Boho box braids, bold colorful cat eyes, metallic lipsticks, illuminating glowy skin were a few of the most recurring beauty trends we saw this year from the runway to the Instagram feeds. Obsessed with all things beauty? Click HERE to get early-bird tickets for the ESSENCE Beauty Carnival in NYC! As with most trends are recycled and reinvented several times again – these are the most popular hair and beauty trends of 2018.

Image: @lipstickncurls

Boho Box Braids Box braids are a timeless protective style we always keep in rotation, but this year we saw celebs such as Zoe Kravitz, Eva Marcille, and Jhene Aiko add a more carefree touch. The boho box braids are a combination of goddess locs and box braids by adding wavy hair to the braids for an unfinished effortless look.

Image: @aixajahara

Glass Skin Less is more. This year we focused less on a contoured beat face and served a more natural look that focused on healthy skin that looked effortless and dewy.

Image: @sanaalathan

Short Cuts From poppin’ pixie cuts to natural tapered cuts, short hair was a hair trend we this year from a few of our favorite celebrities such as Teyana Taylor, Sanaa Latha, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Letoya Luckett.

Image: @olaynoel

Golden Glow Rihanna dropped Fenty beauty and changed the beauty game in many ways than one. Her pure gold highlighter Trophy Wife sparked a desire of illuminating glowy skin that made our melanin pop all year round.

Image: @ije0ma

Colorful Eyeliner Even if you’re not a pro at perfecting winged eyeliner, a pop of color goes a long way. From colorful hues of upside down liner to cut crease lines, this trend was seen everywhere and we don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.

Image: @findingpaola

Feed-in Braids Braids are a forever favorite and this year we stepped up stitch game up. Feed-in braids, where you connect smaller braids into bigger braids to make your hair look longer and thicker, hit the scene and came in a variety of styling to switch up your cornrows in style.

Image: @salemmitchell

Tinted Mascara Eyelids aren’t the only way to make your eyes pop. Many beauty brands released pigment-packed mascaras, declaring that colorful eyelashes as a new canvas.

Image:@badgirlriri

Metallic Lipstick This nostalgic trend made a comeback this year basically being a highlighter for your lips making a statement that creates dimension and of course Riri had to make it her own.