Every now and then I come across an article or blog post that reminds me that our Euro Institute founder, AnneMarie Camenzind, was a pioneer in so many areas of holistic health and beauty, long, long before they became fashionable with today's influencers. The concept of "slow beauty" has been and still is part of the core philosophy of mind-body skin health that we teach our students at the Euro - that is, it takes all areas of your life into account. It’s not only about skincare but more so about wellbeing. That's what AnneMarie believed.
This week, I'm reprinting a blog post from Evolve Organic Beauty in the UK. It defines nicely the slow beauty trend, which will always be part of our holistic ideology.
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WHAT IS SLOW BEAUTY?
Slow beauty is a lifestyle that takes into consideration the sustainable and ethical aspects of your daily routines, such as skincare and beauty. It allows you to question the environmental impact of your products and teaches you how to take time for yourself and allow yourself maximum enjoyment from these daily rituals.
Getting a good night's sleep and making sure your body is getting a nutritional, balanced diet are both part of what slow beauty is, because at its core, slow beauty is a lifestyle choice.
It also takes into account the environment and promotes sustainability through every aspect of production. It raises questions as to how the ingredients are sourced and the overall impact it has on the world around us. Even the packaging itself needs to reflect the same ideology and supports sustainability. All these factors come together to promote the movement of slow beauty.
Slow beauty is less of an individual element, and more of a broad, and hopefully long-lasting movement.
WHY IS SLOW BEAUTY IMPORTANT?
Our modern lives are often fast paced and when it comes to finding our beauty fix, many people head towards buying what is convenient for them. Those purchases can be made without thinking about the deeper roots of the product itself, such as its impact on the environment and even on your skin.
Taking the time to choose what products to buy can be difficult as we are so used to being bombarded with adverts, encouraging us to buy, buy, buy and having to deal with busy schedules. It can be tempting to jump on the next beauty trend simply because everyone else is!
Instead of buying into a trend that may come and go in a flash, slow beauty encourages us to think about what we really need from a product and make informed decisions on what we spend our money on. We are then able to really appreciate what we buy and know that it’s a right fit for us and not just a pressured purchase.
WHO IS SLOW BEAUTY FOR?
Slow beauty is for anyone who cares about the impact that their beauty routine has on both themselves and the environment. Slow beauty advocates an approach from an ecological and responsible perspective, looking for ingredients that are ethical and sustainable. Packaging that can be recycled is great for the environment and just knowing you are doing your bit for the world can really be a boost!
It is also for those of us who want to sit back and enjoy our products, rather than rush through our daily routines. Slow beauty teaches us how to find luxury in anything from removing your makeup before bed, to have a relaxing bath with a gorgeous face mask.
WHERE DID SLOW BEAUTY ORIGINATE?
The slow beauty philosophy originally flourished in California but has recently become a growing global lifestyle choice for many people. The lifestyle movement has become the norm for many, presumably because of the peace it can help to bring to otherwise hectic lifestyles, allowing us to think about our actions and make positive changes.
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BELIEVE THE HYPE WHEN IT COMES TO BEAUTY PRODUCTS
The easiest first step in your slow beauty journey is to look for products that are natural, or better yet organic, to provide your skin with the purest of ingredients. Plant extracts and natural oils are things to look out for in your skincare. Nature has had millions of years to evolve everything your skin needs, short lived beauty fads and trends have not.
There are a huge number of skincare and beauty trends that have proved to either not work at all, or actually make your skin worse. These trends became popular online and through social media, leading to people worldwide trying them.
An example of a popular fad is applying toothpaste onto your skin to get rid of blemishes. This has been around for years and has been used by millions of people worldwide. But it doesn’t actually work.
The idea behind the fad is that the toothpaste can dry out the spot helping it to disappear. However, typical toothpastes can contain ingredients such as baking soda, alcohol and even hydrogen peroxide which can all be very damaging on your skin. Instead of using toothpaste, try natural remedies to help your breakouts instead. Salicylic acid is a BHA that is derived from willow bark and is excellent at treating oily and spot prone skin. It is an anti-inflammatory and helps to calm down the red, angry skin that can often accompany a breakout.
Once again, slow beauty proves a better fix than a fast beauty fad.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND SLOW BEAUTY - HOW SKINCARE SHOULD WORK
Whilst making more environmentally friendly choices and thinking about your decisions is a big part of slow beauty, another core idea is that you should invest in your skincare and not expect instant or overnight results.
In a world full of quick fixes, it can be hard to see the benefit of using the same gentle products night after night. Not only is it better for your skin in a lot of cases, but the results from those speedy treatments are only temporary - whilst investing in a quality skincare ritual sees slower, but longer lasting, results.
Slow beauty products focus on improving your skin's own functions, like the rate of cell turnover, so that the effects of the product can be seen working long after you apply it. It’s also good to know that the skin renews itself every 28 days on average and this rate slows as you get older.
It’s important to give your chosen beauty product time to work its magic, which is not possible if you like to product hop! It’s recommended to try a new product for at least 28 days to really see the benefits, something you wouldn’t be able to dedicate to if you’re jumping on board with a short-lived fad.
So be patient - good things come to those who wait!
WHY ORGANIC AND NATURAL ARE GOOD FOR SLOW BEAUTY ROUTINES
Products made with natural and organic ingredients are much better for both your skin and the environment. The fewer unnatural chemicals, the better. This means that the strain your slow beauty routine will have on the environment will be much much lower than if you were consuming fast mass-produced beauty products and feeding into trends and fads that meant you change products often.
So, what do you need to start doing today to enjoy slow beauty?
Our skincare products are created in small batches, never tested on animals and in recyclable packaging wherever possible. We use the best quality natural and organic ingredients, using many of the original formulations of founder AnneMarie Camenzind.