Introduction

The beauty industry has a long history, incorporating ancient Egypt, Greece to the medieval times, there has been some form of industrial beauty trends. Ancient manuscripts have listed formulas for skin care, hair dye and perfumes. Throughout history we have embraced attempting to make ourselves more attractive, highlighting our positives and covering up our perceived trouble areas. The subjectivity of beauty has undergone many changes or trends with attempts to define beauty since classical times.

However, beauty standards have always evolved never remaining the same, from cultural influences to societal changes the concept of beauty is celebrated differently across countries and the decades. Some trends are good and stand the test of time in some form or other, others are short lived while some are just harmful and not good in the long run.

What are industrial beauty trends?

As more and more people looked for miracle cosmetic products, the beauty industry too turned towards creating new trends to create demand for their products. Most consumers do not even realise that they are being sucked into trends that benefit the cosmetic industry.

Why are industrial beauty trends harmful?

In the ancient times cosmetics were made using ingredients found in nature, a trend that continued throughout history. However, as time passed and we became adept at sourcing more than just the basic ingredients, we started adding ingredients that were not so good for us. Back then, the adverse effects were not really understood by people in the industry, who included anything that could make their products work quicker, to cater to popular beauty trends, such as to achieve whiter, smoother skin, wrinkle fillers etc.  

Unfortunately, even today, there are no proper regulations when it comes to the beauty industry with many ingredients listed not actually meeting average consumer standards. This causes greenwashing where a company spends more money on creating trends and marketing their skincare products as environmentally friendly rather than actually spending money on making their brands meet proper standards. A loophole that many large cosmetic brands use is that only 1% of a product’s ingredient composition has to be organic for it be listed as organic. This means that the rest of the ingredients can contain anything.

Some influencer marketing practices have created a culture of unrealistic expectations regarding beauty such as achieving flawless skin tones and changing aspects of ourselves rather than simply enhancing our positive qualities. Often we unfortunately chase after these beauty retailer induced trends instead of focussing on products that are beneficial to us.

Industrial beauty trends we should forget

While there are many trends that come and go there are certain harmful trends that some people still follow, which while beneficial to the beauty brand, really does no favours to you or your skin. Just a few examples are listed below.

Excessive skin and hair cleansing

A skin care and hair care trend that really caught on and many find hard to give up is excessive washing. While it does feel good to have fresh hair and skin, especially for facial skin excessive washing has an adverse effect. Ideally your face needs to be washed only twice a day, once in the morning and again at night.

There is a perception that washing more often helps removes germs, but unless you have a special reason to do so, excessive washing with the chemicals found in most of the mass produced facial cleansers strips your skin of it natural oils. It is the same when it comes to our hair. Today we know that ‘squeaky clean’ is actually your hair or skin calling out for help. Over-washing strips your hair of its natural oils causing your hair to become dependent on the cleansing products to feel good.

Alternately if you really have to wash your face and hair more often than you should try using just water without any products. You could try alternating with olive oil or coconut oil, use Micellar water or organic honey for your face, while for your hair use water with a final rinse with vinegar for a fresh feeling.

Regular exfoliation

Another beauty trend that gained immense traction was exfoliation. It is heralded as the way to clear smooth skin. What was not explained was that over-exfoliation can lead to the skin losing it ability to absorb and retain moisture leading to dehydrated, rough and patchy skin. The ingredients used in mass scale commercial beauty products do not help the situation either.

Limit exfoliating to once or twice a week at most and try alternatives like coffee grounds, finely ground almonds or sugar or oatmeal which are natural and not harmful to your skin. You could look for quality vegan products that tend to use natural ingredients that are beneficial rather than harmful to the skin.

The use of harmful preservatives in skin care products

In the endeavour to create almost instant changes most mass scale beauty products use chemicals and toxins, some of which are listed below.

Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Paraformaldehyde, a type of formaldehyde.

Methylene glycol, a type of formaldehyde.

Quaternium 15, which releases formaldehyde.

Mercury

Clean beauty is gaining momentum and ground, with many ethically conscious brands entering the beauty market that take the effort to make their products as natural and toxin free as possible. Sourcing all the goodness provided by nature, these products are usually vegan and cruelty free, though the two are not interchangeable. They are making headway in promoting natural beauty which is a trend that a growing number of consumers are adopting.

Conclusion

Today consumers are more aware of their worth and take an active interest regarding what they actually do to their bodies and what products they use. Some larger brands, such as Fenty Beauty, too are making an effort to reduce the amount of animal by-products they use. Best of all there is a definite rise in smaller ethical brands coming up with affordable quality beauty and cosmetic products that are both vegan and cruelty free. They are transparent regarding their manufacture process, preferring natural sourced ingredients, overall being better both for consumers and the planet.