As 2021 draws to a close and we reflect on our sustainability efforts in the year past, let’s take a long look at our shelves. If we discover long-forgotten products pushed into the furthest corner of the cabinet, it’s a good time to rethink our beauty habits!
Hoarding should not be an option. Instead, aim to reduce consumption by buying only essential products, and ensure you finish a product before buying more.
What’s not essential? They all are!
Yes, the beauty industry and especially skincare, can be really confusing for consumers to navigate. Different brands have different formulation ethos- for example, one brand may say active ingredient X is bad for the skin and other brands may be entirely built around that ingredient.
New products, new lines and expanding product lines are constantly being launched in the market. With continuous and mixed marketing messages, we end up having a hard time distinguishing between products that genuinely benefit the skin, products that are nice to have, and products that are simply pleasurable to use.
Yes, it’s worth our while to differentiate our needs from wants. It’s time to rethink our beauty habits.
So, what is essential skincare?
Formula Botanica polled more than 780 people and this is what the results revealed:
- 24% said Cleanser
- 19% said Moisturiser
- 13% said Serum
- 9% said Sunscreen
What it shows is that amongst 4 universal basic skincare products, ‘essential’ means different things to different people and that one person’s essential skincare may be irrelevant to another beauty consumer, so there can be no standard defining ‘essential’, essentially.
It’s dependant on your skin needs and your lifestyle.
Shop minimalist skincare essentials. They’re clean too.
W.ANT Beet This Honey Cleanser
Rooki Superfood Saviour Creme
100% Pure Vitamin C Serum
Skinlycious Multi Protection Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 30
Will our skin be healthier if we use fewer products and ingredients?
Dermatologists, facialists and aestheticians warn that you can overdo it with active ingredients. The layering of multiple skincare products especially those not designed to work together can have a detrimental effect on the skin, compromising your skin’s natural barrier.
Single-ingredient formulas that consumers are encouraged to mix and match are generally less expensive, but is buying four different serums with different active ingredients and different preservatives, and mixing them together or layering them into your skincare routine, better than one well-formulated serum?
While increasing access to lower-priced skincare products is a good thing, you need to think about how you’re using them, and integrate them into your skincare routine carefully. Best is to seek the advice of the formulator or brand.
Shop clean minimalist skincare brands
ROOKI BEAUTY
BASIC THEORY
SKINLYCIOUS
W.ANT SKINCARE
What can we do to embrace the age of essential?
Before purchasing a skincare or cosmetic product, think about your daily habit. Think about how you’re going to integrate that product.
- How much of a function does it actually serve in your routine? If one products serves more than one function, there’s no need to splash out for two.
- Explore what you really value and enjoy using in your routine.
- Eliminate products that don’t really work or are not really necessary, while retaining that enjoyment and pleasure you get from that routine.
- No product works when it’s left on the shelf- Use, and use up what you already have before purchasing another product you think you’d need.
The essential or minimalist routine varies from person to person so, you do you. The journey is really about rediscovering the pleasure of using a well-formulated beauty product that’s going to do exactly what it promises to do. Happy (mindful) shopping!
