In the third and final continuation of this series, we will delve further into why cosmetic pollution is framed as the “women’s” problem and how the issue should be tackled instead. 

Oftentimes, makeup consumption reinforces the gender binary of men and women, that only women are allowed to consume and wear makeup as it is observed as a “feminine thing” to do (Jairath & Daima, 2021; Deutsch, 2007). As a result, since the primary consumer base of makeup products are women, the blame of makeup pollution tends to fall on women as well. 

Interestingly enough, there has been a gradual shift in makeup or more broadly, cosmetic consumption toward men as well. According to a study by IPSOS (2022), younger men aged 18-34 are more open to using makeup, with only 37% saying they would never consider using it. This was opposed to older males over the age of 51, where 73% said they would never use makeup (IPSOS, 2022). This suggests an increasing openness and acceptance towards makeup amongst men. Furthermore, research has also highlighted the role of TikTok in going against gender stereotypes through the increasing number of male beauty content creators (Foster and Baker, 2022). Just based on a simple Google search, the shift is clearly evident. 

However, would this then suggest that male consumers are now responsible for a percentage of makeup pollution? In doing so, we are assuming that only consumers are responsible for the pollutive impacts of cosmetics. We then effectively fail to consider the wider power relations at play and accord the blame to individuals. While it is true that each individual can and should play a role in tackling cosmetics pollution especially through ethical consumption, what are the corporations doing? 

With the growing awareness of climate change and the need for sustainability, there has also been an increasing popularity and need for companies to match up. This is no different for the cosmetics industry, where companies have been implementing sustainability strategies in order to green their supply chain and sending out eco-friendly marketing campaigns for their products (Kolling et al., 2021; Monroe et al., 2021). However, further research has also brought up the prevalence of greenwashing from cosmetic companies, in which their products, though marketed as environmentally-friendly, are not (Riccolo, 2021). 

This then suggests not only the need for stricter regulations and stringent audits, but also the complexity behind the root cause of cosmetics pollution. While this series has mainly focused on cosmetics pollution, the need to find out the root cause behind the diverse types of pollution and tackle if effectively also require a nuanced view. Hopefully, this series has been interesting for you, as we delved through the pollutive impacts of makeup in the past till present day and the shifting trends in the cosmetics industry in how it may contribute to or mitigate its pollutive impacts. 

References 

Deutsch, F. M. (2007). Undoing gender. Gender & Society, 21(1), 106–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243206293577 

Foster, J., & Baker, J. (2022). Muscles, makeup, and Femboys: Analyzing Tiktok’s “radical” masculinities. Social Media + Society, 8(3), 205630512211260. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221126040 

IPSOS. (2022). There’s a market for men’s cosmetics–and a generation gap – Ipsos. IPSOS. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/knowledge/customer-experience/there-is-a-market-for-mens-cosmetics-and-a-generation-gap 

Jairath, J., & Daima, R. (2021). Role of Pop Culture in Popularising Gender-Bending Fashion and Ideals of Beauty and Makeup. International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law, 1(3). https://doi.org/https://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Role-of-Pop-Culture-in-Popularizing-Gender-Bending-Fashion-and-Ideals-of-Beauty-and-Makeup_Jaanvi-Jairath-Rhea-Daima.pdf 

Kolling, C., Ribeiro, J. L., & de Medeiros, J. F. (2022). Performance of the cosmetics industry from the perspective of corporate social responsibility and design for Sustainability. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 30, 171–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.12.002 

Morea, D., Fortunati, S., & Martiniello, L. (2021). Circular economy and Corporate Social Responsibility: Towards an integrated strategic approach in the multinational cosmetics industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 315, 128232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128232 

Riccolo, A. (2021). The lack of regulation in preventing greenwashing of cosmetics in the US. J. Legis., 47, 133.