Yesterday we discussed how our fashion choices can majorly impact the health of the planet – and the people who work to actually produce our garments. But the beauty industry comes into play in this discussion as well.
“Waste is generated by formula testers, unsold or returned products and items that expire in warehouses or on store shelves,” explains Vogue Business writer Rachel Cernansky. “Compounding the problem is the lack of data on how much actually gets wasted, as well as a lack of solutions for managing that waste better. With retailers sending unsold inventory back to brands; expired or discontinued products being sent to the landfill; and unused products sitting in customers’ homes, it’s impossible to pinpoint the true numbers of the beauty industry’s waste.”
Personalized beauty is, at least, partly a solution to this problem and it’s a category with massive growth. In fact, according to PRNewswire, the skincare market is healthy and is expected to grow considerably between 2021-2030, but the personalization skincare market is expected to grow double that.
“We are not all alike – we all have different skin tones, lifestyle, location, genes, age, etc.,” says Joy Chen, co-founder and CEO of personalized beauty brand Pure Culture Beauty. “That means our skin is different as well. Selling the same ‘one size fits all’ product to people globally is not right when we all have different skin needs. Consumers are demanding that they get products that is right and personalized for them.”
She goes on to note that many parts of our lives are already moving to personalization – our food choices, supplements, hair. It is about time that beauty is moving that way as our skin is so different from one another.
But personalization not only benefits the consumer, but the planet.
“Over 50% of people have tried over 50+ skincare brands in search for the right skincare,” says Chen. “If we can help them by personalizing what is right for their skincare, we will be able to reduce waste in the industry. For perspective, close to $4.8B beauty products get discarded from brands and customers each year. We can reduce this waste if we can get customers the right product and stop over production of beauty products that do not sell. With personalization, you only make what is needed by the customer as opposed to producing in massive quantities in hope of the sale.”
Pure Culture Beauty, for their part, uses at-home skin tests to objectively personalize custom formulas (cleanser, serum and moisturizer).
Function of Beauty, eSalon, Curology, Younique and The Buff Customized Face Oil are just some of the other brands and products looking to cut down on waste and given the market growth there are plenty of others sure to join in.
