The difficult truth about ‘natural’ beauty’s contribution to climate change
Environmentally conscious consumers are ditching synthetic beauty products in favour of natural alternatives, but there's a dark side to the boom in their popularity. At present, the general consensus that ‘natural,’ ‘green,’ ‘organic,’ and ‘clean’ means better is ubiquitous within the beauty industry and frankly speaking, it makes a lot...
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Could your skincare regime be endangering sharks further?
One ingredient in popular skincare items is regularly sourced from endangered, deep ocean dwellers. Shark fin soup has racked up serious blame for the depletion of shark populations around the world. But even if you aren’t eating sharks, there’s still a possibility that your daily habits are contributing to the...
Could circular beauty remedy the industry’s waste problem?
The ever-expanding sector generates 120 billion tonnes of throwaway packaging annually. Given we can no longer recycle our way out of this mess, are circular-designed products the answer? Unless your skincare routine involves using leftover ingredients from last night’s meal to create that homemade face mask you saw on TikTok...
How Gen Z is pushing beauty to be more diverse and accepting
Leaning into a natural skin aesthetic while still leaving room for makeup experimentation, Gen Z is changing the way we approach beauty products. We already know that Gen Z is the driving force of pushing boundaries, both in terms of social change and creating new trends. This is especially evident in...
Male makeup is slowly permeating mainstream beauty
Fuelled by social media and changing attitudes towards masculinity, the beauty industry is shaking off some of its most deep-rooted stereotypes, creating and marketing products specifically for men. The beauty landscape has undergone radical changes in recent years. The once-rigid distinctions between traditional gender identities are steadily becoming blurrier, and...
Cosmetic animal testing could return to the UK
A policy which banned animal testing for cosmetic products in 1998 could be reversed to verify the safety of popular ingredients in makeup and skincare. Animal testing has been considered a controversial practice since the 1960s. While it is generally accepted in global scientific research for the purpose of developing prescription...
Could bioengineered beauty help the industry’s sustainability problem?
Can lab-grown ingredients and biotech brands solve the industry’s sustainability problem? Though we may be a long way off from 3D printing ourselves a new face every morning, there’s no denying that a new era of skincare is upon us. Namely a super-natural world of beauty in which bioengineered products are the norm. This is thanks to an ever-evolving industry that continues finding new ways of harnessing science and tech to...
Could non-surgical cosmetic work become prescription-only?
MPs have warned that the ‘complete absence’ of regulations for non-surgical cosmetic treatment is dangerous and must end, with a call for new rules to be introduced. In February, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority ruled that social media influencers were, by law, to disclose when using beauty filters to promote products. This was not enough to protect the self-esteem of impressionable young people, however. Thanks to lockdowns and a 'Zoom boom',...
Researchers discover ‘forever chemicals’ in beauty products
Researchers have found signs of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that can cause lasting damage to health and the environment in more than half of 231 product samples. When shopping for cosmetics, it’s pretty standard to see a lengthy list of ingredients on almost every item, but a recent study has uncovered that some of those listed might be more dangerous than you’d expect. PFAS (which stands for per- and...
The fight to end hair discrimination
What’s being done to address the racist policies and unfair judgements targeting Black people for wearing their natural hair? With issues such as criminal justice reform currently dominating political discourse, confronting hair discrimination may seem inconsequential to some. What it represents, however, is another hurdle to overcome in our quest for racial and economic justice. Routinely, POC individuals are forced to internalise the messaging that Black hair and its protective styles...
