EP242. Has #Underconsumptioncore influenced beauty?

If you use TikTok, then you've probably seen someone talk about the hashtag underconsumptioncore. And if you're wondering what that means, well, the word under consumption is obviously there because influencers are starting to create a backlash against the huge beauty, fashion and retail hauls that we've seen plastered across our social media screens for years. And if you're wondering where the word core came from in under consumption core, it's often used as a suffix to describe a genre on social media, so other examples include cottagecore or fairycore, for instance. If you hang out long enough on TikTok, you will see what I mean, I promise. But it's good to see that the conversation is slowly shifting. And if you subscribe to this podcast for a while, then you'll know that I've been banging this drum of consumption for quite a long time. I've been bringing it up in presentations, in meetings with beauty executives, in social media posts, and to be honest, most people have sort of applauded me for saying something. But then nothing has changed. But now a group of savvy influencers have also started speaking up about consumption in beauty, and I am thrilled. And that's what I want to explore today on the podcast. Is the beauty industry going to start seeing a fundamental shift towards lower levels of consumption? Last week here on the podcast, Anna Green and I discussed the reduction in new product development seen by the mainstream beauty industry over the last decade. Is this all part of one big shift? Maybe? Is this a sign of a tipping point? Join me today in this episode as I ask whether Big Beauty's business model may need to completely change in the coming years to keep up with consumer demands or lack of them. Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmeyer, chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of Formula Botanica, the award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my Green Beauty opinions in which I challenge the beauty industry's terrible track record on sustainability and share my thoughts on how we make the beauty sector a better and more sustainable place. If you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So if you tuned into last week's podcast, you'll know that we talked about the reduction in new product launches which was reported by Mintel and the beauty trade press. And if you haven't heard that episode yet, obviously scroll back one week in your podcast player and be sure to cue that one up once you've finished listening to this episode and Talking about the reduction in new product launches got me thinking about this under consumption core trend that I've been seeing online. So I thought I would draw some tenuous parallels between these two shifts. So how did the under consumption core trends start? Well, as we heard last week, it was in response to huge fashion halls and so called beauty shelfies that many influencers have been proudly sharing on their channels over the years. And I think social media also creates an illusion of perfection which perpetuates the need for shoppers to own the latest and greatest beauty products to achieve that perfection. And none of this is healthy or quite frankly necessary. So I think that all has possibly contributed to a backlash against excess. This more is more approach has basically exhausted people, and I think more people are starting to speak up to criticize the unrealistic and the wasteful nature of overconsumption because it's just not realistic. And anyway, most people can't afford to shop like that even if they wanted to fill their homes with stuff that they don't need. Also, discussions around minimalism have been increasing where people are trying to scale back on the things that they purchase. And on top of all of that, there have also been a few videos highlighting waste in beauty retail, which I think has shone a spotlight on overconsumption. For instance, back in 2020 an Ulta employee went viral by showcasing what happens to returned products that come back to the store as she was on camera destroying brand new makeup. It was quite a shocking video to watch. So in response, some TikTok and Instagram users have started using the no buy and low buy hashtags to challenge their followers to celebrate not buying stuff. I saw one post from someone saying I feel like this under consumption trend has been a real eye opener. I feel gross. I'm going on a no buy. And another person said, I'm just starting an under consumption journey. Capitalism has had a death grip on me. So basically some influencers are now showing you what they're not buying. This is a major shift and I do think that the beauty industry is going to need to respond to this. Perhaps it already is. But honestly, I doubt very much that the reduction in new product development has been in response to this under consumption core trends. But I think we will see further reductions in the future that will perhaps be driven directly by this lack of consumer demand. So my challenge to you for this week is to go and explore this under consumption core hashtag on TikTok. If you haven't already, go and immerse yourself in it. What are people saying? What do you resonate with? If you're a beauty shopper, how could you embrace some of this yourself? If you're a formulator or a beauty brand owner, how could you maybe even lead the way on this topic? Just because you make products doesn't mean that you can't still encourage people to just buy what they need. Thank you for listening to my Green Beauty opinions. Remember to visit the Formula botanica website@formulabotanica.com to try our free online formulation course. And if you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations I host and I'll be back soon with my next episode. SA.