Everyone’s heard of fast fashion, but fast beauty is a thing too, and the environmental risk can’t be ignored.
Over the last few years, social media trends have promoted excessive beauty consumption, from shelfies to hauls. And the bad news is that while they’re pleasing to the eye, this mentality negatively affects how we buy. Recent research shows that the beauty industry generates over $100 billion in revenue worldwide. The men’s personal care market is projected to hit $276.9 billion by 2030. Skincare is projected to generate up to $177 billion by 2025. So it’s time to stop stashing. Stop hauls.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Beauty Burst : Vicious Cycle of Cheap Beauty That Cost The Earth
Beauty industry products must look good and be attractive so customers will pick them up off the shelf and buy them. By using plastic packaging, manufacturers can reduce production and shipping costs. This makes personal care and beauty products more affordable for consumers, making them easier to use and encouraging disposal.
The problem starts when social media influencers promote makeup and skincare excessively, leading to consumers spending more money than they need to. According to Statista, YouTube held 5 billion annual beauty content views in 2010. By 2018, it had 169 billion content views on Youtube alone. The popularity of beauty content on Youtube between 2010 and the present day contributes to a culture of overconsumption.
This culture is problematic for multiple reasons. Firstly, it encourages the rapid rotation of trend cycles. While trends have always existed within beauty, trend rotations have become increasingly shorter, leaving little time before something new becomes popular.
Tiktok and Instagram, the two biggest social media platforms today, highlight this phenomenon. There’s always something new to buy and a new product released. It’s kinda like fast fashion. And, when these trends fall out of style, consumers are left wasting perishable products, mostly untouched or barely used.
Simplifying Beauty and Personal Care : Where To Start
Just like fast fashion, beauty products are problematic to dispose of sustainably. Because of their complex makeup, recycling beauty products isn’t as easy as it seems. Most common beauty products contribute to the world’s growing plastic waste problem and are destined for landfills without adequate recovery solutions. Many plastic waste items end up in oceans, waterways, and landfills after being burned, buried, or littered in areas where the waste management is inadequate.
With all that’s going on, we decided to deep dive into this ever-changing world and provide you with easy steps to simplify beauty and personal care :
1. Less Is More
When it comes to skin care, more isn’t always better. As a former product addict, the excitement of trying new products is too much to resist, and I had a large collection of products in my bathroom. So I’ve simplified my skincare routine. For me, healthy skin doesn’t necessarily mean a 10-step routine.
Based on my experience, your very own skincare routine can be created by identifying your skincare goals, investing in quality products and beauty tools, and prioritizing 3 or 4 important products such as cleansers, moisturizers, and SPF. With a few good quality products and beauty tools built to last and prioritizing your key products in your routine, you will be well on crafting your own effective but minimalistic skincare regimen.
2.Eliminate single-Use Products From Your Routine
A simple way to become a more conscious beauty consumer is to stop using single-use items like makeup remover pads and sheet masks. Remember that biodegradable products are only eco-friendly if they’re recycled properly. Biodegradable products must be composted under very specific conditions, which most consumers are unaware of.
3. Foregoing PackagingOr Using Refillable Options
The goal is to eliminate or at least reduce packaging. This may take a while to redesign our beauty routine using packaging-free products such as hand washes, body washes, and shampoos. It took me a while to get my head around solid shampoo bars. When I realized the trick for lathering on my palm, I was scrubbing my hair like a novice. I also tried to be more environmentally friendly by buying beauty products with refillable packaging.
Lead image courtesy of Kelsey Curtis.
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