'Underconsumption Core' Is Going Viral On TikTok. Here's Why Gen Z Can't Get Enough.

On TikTok, most people’s feeds are flooded with product reviews that encourage impulse buying:“This Amazon bodysuit on sale is a must-buy.” “This cult-favorite travel pillow is worth the hype!” “Yes, it’s $600 but this Dyson blow-dryer will change your life.”

Then there’s “underconsumption core.” The new viral trend on TikTok encourages consumers to be a little less spend-happy and more conscientious about what they bring into their homes.

It’s garnered plenty of attention off-platform, too: Google searches for “underconsumption core” have surged by 1150% in the last few weeks, according to the digital marketing firm Webbee.

April Silva, a TikTok user and lifelong thrift store fan, is a big proponent of underconsumption core. She defines it as a more minimal approach to shopping: You don’t need five winter coats when you have one perfectly good one. You don’t need every color of Stanley cup or “massive Shein hauls just for content,” she said.

“Most of the clothing you see in people’s clothing haul are just trend pieces and it won’t hold up in your closet over time, and I say this as someone who likes fashion,” Silva told HuffPost. “What I choose to spend my hard-earned money on matters and I try to be smarter about it every day, and that’s what this trend is about for me.”

Instead of pressing “buy now” on hyped products, underconsumption-core adherents lean into capsule wardrobes (basically, buying pieces of clothing and accessories that are easy to mix and match), using makeup until it’s “down to pan” (finishing the entirety of the product until you hit the pan of the compact), and shopping secondhand whenever possible.

In many ways, underconsumption core is the spiritual sister of another recent trend: deinfluencing,