Beauty Bible Weekend Steal: Embrace ‘Colour Friday’
We’re not going to share a beauty bargain with you, today – which is, of course, Black Friday.
Instead, we’re going to share something that’s really close to our heart, which is shopping locally, to support small producers, creatives, makers and shops in our own communities. (In Jo’s case, Hastings; in Sarah’s, the picturesque bit of English countryside where Dorset meets Devon and Somerset.
We are both passionate supporters of the hand-made, the small-batch, the artisan. And as Black Friday has grown and grown, we’ve started to feel even more passionately about supporting smaller businesses.
It’s at the very heart, meanwhile, of what Holly Tucker is doing at Holly & Co., a brilliant online marketplace which showcases products from a carefully-curated line-up of makers and creators, and where we’ve often bought things for friends. She has declared today ‘Colour Friday’, to encourage all of us to get out there today and buy from smaller, independent shops and merchants. If you’re not lucky enough to have great indie stores within striking distance, then you’ll find home fragrances (candles, diffusers etc.) and all sorts of pampering fabulousness on theHolly & Co. website, among over 20,000 clearly-signposted items.
Here are some stats about Black Friday that Holly shared with us…
• £13.3 billion is spent on Black Friday despite the fact that…
• Almost half of UK shoppers said they rarely or never used their Black Friday purchases, almost a third said they regretted buying them² and more than half expressed concerns about the negative environmental impact of overconsumption during the sale period.
• Plus, 1 in 3 small to medium sized businesses fear closure by the end of 2024⁴ and small businesses generate around £2.4 trillion a year for the UK economy and employ 16.7 million people.
And, Holly adds: ‘Imagine the difference we could make if we redistributed the £13.3bn we spent on Black Friday to small businesses instead! Help us celebrate the colour and creativity small businesses bring to the UK.’
So, you might go online and save money today via Black Friday deals – on beauty or otherwise. But this is about saving our communities and indie businesses – and we’d never forgive ourselves if we didn’t do our bit, for that.
