Jenny, a retired nurse from Devon, is passionate about skincare and considers herself an addict. After discovering QVC, she spent her entire pension lump sum of around £10,000 on skincare and makeup within a couple of years. She currently subscribes to four beauty boxes for £65 a month, receiving about 20 beauty products in the mail. However, she has also spent thousands on one-off boxes and individual products. Jenny recognizes her behavior as obsessive-compulsive and regrets the amount of money she has spent on skincare.
Jenny, who recently turned 60, is not alone in her addiction to beauty products. The Reddit group Skincare Addiction has grown from half a million subscribers in 2018 to 2 million subscribers now. Social media influencer Hailey Bieber has also inspired millions of views on TikTok with her skincare routine.
Google Trends indicates a significant increase in searches for Botox, injectable fillers, and skincare in the past few years. The popularity of these searches doubled in the UK during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic and has remained high since 2022. In July of this year, searches for Botox were 13% higher than in July 2022, while searches for skincare were up by 30%. The hashtag #skincareroutine has amassed a whopping 55 billion views on TikTok.
Jenny admits that she could have used the money she spent on skincare to pay her rising household bills. She fell for the anti-aging promises and now possesses a massive pile of mostly unopened products that would take her a hundred years to go through. She feels ashamed of her addiction to skincare but finds it comforting and sees it as an investment in self-care and pampering. However, she is aware that being addicted to anything is a cause for concern, and she fears that if she were to start getting fillers and Botox, she wouldn’t be able to stop.
Sarah, a 30-year-old emergency service worker from Glasgow, also spends a significant amount of money on beauty and haircare products. She attributes her spending habits to website reviews, recommendations from influencers, and viral products on TikTok. Sarah splurges on high-end shampoo and conditioner, regular hairdresser visits, manicures, and cosmetic procedures like Botox and lip fillers. These treatments make her feel more confident, although she is aware of the cost and finds it frightening when she sees it written down.
The skincare industry is rapidly growing, and consumers from all income levels in the UK are participating. Skincare product users are distributed nearly equally across low, medium, and high-income groups. However, there is an alarming lack of recent data on Botox and filler procedures in the UK. Unregistered practitioners have received 2,824 complaints in 2022, reflecting a 16% increase from 2021 and a 36% rise since 2020.
Despite the cost of living crisis, many respondents prioritize beauty spending and even resort to borrowing money to afford it. Lauren, a recent graduate, started getting lip fillers at 18 and estimates spending about £600 every four to six months on dermal fillers. She also spends significant amounts on makeup, skincare, and haircare, viewing it as a hobby and a way to boost her confidence. Lauren confesses that she would wait for her student maintenance loan to pay for fillers, which she acknowledges is not what the government intended.
Tori, a 38-year-old management consultant, prioritizes expensive cosmetic procedures over other expenses. She receives regular Botox injections, skin peels, tear trough filler, mesotherapy, gel manicures, and annual tattooing of her lips and eyebrows. Tori spends thousands of pounds trying to make her thin hair appear thicker. She believes that these treatments are time-consuming and wishes her husband could effortlessly maintain his appearance like she does.
Clara, an investment banker in her 40s, feels immense pressure as a woman in business to maintain a youthful look. She spends over £1,000 a month on beauty maintenance, including waxing, nails, tanning, and dermatologist appointments for treatments like microneedling, Botox, and fillers. Clara acknowledges the staggering sums she spends but recognizes that as a woman in the business world, her face is her currency. She highlights the sexist stigma surrounding women’s appearances and the pressure to look fresh, slim, and attractive without admitting to having any cosmetic procedures done.
In conclusion, there is a growing trend of excessive spending on beauty products and cosmetic procedures. Individuals like Jenny, Sarah, Lauren, Tori, and Clara are driven by the promise of anti-aging and the desire to feel good about themselves. The skincare industry continues to expand, and social media platforms like TikTok play a significant role in influencing these spending habits. However, it is important to be mindful of the cost, potential addictive behavior, and the need to prioritize other essential expenses in life.
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