It’s a toss-up. Everyone is looking at the economy and rolling the dice about whether we’ll make it. “We” being the beauty industry. We’ve made it in the past. Even salons managed to stick it out after the pandemic. We’re a necessary luxury.
Minor luxury industries can plan for the future based on we, the beauty industry. It’s a metric called the Lipstick Index. It’s used to understand how much people will continue to buy in a given industry despite a financial crunch. Now, obviously, the financial outlook for a writer like me is going to be different than that for the head of L’Oreal during a recession. Or would it really be? The more investments you make, the more capital you need. But will we keep spending? How often? And on what?
Beauty is the Thing
Beauty is important to a lot of us. It’s how we got into this industry. After all, there aren’t too many people running around without washing their hair or sans some form of makeup. People got their nails on, too. As we struggle to find our places in society, self-esteem has dwindled, being well groomed is something we hold on to pretty tightly.
I’m not sure if that’s been factored into the Lipstick Index, but maybe it should be.
Will We Sacrifice Electricity for Lipstick Though?
Well, no. But my point is that it’s pretty high up on the list of priorities. True to my industry, I can’t help noticing that hair dye somehow survives combat zones. So there should be some hope.
Okay, fine. I’ve started to prepare. What would I do without my favorite skincare, after all? Should I do a wrinkle and a sag? I ordered some smile line patches. We’ll see how they work. Between that, I added some sale colors to my decent makeup collection I hardly use. I think I’ll love them. And my thousand rose lotion, of course. Anything else?
Well, yeah. Lots.
The Beauty Industry Is You and Me
The Lipstick Factor isn’t some vague set of numbers. And it isn’t what “the average person” buys. (Some scary number.) It’s what beauty influencers, writers, salespeople, producers and editors spend our extra cash and bill money on. It’s us. So I think we’ll survive. Honestly, I think we’ll flourish.
Hair and Beauty Consultant 