Pink Tax 2.0: How Subscriptions, Wellness, and Skincare Are Quietly Draining Women’s Wallets
When people talk about the pink tax, the examples are usually simple: razors, deodorants, or body washes that cost more because they’re marketed to women. That still exists, but the pink tax has evolved into something bigger and sneakier—call it the Pink Tax 2.0. It’s no longer just about a pink razor costing more than a blue one. Now it shows up in subscriptions, wellness programs, skincare routines, and even the way digital accounts and estates are handled when a woman passes away.
It’s harder to spot, but in some ways, it drains women’s wallets even more effectively because it hides behind ideas of “ self-care,” “convenience,” and “empowerment.” Take subscriptions, for example. Ten or fifteen bucks a month doesn’t sound like much, but those small fees pile up fast. Men might spend $15 on a shaving kit subscription, while women are nudged toward beauty boxes and lifestyle memberships that often start at $25 or $30. They’re framed as little luxuries, “gifts to yourself,” but they reinforce the idea that women have to do more, buy more, and spend more just to look “put together.”
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The same thing happens with apps. A meditation app or fitness tracker might be free in its basic form, but the features that matter most to women—cycle tracking, nutrition guidance, boutique classes—are locked behind pricier tiers. What starts as a $10 app can easily balloon into $40 or $50 a month with add-ons. Wellness culture is another huge culprit. What should be about feeling healthy has turned into a performance, often with a hefty price tag. Women are told they need detox kits, boutique studio memberships, or $60 bottles of supplements to stay balanced.
Men’s fitness culture tends to focus on simplicity—one gym, one protein powder, one routine—but women are constantly upsold into believing “wellness” has to look aspirational, glowing, and Instagram-ready. The truth? The costs add up far more than the benefits. And then there’s skincare. Somehow, a simple cleanser and moisturizer are no longer enough. Women are expected to have a seven-step routine—toner, serum, exfoliant, mask, eye cream, SPF. Meanwhile, many men use the same bar of soap on their face, body, and hair, and nobody questions them.
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Women, on the other hand, are made to feel like aging naturally or having acne is a personal failure that can only be fixed by buying more products. When a single serum costs more than an entire men’s grooming kit, the imbalance is obvious. But the pink tax has also crept into areas most people don’t think about—like estate planning and digital life. Women live longer than men, so they’re more likely to handle estates and face extra legal or financial fees. Add-ons are marketed to them as “peace of mind,” but really just inflate the bill. And when it comes to digital accounts—cloud storage, social media, subscriptions—the burden of closing them down usually falls on female relatives.
Some companies now even charge for “legacy management,” basically turning grief into another subscription plan. Then there’s personal data. Women’s information is gold to marketers. Period tracking apps, beauty platforms, and lifestyle tools all collect data under the guise of “personalization.” That data is sold and then used to push women right back into buying more products. It’s a loop that men experience too, but the products most aggressively targeted through it—diet programs, skincare, wellness plans—are aimed squarely at women.
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The Pink Tax 2.0 works so well because it’s invisible. It’s not as obvious as a $2 price hike on a pink razor. It’s a thousand small financial cuts spread across apps, routines, and services that women are told they “need” in order to be responsible, attractive, or even just acceptable. And those cuts add up. Imagine $40 on apps, $100 on skincare, $50 on supplements, $25 on a beauty box, $100 on boutique classes. That’s over $300 a month—almost $4,000 a year. Multiply that across decades, and the lifetime cost is staggering. Calling it out matters because once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The pink tax isn’t just about overpriced razors anymore. It’s an entire economy built on convincing women to spend more, constantly, in the name of self-care.
by Misthi Shrestha
