Understanding Skinimalism: The Back-to-Basics Approach to Skin Care

With people spending more time indoors due to recurrent lockdowns, the focus is on natural skin care, and a "less is more" approach. A Mintel report titled How COVID-19 Accelerated The Hybrid Makeup Trend states that the increasing popularity of skinimalism can be explained by two consumer attitudes.

First, consumers' shrinking budgets and desire for clean formulations is encouraging them to focus on essentials only and commit to a reduced beauty routine. Second, consumers are becoming more eco-conscious and seek products with minimum environmental impact. Beauty brands that boast a minimal approach to beauty, with transparency, value for money, and green claims, can meet the demand for this new consumer trend.

The transition from layering on product after product to a minimalist regime is easy when you understand the ingredients and functions of your cosmetic products. For instance, when it comes to moisturizers, instead of using two products – one for the day and another for the night – a single, versatile product can be an advantageous alternative.

It is equally important to know the advantages of multi-tasking products: when formulated well, these products can contain more than one active ingredient with multiple benefits. 

According to Mintel, in a move away from multi-step routines, the proportion of women in the UK using just one product to cleanse their face increased from 25 percent in 2018 to 28 percent in 2019. At the same time, the proportion of women using four or more products to cleanse had fallen sharply from 26 percent in 2018 to 18 percent in 2019. The report also suggests almost three in 10 women have reduced the number of products in their facial skin care routine, with young eco- and cost-conscious Millennials aged 20 to 29 most likely to have simplified their routines.