and social distancing. These changes have led to a shift to a contact-free, or untact, way of living.

The term “untact” was coined in South Korea in 2017 to describe the growing trend of contactless services such as mobile shopping. The pandemic turned it into a buzzword that affects nearly every industry including the beauty industry. Untact beauty is a major beauty trend, according to a 2021 report by the renowned Korean beauty review site GLOWPICK.

When you think of untact beauty, think beauty products designed to prevent contamination from your hands. For example, instead of using your fingers to dip into a jar of cream and apply on the face, the product may come with a spatula for hygienic application. As consumers are more conscious of hygiene than ever before, innovative beauty product packaging and tools are emerging in the market so that bare hands won’t be required to use the products. From face massagers to LED face masks to patches, untact beauty is on the rise. Scroll through to learn more about this trend!

What is untact beauty?

Untact beauty stems from consumer demands for cleanliness and efficiency when using beauty products. Demand has exploded during the pandemic as more people engage in contact-free ways of living. This trend can be thought of as a combination of beauty and hygiene for the sake of personal health and safety. Beauty products that fit the touchless concept, such as face massagers, LED masks, balm sticks, pads and patches, are more popular than ever. Remember the countless times you’ve been told not to touch or pick at your face? This hands-off advice is gaining momentum!

What are the benefits of untact beauty?

The main benefit of untact beauty is, as its name suggests, going contact-free. Untact beauty allows customers fast and efficient use of makeup and skin care products, with the added plus of preventing the spread of germs. Other potential benefits include direct application of product on skin to reduce wastage and to help ingredients effectively penetrate into skin.

What products qualify as untact beauty?

There are plenty of ways to incorporate the untact concept into beauty products and routines. Eye patches, pimple patches and lip patches are trusty untact skin care products that have been in the market for some time already. Peeling pads and toner pads, like moonshot’s Cica Calming Pad, come in single-use, disposable sheets, and often tweezers are included so you can hygienically grab a pad from the container.

Some creams, like NEOGEN’s Dermalogy V.Biome Soothing Cream, come with a built-in globe-shaped massager to massage the product onto skin for better absorption. Similarly, there are eye creams designed to be a cream and eye massage roller in one. Standout options include heimish’s Marine Care Eye Cream and innisfree’s Green Tea Seed Eye & Face Ball.  Other products, like Dear, Klairs’s Midnight Blue Calming Cream, come with a spatula for application.

Multifunctional balm sticks are also handy for anyone living in the untact era, especially when you need a midday moisture and hydration boost. KAHI’s Wrinkle Bounce Multi Balm moisturizes skin and targets aging skin too.

In the cosmetics industry, there are countless products that enable contact-free application. For makeup connoisseurs, it’s no surprise that beauty blenders are a hit, ranking among GLOWPICK’s top makeup must-haves in 2021. Other makeup goodies that go hand in hand with the untact beauty trend are long-standing staples, like eyeliner pens and pencils, eyebrow gels and mascaras, to name a few.

For those who can’t visit beauty salons, why not be your own DIY master? This is the perfect time to invest in LED face masks and skin care devices that target specific skin concerns. ECLAIR’s LED Therapy Mask uses different light settings to treat various skin issues, like enlarged pores and dull skin. Other innovative beauty devices, like vanav’s UP6, feature multiple functions to augment your skin care routine, such as modes to cleanse, smooth and lift skin. Alternatively, consider face rollers and gua shas – beauty tools that have been around for a long time − to sculpt the face or relieve muscle tension.

*If you want to delve deeper on this topic, check out this Yes Whut podcast devoted to nifty skin care tools.