Trend watch - Style, shopping, beauty

Over the weekend, I lead a Fashion, Shopping, and Beauty Birds of a Feather session at BlogHer '08. Because I learn as much from you all as you learn from me (more, I suspect) I wanted to share what I see as the take-away from this session, the three trends in beauty, fashion, and style that are looming on the horizon (and in your closet and bathroom).

Beauty trend: Green is the new beautiful. The most palpable concern among the women in the room at this particular session was a desire to know what we're putting on our faces and bodies. We're looking for green products -- everything from eye cream to eye shadow -- that are free of parabens and contaminants and scary unpronounceable things that are doing who knows what to our insides and outsides. Trend number one, then, is green cosmetics: ingredient lists that are clear and accurate and products that don't make us beautiful by endangering our health.

Shopping trend: Reuse, renew, recycle. Face it: the economy is bad. Gas is expensive, and that's jacking up the price of everything else, including clothes. But there are simple strategies for looking great for less, and they involve two things: shopping smart and taking good care of what's already in your closet. Look for low-end pieces with staying power, rather than trends (H&M makes great basic pieces with tiny price tags). Once you get those pieces home, though, care for them as though they were super high end. Hand wash, line dry, use gentle detergent and cold water to preserve the fabric; treat stains and fix tiny dings right away. Hang or fold things properly in your closet. A $25.00 jacket can last for years, and in a recession, you want to make it last. Instead of constantly reinventing your wardrobe, change your look with accessories, or by mixing up what you wear together. Don't think of it as giving up shopping; think of it as defining your style.

Style trend: Blogs are the new fashion magazine. I love a good fashion magazine; I subscribe to Vogue and Lucky and InStyle, and I relish their appearance in my mailbox. But on a daily basis, I don't look to print media for style inspiration -- I look to the Internet. Sites like SheFinds, The Beauty Brains, and Coutorture are tracking trends and dishing on how to replicate them faster and more pragmatically than traditional print media. Add to that all the small personal style and beauty blogs out there, and the wealth of beauty and style information right at your fingertips (literally) is gigantic. Blogs are the new magazine, and in the next few years I think you will see them take the place of traditional print media as we all get beautiful.

What do you think -- what's the Next Big Thing in fashion and beauty? Where do you go for information and inspiration? And how can I help you solve your style quandries?

Susan Wagner writes about style at Fashion Find and about everything else at Friday Playdate; on Mondays, she dishes about beauty right here at BlogHer.