It was Leonard Lauder who coined the phrase the “Lipstick Index,” which described the reliability of lipstick to always sell, no matter the economic condition. Modern times and leaps in innovation have given rise to more than just lipstick selling well. In this economy, the beauty industry has seen an increase in sales from nails to foundation.
What drives this? In my opinion ,and with more than 13 years experience specializing in the beauty industry, it is women’s never-ending search for that “perfect” product that will make their skin glow, lips moist, eyes shine and wrinkles decrease. Brands are responding to this need with an ever-increasing plethora of products that offer highly-complex ingredients and formulations. Beauty marketers are working hard to keep up with the demand. It’s not easy – there’s much to consider: the actual formulation plus how it looks.
In truth, beauty is a perfect blend of technology, science and all that’s pretty. It is not enough to know that the newest skin treatment has a combination of an unknown ingredient discovered in a crater at the top of the Swiss Alps that has been formulated into a multi-carbon polymer that helps plump up the collagen fibers that sit just below the dermal layer (um, electronic impulses in your beauty jar, anyone? Yes, an unnamed leader claims to have this technology) – it also has to look pretty. Talk about pressure.
So, is it marketers who are driving the need and the trends or are consumers leading the charge with demands for the next big thing? It’s funny, beauty brands try to not promise “hope in a jar” and women wouldn’t believe it if they did, but I think, deep down (way more than skin deep), women wish they could find it. And as longs as women keep searching and buying; brands will keep searching and giving them products to buy. Kind of like the chicken and the egg syndrome, don’t you think?
Well, gotta dash – I hear that some beauty company just discovered how to manipulate pulsar energy and dark matter into a thick serum that can be applied all over the body mimicking the skin of a 4-month old baby and, voila, they’ve turned back the clock by 40+ years! WOW, I’ll take a gallon of the stuff!
Hey Margarita – this month’s US Vogue has a great article on a 60-something woman’s search for the miracle (cream/injectible/magic potion) that would delay what she felt was an inevitable invasive solution. And unsurprisingly it is not her own ageing that concerned her, it is her own ageing, compared to her peers, that is the issue.
If the bar is constantly being raised as to what 40, 50 or 60 looks like, who wants to look the oldest in the room? It’s like a game of musical chairs, beauty-conscious women don’t tend to want to be the 50 year old that looks 50, in a room of 50 year olds, that look 40.
If it’s a choice between Hope in a Jar, in a Needle or in a Scalpel – the plethora of Jars have got us coming back, time and time again!