DIY Practices in the Cosmetics Industry
Self-Making as a Response to Industrialized Beauty
L.R.A. Chinn (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
J.W. Hoftijzer – Mentor (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
C. Estrada Mejía – Mentor (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
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Abstract
This thesis investigates how do-it-yourself (DIY) cosmetic practices can support more conscious, participatory, and sustainable relationships with beauty products. Situating DIY cosmetics within a historical context of self-making, apothecary practices, and embodied material knowledge, the research explores how cosmetic production has shifted from localized, skill-based making to increasingly industrialized, consumer-driven systems, creating a growing gap between consumers and production.
The research combines historical analysis, literature review, semi-structured interviews, workshop-based prototyping, and participant co-creation to explore the opportunities and challenges of DIY cosmetics. Drawing on theories of design, prosumption, consumer behavior, sustainability, and DIY, it examines how tensions between convenience and autonomy, personalization and standardization, and self-expression and overconsumption shape contemporary beauty consumption.
Insights from the interviews informed the design of two hands-on workshop interventions that enable participants to formulate their own cosmetic products while engaging directly with ingredients, packaging, and production processes. Findings suggest that DIY cosmetic making can strengthen curiosity, confidence, creativity, and agency while increasing awareness of ingredients, formulation, and product lifecycle considerations. Participants particularly valued opportunities for personalization, social learning, and guided knowledge transfer.
The thesis concludes that DIY cosmetics are not a replacement for industrial production but a alternative practice that restores participation, knowledge, and choice within contemporary beauty systems. By framing users as active creators rather than passive consumers, the research proposes a Design-for-DIY approach through a self-making intervention supported by a viable business model that positions designers as facilitators of accessible, safe, and meaningful making experiences. In doing so, it contributes to broader discussions on sustainable consumption, democratized design, and active participation within the beauty industry.
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