoria Beckham Beauty, Sarah Chapman and Westman Atelier.

Her strategy isn’t about simply bombarding the luxury retail site with the onboarding of any and every brand. No, every new inclusion has always been driven by consumer sentiment. “We’ve always curated a very considerate buy for our customers at the core,” Hands notes. “We also take into account with what they engage with. The brands have to add a point of difference and something new to the [current] offerings.”