29/04/2026
The beauty industry has a problem most brands won’t say out loud.
At Global in Paris, SYSTEM SKIN did.
The industry’s model runs on overconsumption. More steps, more products, more launches. Dressed up as innovation. Sold as progress.
Still, 90% of people are frustrated finding skincare that works.
Up to 40% of products end up as waste. Unfinished, expired, products that make no difference.
And as the latest report shows, people are starting to recycle less.
Because they are losing trust that this is actually a solution.
The industry’s answer? Double down on recycling and blaming the consumer.
The actual way out? Simple, but hard: reduction.
And it´s only possible with a fundamental shift in how we understand skin:
- From correction to optimization
- From fragmented to integrative
- From multi-step to one step
- From endless launches to one core product that speaks for itself.
The tools?
Not another miracle molecule, not a better version of a hero ingredient, not a novel delivery system.
Systems biology. Deep-tech. Multi-scale intervention.
Core frameworks of longevity science finally translated to skin.
Sustainability becomes the outcome of efficacy.
Built at the R&D stage, not fixed at the recycling bin.
This is when overconsumption turns into a thing of the past. And even into something ridiculous.
And it will not come from doing the same things better.
It will come from doing it differently.
Thank you Global for the platform to say it.
To Kirsty Mawhinney, for chairing the Sustainability Section with the kind of honesty this industry needs more of.
And to everyone in that room who showed up because they actually care: you’re the reason this conversation is worth having.
Because the ones who want things to change are the ones who will.
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