Beauty influencers want you to know they get it. You're exhausted by the hyperspeed of flash beauty trends that infiltrate our lives at every point. Actually, they are too; “like really, really exhausted”. Slide into the DMs of a handful of content creators, offer full anonymity in exchange for an honest description of the state of beauty under the reign of the algorithm, and they will say things like: “Fearmongering gets views, sadly.” “We've all become shop girls, selling shit people don't need.” “I used to love beauty.” “I can't talk about the things I want to talk about if I want views.” “It used to be about expressing myself, but all I think about is what is trending or what could be trending.” “Trying to keep up with it all is making me feel bad about myself.” And a most devastating response: “I have lost myself in this.”
Trend fatigue has been a growing sentiment across both beauty and fashion. Three years of viral looks and turbocharged trends, fast fashion and fast beauty has left a lot of us with drawers full of unused product and racks of clothing that have dated like chopped avocado. Throw in a cost-of-living crisis and geopolitical unrest, and it's no wonder
