The lipstick effect

Girls, are you blue from listening to all the doom and gloom recession talk? Lipstick could be the answer to your woes...

I’m sick of reading about the doom and gloom of the recession and am tired of all the scaremongering in the media. I just don’t want to hear one more word about ‘the golden circle’. So I thought I’d take a less formal approach and discuss how women are coping with the recession.

Did you know that the sales of lipstick are being used as a global economic indicator?

You might be asking what the hell am I talking about!? Well, have you ever heard of the lipstick effect?

For those of you who have never heard of it the ‘lipstick effect’ or the ‘lipstick indicator’ is the theory that in times of recession, women stop splurging on expensive luxuries. However, rather than forgoing the spending habit altogether, they trade down to something cheaper like lipstick as a guilt-free pick-me-up.

The phrase was coined by Leonard Lauder, the chairman of Estée Lauder who noticed that when the economy slumped after the terrorist attacks in 2001, his company was selling more lipstick than usual. Some of you might say of course Mr Lauder would say such a thing, after all he is in the business of selling lipstick. But you might be more surprised when I tell you that articles on the lipstick indicator have appeared in the Economist and the New York Times.

Mr Lauder’s theory is backed up by the fact that lipstick sales rose by 25 per cent during other times of economic downturn, like during times of war and the great depression.

So why are women turning to lipstick? Well, make-up has the power and ability to make us women feel a bit better even when things may not be going our way. Lipstick allows a woman to look poised and put-together even when the economy and her bank account are far from it. So it appears it is not just our bank balances that are in the red, so are our lips.

It may not be the most reliable or soundest measure of the economy, but the sales of lipstick continue to increase in times of economic downtown and this trend looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

The lipstick effect proves that in tough times, people will not stop spending completely, but will re-evaluate what they spend their money on.

So why not forget the doom and gloom and put a smile on your face with some new lipstick? It may be just what you need for that extra pick me up.

What are you waiting for?

By Marie Duffy

from SpunOut.ie

SpunOut.ie is Ireland’s leading online youth health, lifestyle and citizenship resource for 16 to 25 year olds.

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