Exploring the Relationship Between Beauty Products and Mental Wellbeing
Beauty and mental health, although seemingly unrelated at first glance, have an interconnected relationship. A search for skincare or makeup tutorials reveals a number of people interested in understanding how beauty practices impact one's mind, submitting questions and calling attention to the relationship between them. Empirical research exploring the psychological effects of beauty practices is still in its early years, and the findings may not always agree, yet some scientists believe this is an issue worth investigating. The following discussion aims to bring the encouraging and discouraging aspects of beauty products to light. Diverse applications and diverse individuals provide the basis for a broad assessment.
The relentless quest for physical attractiveness is
deeply tied to human history. Nonetheless, it was only in the latter part of
the 20th century that research began to investigate the correlations and
designs between physical appearance and mental health in a disciplined fashion.
Since that time, approximately two dozen academic publications have been
published, offering a variety of subjective criticisms of the prevailing
attitudes. Nevertheless, few scientists have attempted to evaluate literally
the extent to which an independent indication of bodily attraction can predict,
match, or proceed with severely misleading impacted indications of
psychological well-being. This is around the axis of contemporary
civilization's gist. There are numerous crucial judgments that remain, where
researchers must also fulfill a part of the pressing and rising demand for a
coherent system for deciding whether charm products are good or not. Around 30%
of the financial resources designated by the typical United States female for
the procurement of her own care products was found to derive from previous
times.
1. The Science Behind Beauty Products and Mental Wellbeing
For decades, scientists have paid attention to the
fact that the feeling of beauty can influence a person’s well-being. The
central question was how beauty affects a person’s emotional state. The
cosmetic industry and scholars tackled this question and found some answers.
Some researchers reason that the grooming rituals, relaxation, and sensory
experiences of a beauty routine influence the emotional state a person
experiences. It has been scientifically proven that grooming as an act itself
physically and mentally calms people down and creates a cocoon of relaxation.
These feelings influence a person’s emotional state, making the person feel
self-assured, more attractive, or happy. This influences self-esteem
positively. It can also function as a stress reliever. A systematic review
explains that emotional well-being activities, such as using beauty and
personal care products, contribute to bodily health or, as the researchers
formulated it, general self-care.
Physiologically and psychologically, beauty products
can affect feelings, confidence, and self-esteem. Due to these physical effects
and impacts, competition in the appearance market is high, leading to an
increased number of beauty brands and social media sites. Social media
platforms present people with societal pressures on their beauty standards.
This consequently shapes people’s thoughts and feelings about the beauty
industry. People generally care to feel good about themselves. Therefore, this
proposes that a person’s beautification ritual indirectly influences mental
health. The beauty routine and experience have effects on a person’s feelings
and self-esteem, making people feel less vulnerable to their environment and,
finally, influencing mental well-being. This shows the dark side of advertised
beauty effects undermining the message that beautifying activities only induce
a positive mood. The qualitative and theoretical discussions illustrate that,
theoretically, beautification activities can be harmful and supportive of
mental well-being.
2. Types of Beauty Products That Promote Mental Wellbeing
Skincare: Yes, my mood is showing. Exfoliating the
dead cells of the day, going to bed with a fragrant cream, spraying a mist for
a fresher moment at 4 PM. As well as perhaps softening the appearance of my
fine lines and bringing welcome hydration, going through the rituals of my
skincare routine can calm and center me — heavy word warning — spiritually.
Like the ritual dinner provides, it's a trick of time to stave off chaos. You
can feel a bit lame admitting that, say, when weekly lathering of a smoothing
face mist into what I have slowly carved out as my 'me' time, is not quite the
height of ancient, enduring tribal healing. But it's common sense. For a
fashion journalist turned beauty entrepreneur, it's always been about more than
just putting a preferably safe and glow-inducing product into the world.
"This idea, particularly with skincare of lighting candles and cleansing,
is a holistic experience that goes much deeper than, 'will it unclog my pores
and make me break out less?'", she explains from her kitchen where she
does her creating and testing. "It's a ritual. It's a routine and,
particularly right now, it's something that's giving people a sense of intimacy
and connection, even in their own home."
Aroma: For Sale in the Cerebral Wars have been fought
over spices; bananas and baroque paintings can shift as many units as a
well-made vaccine. In our olfactory world, surrounded as we are by the
sympathetic sound of music — remember when chocolate or curry or bananas or oil
burners disguising the smell of shortness of breath were not considered
suitable wedding favors with which to regale guests? — a lemony spritz will
still shift a single sock sale of £35 or so each time. The Nose doesn't have a
face, although it has a body and it's absolutely in our brains. Over the past
two or three years, more and more people have been tapping themselves a small
amount of a fragrance in the vague or precise belief that citrussy ingredients
are antidepressants. Depending on where you count a nerve, our sense of smell
gets sent via a five-lane highway to an airstrip at the front of our brain.
Thus, it is thought, it has the easiest access to our being and, in terms of
polymorphous behavior, lies of pretentiousness. Not at all empirical studies
have demonstrated that wafting a rose-scented towel under the nose in the
morning lifts "happy" and "calm," while citruses are
energizing.
