Beauty Fatigue Is Real — Here’s What I Did to Get Over It

With all the overconsumption in the beauty industry, it’s easy to get over-stressed. What one beauty editor did to get over her beauty fatigue and re-spark her joy.

Girl. Let me tell you. Around the middle of last year, I just … could not do it anymore.

I unsubscribed from emails. I unfollowed accounts on Twitter and Instagram. I was DONE.

Done with what, you ask? BEAUTY.

Yes, the beauty fatigue was real. It seemed like literally every day a new brand was launching, a new product, a new cleanser, a new eyeliner, a new palette … like it was TOO MUCH. It got to the point where I literally couldn’t keep up with things and it just made me feel SO. GROSS.

I feel like we are at this tipping point where we know that global warming and climate change are real and sustainability is incredibly important. I have intense anxiety surrounding the health of our planet, and in my daily life, I’ve tried to do my part to reduce my consumption and help the Earth. When I bought my new car, I made sure it was 100% electric. I take my recycling to the recycling center weekly. I bring a water bottle and a reusable coffee cup with me when I go to work at coffee shops. I’ve reduced the amount of skincare and beauty stuff I buy, trying incredibly hard to stick to buying only what I need. And getting constantly bombarded by release after release after release was just too much. I kept thinking — who is constantly buying all this stuff? Why do these companies think we need an eyeshadow palette for every color of the rainbow? Do we really need another type of night cream? No! We don’t.

Well, I just … stopped consuming it. I stopped shopping. I stopped looking at the websites and YouTube. I was gaining no joy from it all, so I needed to take a step back and reassess my values and priorities. After I stopped all of that, in order to get my mojo back, I made it a point to think about what I DID like about beauty. I mean, beauty and makeup and skincare and wellness has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and despite me being completely over it, I couldn’t give it up completely. I mean, who would I be without beauty?!

So, I made a game plan. I would only follow a select number or Instagram influencers and brands, the ones that I really loved. I still don’t get the emails, because I don’t want to feel like I just *need* to buy things. Instead of rushing out to buy the brand new whatever that a company has come out with, I am focusing on quality and what I actually need.

And you know what? Consuming beauty news and hearing about the latest releases became kinda fun again, and not this overwhelming sense of dread that I’m ruining the planet.

I really think these brands and companies need to start really re-thinking their strategies. More and more people are realizing that all of this excess is insane. Beauty influencers have started to refuse PR packages because there is just so much waste involved. Other influencers have taken themselves off of those coveted PR lists because they’ve realized they already have way more makeup than they’ll ever need. And this is what I’d like to see! Trust me, you don’t need that new palette. You don’t need that new lip gloss (you probably already have one in your collection). I’d love to see brands embracing ethical consumption — a pipe dream, but a girl can wish!

So how do you feel about beauty fatigue? Have you experienced it? Let me know in the comments!