You know her. You've seen her. She has a 20-step hand care routine, and restocks her fridge with 200 cans of Diet Coke. We all dream of a high-rise, downtown loft in the heart of New York City, Miami, Chicago, Dubai, Singapore, and other cities, which prompts us to watch content created by people who live in these apartments. On your Instagram feed, and don't deny it - you've seen that one girl make 25 different kinds of flavoured ice cubes, and thought to yourself - why? What does she plan to do with that much ice? So many flavours? Matcha with matcha-flavoured ice? What does she want to do with the strawberry ice? Add it to her "adrak-wali" chai?
The content you watch every single day - in commercials, Reels, YouTube videos - wherever it may be - is all just a simple term for overconsumption. Overconsumption is defined both by me and the Oxford Dictionary as "the action or fact of consuming something to excess". Let's be real - you don't need 25 shirts of the same kind, just of different colours - you just want it. Understand that it is fine to want something, I mean, aren't our wants and desires what we work so hard for? It is essential to recognise that there is a distinction between your wants and your needs.
But what happens when your wants start blurring the line? When you convince yourself that those six Stanley cups in pastel shades are necessary for hydration, not aesthetic? When you watch someone spend $800 on a "clean girl" restock at Target and suddenly feel like your life is falling apart because your cotton pads aren't colour-coded? Overconsumption isn't always about excess in the obvious way - sometimes, it's about being convinced that lack of a particular product makes you less - less put-together, less beautiful, less worthy. We live in a time where consuming has become a personality trait. We no longer buy to use, we buy to display. You didn't just get that 12-step skincare routine because your face needed it - you got it because it looked cool on someone else's vanity tray on Instagram. And hey, I'm not judging. I've added things to my cart I didn't even know existed 30 seconds before seeing them in someone's "monthly Amazon must-haves." It's normal — it's human, but it's also alarming. Beyond the cute packaging, there's an environmental, psychological, and financial cost. Fast fashion is overflowing landfills. Fast beauty is ruining…