These are the top 7 beauty trends of 2018 that you need to know about

It was a big year for beauty, with bloggers from all walks of life showing us some fire AF looks and helping to inspire people to express themselves more confidently through makeup than ever before.

Rihanna's super successful launch of makeup brand, Fenty, was probably the most exciting thing in beauty news this year, with her products being celebrated for offering an incredibly diverse range of foundation shades for people to choose from. More brands will probably try to follow suit and finally also offer more inclusive products, but here are 7 other trends that we can predict.

1. Bold under-eye liner will become more popular

Adding a line of colour and blending it flawlessly is a new look that will likely become more popular this year. Blue, green and turquoise seem to be favoured shades, although blended black liner does the trick for a more subtle look.

2. Everyone will add gold highlighters to their kit

Thanks to Ri-Ri's launch of a seriously golden highlighter, bloggers and makeup artists everywhere quickly became obsessed. Now it looks like the trend will dominate this year as it gets more mainstream. It seems that the ultra-highlighting trend is here to stay.

3. J-beauty will join K-beauty in the ranks

People from all around the world got seriously into beauty products from South Korea last year, impressed by exotic things like sheet masks made with snail slime or powerful hybrid serums. K-beauty sales worldwide grew massively in 2017, and while that probably won't slow down, Japan's beauty scene is predicted to entice the world with their latest offerings too.

4. Anti-pollution products will get on people's radars

Just as everyone knows to protect their skin from environmental aggressors like UV rays with SPF products, the latest thing is skincare that combats the damage done by air pollution.

5. Speaking of which, "clean" is the new "natural"

While some people are into choosing brands free from unnatural ingredients, the latest thing is looking for "clean" products. This means staying away from products with harmful and toxic substances like silicones, synthetic fragrances, parabens and sulfates. Buying clean doesn't necessarily mean buying natural, but either way – "clean brands" will certainly be getting more attention this year.

6. Hair accessories

Accessorising your do with a cluster of little clips, statement ties or a signature claw clip will become more popular this year, and it has already be seen on the red carpet...

7. Multi-step skincare products

Two- or three-in-one products will see a rise this year in a bid for people to simplify their beauty regime. Thanks to formulations created by new technology, multi-tasker products will be waaay better then ever before.

Whether you're more into a rigorous skincare regime and keeping things natural when it comes to your face, or you're all about full-on, hell-bent diva makeup, it looks like there are a lot of exciting new products for us to play with. So if you don't mind me, I'll just be skipping off to Sephora now.