subscribe to beauty blog via RSSSeeking Security in The Comfort Of A Second Skin
April 13, 2009 3:04 pm
As anyone who has recently drowned their recession sorrows in a brand-new tube of red or fuchsia lipstick knows, keeping up physical appearances does wonders for the spirit during times of economic duress. The correlation between an increase in cosmetics sales and hard times is actually a known statistical fact, coined the Lipstick Index by Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder in 2001, who noted, “When things get tough, women buy lipstick.” But according to an article in the Financial Times this weekend, liquid foundation is fast usurping lipstick as beauty junkies’ new pick-me-up of choice. The Foundation Index, as it’s now being called, is based on a study conducted by L’Oréal in the U.K., which found that while lipstick still reigns supreme among the over-60 crowd looking to escape the gloom and doom of financial cutbacks, one third of 18- and 19-year-olds consider foundation to be their must-have product, driving sales of the tinted face paint up 15 percent last year alone. A similar trend is occurring stateside, according to Kline & Company, a market research firm, which we find curious seeing as how every film premiere, art opening, and run-of-the-mill house party that we’ve observed lately (not to mention the Fall runways) seems awash with precise applications of bright lip colors, not makeup masks. What are you more likely to grab for, if you had to choose between the two?
tags: Est�e Lauder, Kline & Company, L'Or�al, Makeup
