What is The #Nobuy Beauty Challenge and How Can it Help the Environment?

In recent months, the movement has become an online challenge in itself. Many vloggers have pledged to a “no-buy year” – and are documenting their progress on YouTube in lieu of uploading videos of their recent purchases.

“My main goal through this journey is to develop a healthier relationship with shopping and noticing when it’s an emotional impulse,” says blogger Serein Wu, who pledged to a no-buy 2019 in a video uploaded earlier this year. “I struggle with depression and anxiety, shopping has become a coping mechanism and quick bandaid for when I’m starting to feel bad about myself.”

“In November, a sporadic clear-out reminded me of how many fantastic lipsticks I own, but rarely wear,” says no-buy blogger MookyChick.

“The whole thing made me realise that my collection needs a serious downsize.”

She continues: “Part of the push for this was that I need to save for my wedding, so I’m going to be tracking how much I’m not spending on random cosmetics every month. A lot of it was also the realisation that I have so much stuff already, and I don’t use half of it, even though I like it all!”

When beauty blogger Samantha Ravndahl shared a video called ‘No More PR…’ with her subscribers, it was met with a flurry of supportive comments.

In the video, she explains why she no longer accepts free items from beauty companies – citing excess packaging and waste as her two major reasons for shutting down her postbox. “On a not slow week I might receive 20 to 30 packages,” she says. “Even putting aside the fact that I can’t possibly use all of that product, the packaging that it’s sent in is exorbitant.”

Ravndahl has now committed to only buying products that she knows she will use and enjoy.

Ever since David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series highlighted the devastating effects of plastic pollution on marine wildlife, with scenes showing birds feeding microplastics to their chicks, many of us have been rethinking our environmental footprint – and it should probably come as no surprise that the half-used mascara wands, barely touched lipsticks and the reams of cellophane and plastic they come packaged in, aren’t good for the environment.

Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced since the 1950s. Of this, they estimate that 60% has either ended up in landfill or the natural environment.