With a Korean beauty trends infiltrating Western society, one interesting development is the encouragement of more minimalistic, simple makeup and beauty regimes. While Western cultures have often encouraged laborious regimes, with sometimes over 10 steps per routine, together with products for specifically targeted areas, Korean beauty focuses on the utilisation of mutli use products. As mentioned, this has now become the focus of many UK users with statistics from Mintel showing that 28 per cent of UK women have reduced the number of products within their routine, with millennials aged 20 – 29 being most likely to have simplified their routines, and within this age range that number jumps to 54 percent.
This is largely due to the popularity of an emerging counter trend, with the sustainability crisis in mind, which has led to the reduction of consumption of excessive products.
However, for others, the concept of ‘skin fasting’ popularised by Japanese skincare brand Mirai Clinical, has been at the heart of this change. Similar to the purported benefits of an intermitted fasting diet, users of this approach believe by using less products, this will help the skin detox and of course with this change, beauty companies are identified ways to encourage this growing lexicon.
As a trend predicted by Elizabeth Arden’s Dr Engelman, she explains that via the process of Autophagy, which is a process that every cell in your body goes through, toxins will inevitably slow this process down. Therefore, formulating new ingredients in products and reducing any excess product usage, this will act as autophagy activators.
With people leading busier lives than ever, a more minimal routine will without doubt suit this lifestyle. As technology is constantly evolving, and particularly the Korean beauty market being ahead of market innovations, this trend is likely to suit many people. Less products mean less expenditure which not only leads to less financial cost, but also less of an impact on the environment.
Co-founder and co-CEO of Glow Recipe Sarah Lee says that skipcare is “all about focusing on what your skin truly needs and getting rid of any excess,” says Lee. “It’s not about sacrificing good ingredients or necessary steps. Instead, maximize the products and application methods you use in your routine to get amazing results.”
Lee says to look for “hybrid products” that can cut out the number of steps in a routine without sacrificing efficacy. For a cleanser, she suggests looking for a product with soothing and hydrating ingredients. Instead of cluttering your routine with tons of toners and serums, she says to find one nourishing toner that you can layer multiple times with ease. For the last step, she picks a sleeping mask that works overnight so you wake up with brighter and healthier skin.
However, in some products it is advisable to continue to separate. For example, foundation and skin creams containing SPF do not contain an adequate amount to provide protection from the sun, so therefore, a separate sun cream with preferably factor 50, should be used at least 15 mins before sun exposure. However, with this in mind, less products do not necessarily translate to less effectiveness and this is likely to be the cornerstone for future beauty regimes.