Why influencer-driven beauty routines are about to see a serious backlash

Everyone’s on a “journey.”

And I just want to stay home.

Every time I open TikTok I’m blasted by a woman wielding various beauty instruments telling me I’m not doing enough.

Snatch the waist. Guasha the face. Gut health journey. Hair growth journey. Protein journey. Pilates at 6am. No coffee. No parabens. No problem journey.

What’s your colour season? You do know, right? I think you’re not wearing your correct colour season. That burnt orange really washes you out.

Don’t forget to oil pull. Your teeth will be whiter if you oil pull. I use coconut oil. Oh, and your heatless curling rods. And your mouth tape (can’t forget the mouth tape). Because we want to snatch the face, don’t we?

Lord. Send help. The girls you put on this earth to be beautiful fairies are exhausting themselves with this insanity.

Humans have shared their disdain for ageing since we’ve had written word.

Shakespeare called it a “hideous winter.”

The ancient Greek poet Homer called it “loathsome.”

The pursuit of a “fountain of youth” has been a popular legend for centuries.

However, I firmly believe the answer to our apparent prayers for the reversal of ageing does not lie within 40 different influencer-recommended products.

Since when did “self-care” become so exhausting?

Because why would we keep something simple and easy? No, we just HAVE to make it a full-on lifestyle.

The “self-care” that was once about lighting a candle, using a moisturizer, maybe an eye cream, and indulging in a nice bath with a juicy glass of red has morphed into an Olympic sport.

Now, if you aren’t conducting an entire spa ritual that includes everything from heatless curlers to sleep masks, well, are you even really caring for yourself?

No. you’re not. You’re a bad little slave to the system and should be ashamed of yourself. Tut.

What started as a few gentle hacks here and there has spiralled into an absurd “beauty to-do list.”

A list that makes me wonder if we’re all training for the next Victoria’s Secret runway or just trying to squeeze 48 hours into 24.

You’ve got 15-step skincare routines, 45 minutes of Pilates, and 17 different oils to balance out every possible thing going wrong with your body, all while trying to look effortless in the process.

I cannot tell you how tiresome it is to see “here’s the 5 things I did to balance my hormones.” Okay. Name 5 hormones, their function, and what ‘balancing’ them means.

This is not only an endless, tiresome pursuit. It’s also, unsolicited advice from people who may or may not know what they’re even talking about.

Has the beauty and wellness space become less about what actually works and more about showcasing our dedication to it?

It’s all about the act of self-care – or, performing it for the algorithm.

Posting a face mask routine while your hair’s wrapped in a towel, and filming yourself doing your daily lymphatic drainage as though you’ve got all the time in the world to layer on 12 different products.

Is it for you? Or is it for the gram?

The irony is, the more people try to show they’re in control of their beauty journey, the more they likely end up feeling completely overwhelmed by it.

In a psychodermatology survey commissioned by Clinique, 53% of people reported they were overwhelmed by complex and time-consuming skincare.

And this overwhelm made them less likely to stick to a routine.

If the idea of waking up at 6am for a quick Pilates session followed by a 30-minute routine involving 17 tools doesn’t sound exhausting, then I don't know what does.

You know what sounds better?

A simple routine that doesn’t make you feel like you need to spend the next 72 hours in your bathroom mirror just to maintain the illusion of “effortless” beauty.

Where’s the real “journey” here?

Do you ever feel like, maybe we’ve gotten it all wrong?

(Yes – about everything at the moment – but right now I’m talking about skincare, lol.)

What if – and bear with me here - wellness isn’t about how many products you can slap on your face or how many routines you can do before breakfast?

What if it’s about the actual essence of taking care of yourself—not just looking like you’re doing it?

While some might be chasing their dream face with mouth tape, I’m over here just trying to get 8 hours of sleep and avoid stressing about whether my skin is "chronically dehydrated" because I don’t own Crème de la Mer (I’ll pass on the $2,400 price tag, thank you.)

But hey, what do I know?

Now, I’m not just being a pick me. I know some of these practices genuinely do work. And I’m not shading anyone who uses them.

But it’s the excessive and tiresome culmination of hundreds of practices that have made beauty and wellness as complicated as assembling IKEA furniture.

And the backlash is coming...

As we keep spiralling down the path of excessive routines, there’s bound to be a shift.

People are going to get tired of wearing an entire Sephora shelf just to go to sleep. And when they do, they’re going to want something real—something simpler.

They’re going to seek out brands and influencers who aren’t just about the “next big thing,” but instead offer genuine, honest routines that prioritise wellness over performance.

And maybe, just maybe, the real self-care will be learning how to say “no” to the endless beauty tricks, dialling back, and reclaiming the peace that comes from just letting yourself be—without the mouth tape.

-Sophie, Writer