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What Can NFTs Really Mean For the Beauty Industry?
If you’ve even cast a cursory glance over the internet in recent times, it’s likely you’ll have heard more than you ever wanted to about NFTs. If you have somehow missed out on the phenomenon, put simply, NFTs are non-fungible tokens. They’re a digital piece of data stored on a blockchain that can be bought and traded, or, for the non-crypto bros amongst us. Basically, proof that you own a digital picture.
For reasons many of us don’t quite understand, the market for them has blown up of late. The NFT influence seems set to spread to every industry! But when you really examine it, it’s actually not that hard to see why. NFTs are attractive for brands because they are an easy way to make some serious money. They are amongst the closest ways out there to sell nothing for something. So, it seems inevitable that after taking the art world by storm, NFTs are about to become a part of the beauty industry, too.
NFTs and Reality
We’re living in a world where reality seems to be becoming more and more abstract. Though it sounds like a sci-fi phenomenon, the metaverse is already a part of our daily lives. We all spend far more time online than before, with many of us leaving the house far less. Thus, our internet selves become almost as important as our real selves: the metaverse and the universe are becoming blurred.
This, I believe, has an interesting overlap with the beauty industry. Makeup, in particular, has always been about perfecting our public-facing appearance and presenting a persona to the world. In a similar way, our online selves are the curated, best-of versions of our private personalities.
Filters and Face Tune have long been at the intersection between beauty and online clout. But NFTs manage to up the ante slightly. How? By involving money, of course! NFTs operate under the assumption that everything can be owned so long as the price is right.
But outside of the philosophical implications of NFTs in the beauty sphere, there are some very real examples to look at already. Brands such as Clinique, NARS and e.l.f Cosmetics have launched NFTs in recent months. E.l.f. has sold gold, product-themed NFTs for just $9 a pop (a total bargain in the NFT world). Clinique did something different, offering them exclusively a part of their rewards program.
Brand Loyalty
In terms of NFTs being a way of closely connecting consumers to brands, though, things go even deeper. Once NFTs are purchased, they’re designed to be traded and sold. Thus, beauty NFT traders become part of a very real (and very active) online community together. While it’s not totally unprecedented for beauty brands to sell something other than beauty products, this particular venture does seem a little different.
It’s not necessarily about product at all – but about brand loyalty, status, and ownership – essentially mirroring all that is problematic about the NFT game overall. It marks a slightly concerning move away from brands selling consumer products, which has been the norm since capitalism began. Brands now offer consumers an identity to buy into, a place for brand superfans to proclaim their adoration.
Instead of elevating raw materials and selling for profit, brands can now bank almost entirely on perceived value, which could seem pretty frightening to think about. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that perceived value has always had a firm place in the beauty industry.
NFTs Are Costly
There is always going to be good quality, affordable makeup – but when people overspend on luxe, it’s not just about getting a better product, is it? The feeling and experience of something more costly is intangibly linked to spending extra cash. NFTs also face accusations of purposelessness, which is, in large part, accurate. But in beauty and art, making purpose the primary reason for existence puts you into dangerous territory.
Reducing life (and how we spend our money) to pure purpose leaves us in a world without silliness, joy, and (likely) beauty. When you really look at it, the beauty consumer and the NFT consumer are not so ideologically different, after all.
With all this said, I personally can’t see myself diving into the world of beauty NFTs anytime soon. For one thing, brand loyalty has always seemed like a dangerous idea to me – especially when it comes to brands who don’t care about you beyond the coin you’re offering them. Plus, it would be remiss not to point out the worrying environmental impact of NFTs.
The carbon footprint of mining for and trading NFTs is well documented. Amidst an industry already struggling with issues of sustainability, such as the beauty sphere, consumption and waste are always at the forefront of my mind. Nonetheless, in a world where more and more of our public-facing self is online, NFTs do seem set to become the new beauty status symbol.
When staying home and interacting only through the internet, your collection of NFTs could basically become the new putting on a full face of makeup. Perhaps there’s not such a difference, after all.
