Unstandard beauty standards

Times are tough. Costs are high. And yet you seemingly can’t put a price on beauty.

Cash spent on beauty products reached $440bn in 2024, having grown by 7% annually over the preceding two years, well ahead of retail spending.

With so much money up for grabs, everyone is getting involved. 

Hand care is now a thing, for example. Rather than something to do with the previous section, it involves the use of serums, “treatment-boosting” fingerless gloves, and even fat transfers. Hands are “the perfect storm” for accelerated aging, although at least they can’t frown as they read this. 

Should we run out of body parts to brutally judge on adults, there’s a whole new audience to target. Companies are now creating skincare for kids, while some spas feature child-oriented menus. This used to mean slightly fewer chicken nuggets, but now involves a lymphatic drainage massage.

Nothing and no one is safe. People are harmonising their faces, which is giving eugenics. Men are facing impossible beauty standards, in a rare yet twisted sign of equality. Even animals aren’t safe, with a camel beauty contest recently rocked by a Botox cheating scandal.

It’s probably no surprise. Social media filters set impossible standards and video calls offer an hourly opportunity to assess our imperfections. But surely we can leave the kids and camels out of it?