BEAUTY
Slow the F$%* Down: Overconsumption Within the Makeup Industry
By: Ava Savino Edited by: McKenna McCormick
: Fash10nBeautySU!
The beauty industry has a major problem: overconsumption. With the rise of influencers and TikTok culture, there is always a race to buy a new product or test a new launch. This year especially, there has been release after release with no room to breathe. Once a trend emerges, companies are quick to hop on the bandwagon, each claiming to have made the best product ever, but are even quicker to hop off the second there’s a lull. This has caused a pattern of overconsumption in consumers who are constantly chasing the next trend.
Beauty sales are projected to generate $648.60 billion in global revenue in 2024, making it one of the most influential industries worldwide. The United States leads the world in sales, raking in about $100 billion in revenue nationally. Even for a country with 335 million people, that is still an absurdly high number, especially considering other major markets worldwide. The reason is simple – the United States has an overconsumption problem.
This raises the tricky question of why. One correlation is the rise of influencer culture – specifically on the social media platform TikTok. TikTok is an app used by approximately 170 million Americans – that is equivalent to almost half of the country's total population. In 2023, ByteDance introduced TikTok Shop to the American market, the highest-grossing category of which is beauty and cosmetics. Many users reported seeing an influx of ads targeted toward TikTok shops and products you could find there. This speaks to the influence the app has within American markets and culture. TikTok shop is a smashing success not only in the United States but also in the global market.
TikTok shop’s rising sales and the increasing number of influencer videos dedicated to new makeup launches, the rating of new products, and product must-haves have made overconsumption and overproduction the standard within the beauty industry. There has become an increasing amount of product variety – which certainly can be a good thing – but the problem comes from the massive amounts of waste and overproduction of products. This is a vicious cycle where the buyer loses every single time. Brands are making record funds, but there is a distinct lack of care for the environmental waste produced and the capitalistic culture that has taken over the beauty industry.
Makeup is an art, and its products are the tools, but it becomes a slippery slope when a consumer is not conscious and continues to purchase product after product. This exact scenario has led creators to spark a wave of conscious buying to promote healthier spending and consuming habits. Project Pan is an example of this initiative, encouraging creators to “hit the pan” (i.e., finish) their products before they buy another. Project Pan has influenced hundreds of creators and thousands of shoppers. Many creators make check-in videos on TikTok for their Project Pan, where they will document the progress they have made in finishing their products.
Having a goal and seeing actual progress is incredibly important for this initiative because it is hard not to overconsume cosmetics. Seeing video after video where creators have hundreds of products in their collection creates the standard that this is the norm for the average consumer – it should not be. Aside from the environmental waste, such as the 7.9 billion pounds of plastic waste produced by the beauty industry annually since 2018, it is also incredibly overwhelming to buy and own twenty different products for every step of your makeup routine. It is extremely difficult to finish beauty products before their expiration, which often causes anxiety and pressure and can take the joy away from such a creative process.
Makeup has been around for centuries. It is an artistic expression and something that can bring joy and creativity into someone's life. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t develop into something not-so-great with not-so-great habits. Although Project Pan could be viewed as only a social media trend, it is helping shoppers change their mindset surrounding makeup and beauty consumption in a world full of massive marketing campaigns and overconsumption culture. This is not a small feat, and it certainly is not finished. Small movements are the start of real change, and there is a shake-up coming for beauty brands as consumers begin to realize the power they have.
