We hesitate to call this a trend because it’s decidedly not that: Slow beauty is beauty—well, beauty before we all became too busy and distracted to enjoy ourselves. Let us explain. Needless to say, it inspires many beauty enthusiasts to quite literally stop and smell the rosewater. But Shel Pink (who wrote the book on slow beauty) explains slow beauty is more than just seeking nourishing products: “It’s something to help us maintain not only our physical well-being but our psychological and spiritual well-being as well,” she tells mbg. “It’s all about developing a personal, sustainable self-care practice.” While the term itself has been around for a while (it was “coined” in 2007, as a response to the information overload we now accept as a part of daily life), it reappears in ebbs and flows whenever our culture sees fit. Here’s an example: Slow beauty actually surged a few years ago as backlash to the fully loaded “shelfies” you might have seen populating your Instagram. Rather than countless products lining up on bathroom shelves, the philosophy inspired a counterculture that influenced many beauty insiders to pare back their routines to a few essential players. And even before that, slow beauty has manifested itself in the rituals beauty lovers have always shared together. Slow beauty is what happens when you take the time to properly take a bath. It’s what happens when you let your skin breathe. It’s what happens when you play your natural hair texture up, not down. It’s what happens when you opt out of the shiny new product and choose the multipurpose one or, gasp, the one you have at home. It’s what happens when you use beauty as a means of connection—connection to others, to tradition, to self. Of course, identifying what you need is only half the battle. Finding nourishing, sustainable products is crucial for a slow beauty experience (beauty is sensorial, remember?). Good news is, many clean brands inherently subscribe to this philosophy. Here are a few of our favorites, so you can revel in the gorgeous scents and textures. Bia Skin Superfood, Codex Beauty ($50) Self Care/Sleep Aid Set, LIHA BEAUTY ($68.68) Pank Plum Elixir, LOLI Beauty ($52) Renew Mask Kit, FACE - KIT ($85) Indulge Total Body Elixir, Beneath Your Mask ($90) Hand Salve, SpaRitual ($15.50)
