#NOCOMPETITION: SK-II and Olympic athletes challenge women to shatter toxic competitions in beauty

Competition. We say it’s a good thing. That it brings out the best in us. It pushes us further, drives us harder, makes us stronger. We welcome it, celebrate it and revel in it. But there is one place where it is not. Where it is not a celebration but pressure. Where it is not glorious but toxic. Beauty. It is the one competition that no one signed up for, but still everyone ends up in. Competing beauty standards, rules and limitations. These toxic competitions dictate how we should look, feel and act, creating pressure that holds us back in our daily lives.

Calling out toxic competitions in beauty, top Olympic athletes—Simone Biles, the world’s most decorated gymnast, LiuXiang, world-record holder swimmer, Ishikawa Kasumi, table tennis player and two-time Olympic medalist, Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo, badminton duo and Olympic gold medalists, Mahina Maeda, surfer and Hinotori Nippon, the Japan Volleyball team open up about their personal experiences on their social channels, sending a powerful message—”We won’t compete anymore. Beauty is #NOCOMPETITION.”

Speaking at The 2020 MAKERS Conference, YoeGin Chang, Brand Director, SK-II Japan shared, “Beauty can be many things. But one thing it should never be, is a competition. As the world directs its attention towards and celebrates the greatest competition for humanity, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, we want to take this opportunity and call out the toxic competition in beauty that women face every day that dictates how they look, feel and act. SK-II is, at our core, a human brand. We want to use our voice as a force for good to create positive change in the world today. We would like everyone to join us by lending your voice to #NOCOMPETITION.”

“In today’s society, if you want to be considered beautiful, you would have to look, act and feel a certain way. For example, on social media, to be beautiful is to have a certain type of physique, behave a certain way and portray to the world how happy and carefree you’re feeling. More and more girls curate these ‘perfect’ social media profiles thinking this is the only way to be beautiful,” shared Delphine Buttin, Global SK-II Olympic Games Program Leader.”But there should be no competing standards on how someone should look feel and act. Beauty is #NOCOMPETITION and our athletes are a true testament to this.”

“Competition in beauty has always been present. But it is impossible to ignore how unhealthy it has become these days, fueled by culture, media, society… and beauty brands like ours! We all have part to play. As a beauty brand, our role is to help build confidence and spread positivity and not create pressure and toxicity,” added Sandeep Seth, Chief Executive Officer, Global SK-II.  “As a leading beauty brand we want to take a stand and lend our voice to put a stop to this toxic competition. Through #NOCOMPETITION, we hope to create a mass platform of action that inspires women to break out of toxic competitions in beauty and start defining what beauty means for themselves, in the broader sense—without letting pressure dictate their choices.”