Thursday, May 08, 2008

Lipstick as an economic indicator.

When the economy tanks, women appear to buy more lipsticks as they scrimp on traditional big-ticket items, a theory posited by Leonard Lauder, chairman of the Estee Lauder companies. From the New York Times:

After the terrorist attacks of 2001 deflated the economy, Mr. Lauder noticed that his company was selling more lipstick than usual. He hypothesized that lipstick purchases are a way to gauge the economy. When it’s shaky, he said, sales increase as women boost their mood with inexpensive lipstick purchases instead of $500 slingbacks.

Beauty brands remain true believers in the theory, even though in the last few years the lipstick market has fallen on hard times as its glistening cousin, lip gloss, has had robust sales.

With the specter of another recession, brands like Clinique and DuWop Cosmetics are preparing for a big year in lip color, for two reasons.

First, they would like to see a return to lipstick, which usually costs slightly more than gloss. Second, the companies believe that in down times women will continue to splurge on lip lacquer even as they make do with last season’s dress.

In the light of a global rise in food and gas costs, are you making or do you plan to make any changes to your beauty consumption habits? Please share in comments!

2 comments:

Tine said...

Unfortunately, I seem to be making things worse by shopping even more rather than cutting down on my makeup. It's a sin I cannot get out of :(

Anonymous said...

with the recent shortage of rice, soybean and etc, i read more and more sad stories. THAT, alone made me cut down my spending in makeup and unnecessary things. however, i am not sure how long could this last as i am such an addict. sigh... i have too many lipsticks BUT still want more for sure.

this is a great article.