Somewhere along the way, owning things became a way of proving who we are. But what happens when identity is built on objects designed to be replaced?
Winter is gone. It’s time to re-arrange my closet because I can’t wear my flannel shirts anymore. While I was drowning in my pile of winter clothes and accessories, I realised I have too many lip balms and glosses. Why did I buy too many lip balms? With every scroll, there was always a new one – each influencer insisting it was essential, though I can’t remember why.
It’s not just the lip balms. If I go check my dresser, I’ll find more skin care products than I need or I even remember to use. But I bought them. Some Instagram hot shots promised, if I follow these ten-step skincare routine I’ll have healthy glowing skin. The only thing I got in return is anxiety. Why doesn’t my skin look like theirs?
And then another trend started and my 10 steps were forgotten.
In my childhood, trends used to stay for at least a season, mostly for one year. Now, I wake up to a new trend every day.
It was okay until I realised how these ever changing trends are not that simple. Think about Stanley cups. What are they actually good for? Why do you have to have this expensive sippy cup for adults? You grab a food grade bottle and keep yourself hydrated. That’s the job.
First there were plastic bottles, then thermal bottles, then scaled bottles that look like a gallon and now these Stanley cups.
And this economic strategy is making sure you buy things that you don’t really need. Demand isn’t always organic anymore, often, it’s manufactured.
Corporations always create demand for products that add little real value to life but serve as profit engines. They make people believe that missing out on those luxurious products will make them incomplete. So Stanley Cup and Labubu become status signals and lifestyle.
This strategy is hardly new. In the 1920s, an electric toaster became a household status symbol in the U.S. American utility companies pushed electric toasters through door-to-door salesmen into households not because bread needed browning, but because electricity needed customers. The toaster was a Trojan horse for a new lifestyle. What mattered wasn’t the toast – it was the habit.
The Stanley cup is today’s toaster and Tiktok the new electricity company. Social media platforms are the new door-to-door salesmen. The more you scroll, the more they get views. The more you buy, the more they control the economy.
I’ll admit it, I’m guilty of these charges too. I don’t own the Stanley cup but I’ve followed the routines, sat in the salon chair, bought palettes I’ll never finish.
And every time, I tell myself it’s different. This product will change my life. This ritual will make me whole. This purchase will finally solve the problem.
It never does. But the hope is addictive. And the algorithm knows it.
From the moment we wake up, we scroll – platform after platform – they will post videos with a product that you might not need and will definitely want. And with shrinking attention spans, we keep scrolling through unnecessary trends.
You don’t have to buy Stanley cups matching all your outfits. One is more than enough, if you need it at all. It’s hardly as functional as it’s made out to be; a simple bottle in your bag does the job just fine.
You don’t need to have too many hand bags. Using one good quality bag for the office is okay. Also, not having a designer bag is okay.
Manicure-pedicure once a month is okay. You don’t need to go to the salon every now and then like Legally Blond.
Painting your own nails is okay too. I mean, nail salons are great but it’s also a treadmill. The polish chips, the nails grow, and suddenly you’re back in the chair, paying again. The ritual never ends.
You don’t have to maintain a 10 steps skin care routine. What you need is an actual routine and products that suit your skin type. Any skin care needs patience. Time is the key factor here. Use essentials like good quality face wash, a moisturizer, a serum and sunscreen, and you are set.
You don’t need to buy all the makeup palettes that are in the market, unless you are a makeup artist. Even make-up artists don’t need to buy all types of eye shadow palettes. Most of them have the same colours.
In fact, anything you feel like buying while your phone is in your hand, take a step back. Ask yourself, do I need this now? Can I go on for three days without it? Can I go for a month if I don’t buy it now? How functional is this product? Will it give me value in the long term? If not, please keep scrolling. Or better, put down your phone, go look at the evening sky for a change.
Am I sure this will stop you buying unnecessary useless things that trend at the moment? I’m not. But the question is whether we’ll recognise the game being played. Whether we’ll laugh at the absurdity of hydration as a lifestyle, skincare as salvation, nails as identity.
Because once we see the joke, maybe we can choose when to play along, and when to put the phone down, drink water from a regular glass, and remember that sometimes, enough really is enough.