The Lip-Stick Effect: Do YOU Have it?
February 08, 2009
While this recession may be putting a crimp in marketing budgets (undeservedly so, the pundits tell us), it isn't spoiling our need for that new lipstick. You got it - women may cut back on fashion, we may even give up Ben and Jerry's, but we're not giving up our Fuchia Fantasy or our Rosy Red, those fancy-named, glossy colored, beauty accroutements we gals slide over our lips every morning, before leaving the house. Even women who do not use other kinds of make-up, usually dab that special lipstick on - the better to lift her mood, on good and bad days.
In her book, Lipstick, A Celebration of the World's Favorite Cosmetic, Jessica Pallingston writes (of women in the depression era of the 1930s), "However destitute, people (surely she meant 'women') still found money to spend on beauty and entertainment -- movies and lipstick."
And so it goes - what goes around, comes around, as they say. We're in the middle of a recession, with whispers of that "D" word on the lips of newscastors from CNN to MSNBC to Fox, and still, women will have their lipstick. According to this article at Forbes Woman, Pallingston was right on with her assertion. The necessity of a woman to have that tube of instant beauty is reminiscent of those desperate long ago days.
"During the Depression, we saw the 'Lipstick Effect,'" says Northeastern University professor of marketing, Nancy Upton, of the increase in cosmetic sales, particularly lipstick, despite buyers' financial hardship. "We see people making economically irrational decision to lift their mood."
With so many of us in business today - that need to look polished and put together, not necessarily to don the latest in runway fashions, but to put forth our best face - is crucial to our success. Just as men will continue to shave (those that do shave), and will wear those knotted nooses about their neck, so women will continue to paint their faces - and lipstick is still the best deal around. Just ask any Mary Kay or Avon lady.
To take a quote from page139 of Pallingston's book, attributed to Carol Shaw, make-up artist to the stars, "Put on a red lipstick and immediately you're a diva."
Diva status suits you. Claim it. Paint your lips and strut your stuff and don't give in to the news. Even better - figure out how to use this to your advantage when courting real women - not the numbers in a marketing report or touted in a magazine story about "the women's market". REAL WOMEN - like you. And me. And your Mom, your sister, your sister-in-law, your aunt, even your grandmother. That's what it's all about, real women refusing to allow the economy to dictate their future.
If we buy into the idea of a Lipstick Effect, it's because lipstick is more than face-paint. Lipstick is our guarantee to ourselves that everything will be all right. Take my high heels, take my Prada purse. But don't touch my Raving Red lipstick!
Lipstick is one of women's little beauty secrets. Just a little smudge of the right color on your lips can change your face and your entire look. Just follow these four secrets:, the color, the type, the occasion and the application it will help you learn more about how to choose the ideal lipstick and how to apply it for a killer look.
Posted by: mavick nook | October 10, 2011 at 11:28 PM
Nice said! I never leave the house without my lipgloss.
Posted by: Cheryl@StartupBizTalk | February 10, 2009 at 11:16 PM
No lipstick for me. I hate the stuff. All I need is a little mascara so you can see my eyelashes
Posted by: Robin Willis | February 09, 2009 at 04:27 PM
I spent $34 on a lip gloss with plumper and am happy every ay that I did it.
I see men spending on home gym equipment -- costs less than a gym membership and can lift the spirits.
Posted by: Kelley Skoloda | February 09, 2009 at 03:58 PM
I can live without the lipstick and if I buy makeup more than once a year, it's a big deal. But I cannot live with gray roots or two-tone hair.
Posted by: Susan Getgood | February 09, 2009 at 02:55 PM
Lipstick can do wonders to a mood, a feeling about oneself, a day. It is a treat that I've never cut out, even as I've worked to eliminate debt over the years. 'Put on a red lipstick and immediately you are a diva.' How true!
Posted by: Liz S | February 09, 2009 at 02:51 PM
@Barbara Ling - you rock! I love your comment and your attitude. Keep it coming, that's what we need more of around here.
@Bruce - hmmm...I should put this out to the group. IMHO, men will spend money on whatever their women allow them to spend money on. :-) For men who don't have a woman telling them what to do, I bet they give up on many personal pleasures EXCEPT for the gym. Let's see if we can get other women to join the convo...
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | February 09, 2009 at 02:32 PM
I think it all comes down to personal attitude. Lipstick will do it for some women, high heels for others, an earned karate black belt for still others (okay me :) ) etc.
Being able to have a slight swagger because you KNOW that even though you might be 20 pounds overweight or dress in the neighborhood garage sales' best or buy bulk at Costco...you're STILL the premiere woman in your community....now THAT's something definitely desirable.
Data points, Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach | February 09, 2009 at 01:58 PM
On what will "men" insist on spending their money
during these seismic times? Understand that this is about women but wondered what insights women might have?
Posted by: Bruce Peters | February 09, 2009 at 03:37 AM