Women opt out of activities

According to the British Beauty Council, the UK consumption of beauty products and services equates to £27.2 billion in value, with £8.7 billion in personal enhancement products and £3.2 billion spent on cosmetics1. Beauty spending can be split into three different areas- Personal care and maintenance, personal enhancement and services. With such a booming industry, it is unsurprising that the beauty industry puts more emphasis on economic growth than promoting self-confidence.

The ever-growing emphasis on physical perfection within the beauty industry has led to adverse effects on self-esteem and confidence within women. Past research has shown that over 4 in 5 (85%) of women opt out of important life activities when they don’t feel good about the way they look, and  7 in 10 (69%) women feel increased pressure from advertising and media to reach an unrealistic standard of beauty as a key part of appearance anxiety2.

Aston spoke to Amanda Elias, CEO of Bravura London to discuss the research in further detail.