Monique Smith, a Toronto-based TikTokker, started holiday prepping when she began posting regularly. “It makes me feel confident, especially if I’m putting myself on camera,” she says.
Instagram and TikTok influencers cause overcrowding at once-quiet retreats
Instagram and TikTok influencers cause overcrowding at once-quiet retreats
In one video chronicling her routine before a recent holiday, she broke down how much her braids, manicure and lashes cost. In all, she spent C$1,045 (US$785) to mixed reviews.
“Some people say it’s a lot, but many of the women that comment go, ‘Oh, actually I spend more than this,’” Smith says. “It’s good to be transparent with what you’re actually spending. It also shows you how much things are starting to pick up.”
A year ago, lashes at her regular salon would cost C$100, while today they are C$150, she says.
You haven’t even landed in the destination, and you’re already out a couple grand.
The prices documented in some videos were enough to give Aspen Cierra Evans, a travel photographer based in the US city of Atlanta, pause.
“You haven’t even landed in the destination, and you’re already out a couple grand.”
But the rising cost of hair and other beauty services, as well as the surge in fast-fashion “hauls” on social media, have left her examining the beauty standards people adhere to for a picturesque Instagram snapshot, as well as the financial lengths they will pursue to maintain it.
“A lot of people that come here are going out of town,” says Lauren Woods, the store manager of a Sugaring Salon outpost in West Palm Beach, in the US state of Florida, one of many such businesses seeing spikes in pre-travel planning.
The average American woman spends US$877 per year on appearance, primarily on skincare and hair products, haircuts and colour, according to a survey published in November by Advanced Dermatology, a Chicago-area clinic in the US.
On average, men spend somewhat less, at US$592 per year. One in six people say they spend more on beauty and wellness than they can afford.
Lakyn Carlton, a personal stylist and sustainable-fashion educator in Los Angeles, notes that for some black women, getting braids or other protective hairstyles helps save time they might otherwise spend on their hair while on holiday.
Consumers seem to be cooling on luxury shopping and clothing in particular, but the beauty industry shows fewer signs of slowing.
“As consumers have spent more on actual travel, it’s almost been a give and take,” says Jessica Ramírez, a senior retail research analyst at Jane Halli & Associates.
Consumers who know how much they will spend on a flight might opt to reuse a bathing suit from the previous year or rent a dress for the destination wedding they are attending, she says. That logic cannot apply to beauty.
Do you have Foodmo – a fear of missing out on trends like dalgona coffee?
Do you have Foodmo – a fear of missing out on trends like dalgona coffee?
Pre-trip gel manicures have long been popular because they are less likely to chip; with social media highlighting the routine, it can feel even more essential to impressionable viewers. And gone are the days when bringing your own beauty products meant picking up a US$2 mini-bottle of body wash at the pharmacy.
High-end brands like Tata Harper now peddle United States Transportation Security Administration-approved bottles of serums, cleansers and moisturisers in kits that cost upwards of US$80.
Being transparent about your routine can be beneficial to a point. It can also perpetuate the very standards creators are shedding light on.
“Transparency is always a good thing, but I don’t know that it’s necessarily moving the needle on beauty culture,” says Jessica DeFino, a critic of beauty culture who writes the Unpublishable newsletter. “In fact, it might be more validating to see it reflected and normalised in other people.
“It’s a way to connect with other people and be like, ‘Oh, I do this, too. It’s normal and it’s fine.’”
For Maria Kalpakian, holiday prep depends on a variety of factors – all a matter of timing. “If I’m going to get lip fillers, I’ll do it one to two weeks beforehand,” she says. “I get my nails, eyebrows and spray tan done the day before, so they last longer. And I did laser hair removal, so I don’t have to worry about waxing.”
The architecture student, who is based in Buenos Aires in Argentina, began documenting the process on her private TikTok after seeing “get ready with me” (GRWM) videos by influencer Alix Earle.
All these treatments speak to what TikTok calls “high maintenance to be low maintenance”, a term regarding the work required to look as if you “woke up like this”.
Everything, everywhere, all at once in ‘military-style travel’, a Gen Z trend
Everything, everywhere, all at once in ‘military-style travel’, a Gen Z trend
As users increasingly chronicle their #beautyroutines and post #grwm videos, they are also laying bare the effort involved in staying photo ready, both day to day and on a scenic beach in Italy.
How much Evans, the travel photographer, is willing to spend ultimately comes down to the goal of her trip. Is it for work, sightseeing or unplugging?
“If I’m travelling and I just want to experience things, I’m not really caring about what I’m wearing,” she says. “But if I’m on vacation – I want to relax, I want to take cute pictures – then I’m probably willing to spend more on how my hair and nails look and what outfits I’m bringing.”
Even so, she has only one trip planned this summer, to New York. Flying is just too expensive to justify anything else.