What Makes Slow Beauty the Present and the Future of the Beauty Industry?
All kinds of trends come and go in the beauty industry. But when it comes to slow beauty, we hope AND want this latest beauty trend to stay! So what is slow beauty?
Slow beauty is about consumers using fewer, better products to lessen unnecessary consumption and waste. And as a brand, it is our responsibility to be more thoughtful of the products we develop and put into the world. We also want to push the definition to include sustainable and ethical practices in the beauty industry. Let’s create better products while making sure how we source our ingredients is fair and equitable. The need to use earth’s resources responsibly is the reason why slow beauty is a critical conversation to have.
If we have to toot our own horns, slow beauty isn’t new to us. We’re building our brand on this concept. We try our best to be extremely thoughtful on how we create and package our products: That’s why our reusables use bamboo fiber and are packaged in recyclable containers printed with soy ink.
Why is Slow Beauty the Present and the Future?
All industries are aiming for sustainability today. Their focus is on minimizing waste and maximizing utility. The beauty industry alone produces massive annual wastes of 120 billion units. Most of this waste comes from single-use items such as cotton pads, wipes, and packaging.
Did you know cotton- which makes up cotton rounds and makeup wipes- is a highly polluted crop and requires hundreds of chemicals to process? Treatment plants are used to make the chemical-rich cotton chemical-free for safe human use. So not only do we have a waste problem, we have a high usage of chemicals to process cotton. This is a crucial reason why we use organic cotton as our washbag. There is a dire need to invest in organic cotton plantations. This movement has already started, and it is picking up pace but still has a long way to go.
It is important to step back and think about the touchpoints in our supply chain. This means asking the difficult questions of where each component comes from to make a product. Taking the time to ask and understand is slowing down!
Our slow beauty products include our bamboo charcoal makeup remover pad and our bamboo velour skincare pads. We are minimizing the waste and using fabrics that are OEKO-Tex® certified guaranteeing that chemicals are reused and upcycled.
And when it comes to slow beauty packaging, companies have switched to biodegradable packing boxes and water-activated paper tapes that don’t harm the environment. These boxes and paper tapes decompose and act as natural manure for plants and trees. It’s all about giving back to the environment and helping it flourish. Win-win!
How do we find the balance between creating new products with using earth’s resources appropriately? We love newness - don’t get us wrong- but what the pandemic has taught us is to use what we have. Because many of us have less room now. What was once your living room is now your office, or your office is now a virtual classroom.
Beauty brands that practice Slow Beauty are the future because they are contributing to the betterment of the environment.