Is your monthly manicure an environmental problem?
Last year, demand for acrylic nails surpassed traditional manicures for the first time. With the market only set to grow, it’s time we talk about the environmental impact of plastic-based artificial nails. Conversations about the environmental impact of our beauty routines have become commonplace in online spaces and in marketing...
Current in Style
Single dose of LSD provides immediate and sustained anxiety relief
According to the results of a new study conducted by MindMed, just 100 micrograms of the hallucinogen can halve anxiety within weeks. As a result of this successful clinical trial, the US Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough therapy status to the biopharmaceutical company’s proprietary treatment. Following decades of...
Can a growth-chasing fashion industry ever be truly sustainable?
Although most fashion brands have laid out sustainability goals by now, one overarching objective stands in the way of reaching them: brand growth. Given that environmental issues are influencing society’s purchasing decisions more than ever, fashion brands are working to ensure that their values align with consumers’ increasingly eco-conscious...
Schiaparelli transforms electronic waste into high fashion
When it comes to sustainability, the fashion industry typically makes headlines for being a wasteful polluter. At the latest Schiaparelli show, the brand’s head designer transformed e-waste into clothing that is both upcycled and beautiful. What do the fashion and tech industry have in common? To start with, both industries are...
Opinion – Viral beauty trends on TikTok have gone too far
Social media is adept at consistently making us question whether or not our appearance meets an extremely high standard, all while continuing to shove algorithmic ‘sameness’ down our throats. Isn’t it time we stopped letting the Internet dictate the way we perceive our facial anatomy? Ever since TikTok took over...
Is shopping for skincare now more complicated than ever?
The rise of no-nonsense, ingredient-focused skincare lines promised to streamline our self-care regimes. But with new product lines, formulas, and beauty trends popping up every month, has taking care of our skin become over-complicated? The beauty industry has seen massive growth over the last few years, especially in the skincare...
Opinion – January should be about happiness as much as health
A new year brings new goals. But these restrictive and often daunting wellness trends can do more harm than good. Ah, January—the month when the air is filled with a sense of renewal, and social media is flooded with images of kale smoothies, gym selfies, and the ever-elusive promise of a ‘new you.’ If you’re already crumbling under the weight of this vignette, you’re not alone. From diet advice, to gruelling...
Menstrual cycle linked with increased suicide risk
In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists have uncovered that suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts are most common in the days just before and after bleeding begins. Though the average woman menstruates for 2,535 days of her life (that’s seven years total of pads, tampons, ruined underwear, cramps, and red rivets of womb lining), period stigma prevails. This is most evident in our education systems where, from the moment we’re first visited...
Has fashion truly addressed its ties to Uyghur forced labour?
In 2020, a coalition of human rights groups said it was ‘virtually certain’ that as many as 1 in 5 cotton products sold across the globe were tainted with modern slavery. Has the apparel industry stopped sourcing so extensively from Xinjiang and are brands’ supply chains as ethical as they say they are? During the pandemic, many of the world’s biggest fashion brands and retailers were found to be complicit...
Almost 1 in 10 teenagers have used harmful weight-loss products
According to a new study, around 9 per cent of adolescents – especially girls – have used non-prescribed diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics in their lifetime. As remarked by one of the authors, this is a ‘pretty big public health concern’ for young people around the world. In 2023, social media inspired many of the ways we sought to improve our wellbeing – but not always for the better. Some began...