3. Case Studies and Success Stories
Case Study 1: “As a makeup artist and a female, I have
struggled with stress and anxiety as well as low self-esteem. I started using
makeup products that worked for me, and slowly, I began to take time out for
myself. I incorporated skincare routines, and it gave me a self-care routine
which increased my self-esteem and sparked an idea that a mental health charity
could offer support – not everyone’s cup of tea is to talk to a stranger about
how they feel, so taking care and time out, practicing their beauty routine
could help others take small forward steps for themselves. I haven’t been ill
since; so I started out of the box as a project to help others who had been in
my shoes.”
Case Study 2: “Charlene, age 34, is currently using
products 3-4 nights per week as part of her extensive beauty routines support
offered by her key worker. Although she hadn’t the confidence initially to
attend the drop-in, in September she started to access support. ‘It’s not just
about looking good, that’s an added bonus, it’s more about taking time out from
the day to day – putting a face pack on and relaxing that’s good for my mental
health. I would sit in front of the TV, but taking the time to put a face pack
on or do my nails or hair is my me time.’”
Case Study 3: Data about their project. Impacts: “The
aim for this case study was to provide a picture of the overall impact that
this project had on female victims of domestic violence. First and foremost,
the level of engagement in the project was extremely high, with women
demonstrating their desire to participate. Women involved stated that beyond
direct enjoyment of the beauty product pampering, the provision of the products
themselves allowed them access to goods that they had not been able to afford to
purchase themselves. For a good number of women, this meant that they had not
regularly used beauty products in a while. Women indicated that these beauty
routines improved their mood, with ‘me time’ and a boost to their well-being
reported by all.” A case worker working on this project said “This is a great
project for our organization and works really well with our mission to support
the health and mental well-being of people in recovery from drug and alcohol
problems. We have incorporated the project into our recovery program and use
beauty routines as part of our therapeutic interventions at the drop-ins we
run. The feedback from women at the drop-ins is excellent, and I am amazed by
the many success stories. There is an element of emotional healing in taking
the time to do your beauty routine, and a boost in building up self-esteem and
resilience. When you use the products provided by beauty routines, you simply
feel better.”
4. Future Directions and Recommendations for Using Beauty Products in Mental Health
There is much research still to be undertaken both to
understand the potential and also the real risks of the beauty product and
mental health relationships. We have many theories and some evidence to suggest
that people use and think about the relationship in a range of ways, and we
need to encapsulate these in a coherent theory. There is an urgent need to
provide some direction for mental health practitioners. Currently, clinical
practice is mostly guided by evidence from dermatology that relates to the benefits
and significant risks in acne and psoriasis. Beyond this, many psychologists
signpost to the benefits without giving specific guidance, or may dismiss
discussion as an initial enticement which they then actively dissuade clients
from considering. The current review provided a number of recommendations from
practitioners and service users for more intentional incorporation of beauty
into therapeutic ways of working, and so from this perspective our aim is
consistent and already endorsed. Further research should build on these
suggestions and involve the appropriate target groups as co-researchers. There
is currently no research into the effect on skin of psychological therapy.
Dermatology is developing its understanding of the detrimental relationship
between environmental stress and disease, without considering the potential for
psychological therapy to enhance skin barrier function and overall skin health.
Future research should, therefore, explore the impact of positive emotions and
social relationships. To help grow the area further, future research also needs
to go beyond the individual and consider the impact of interactions—for
example, a vulnerable person who receives a facial piercing or tattoo from a
negligent professional. The next phase should also allow professional
integration of collaborations between psychologists, psychotherapists,
dermatologists, and beauty professionals, probably psychologists, to develop
co-research agendas and facilitate the ethical development of relevant beauty
products. Conversely, further research is required as to whether the promotion
of beauty products using mental health or well-being descriptors is ethical and
consensual. The beauty therapists involved through module membership agreed
that beauty should be part of advocacy for mental health, and so the discourse
of mental well-being in the beauty industry was perceived negatively; it is
shallow and usurps serious concepts about living healthfully. Others posit that
well-being has lost its social justice essence and been subject to a process of
individualization and privileging, synonymous with self-care. Given the large
sociological literature exploring how industries create desires and
contradictions that reinforce dominant norms and behaviors, we feel that this
internal tension in the discourse of mind/body dualism and authenticity is
collectively a stance that is inherently individualizing and shallow. The
beauty industry has a large responsibility to engage with conversations about
mental health and self-worth. The beauty industry has a very powerful albeit
complex discourse and habits to promote the most consumption—there is a huge
propensity for hypocrisy. The Consortium now has a suggested ethical practice
document for its members in module 1, under development for module 3. Alongside
the need for such research exploring teaching and well-being relationships,
there is also a need for relevant product development. Suggested approaches to
collaboration include the tracking of beauty use in self-management as part of
a healthy lifestyle, through incentivized longitudinal research. As product
development increases, one of our ethical considerations should be to promote
beauty-therapy combinations that are integrated into a lifestyle of fulfillment
and well-being, not exclusivity and self-alteration. Given that beauty
strategies that can be thought about and practiced are the future, the
development and introduction to the market need to be managed carefully so
conversations are ones of celebration, rather than the promotion of a harmful
industry and unattainable beauty standards.