Lipstick Sales: Pucker Up or Pout?

We've all heard that lipstick is one of life's affordable luxuries - and one women don't go without in less spendy times, right? Credit Leonard Lauder, former Estee Lauder Chairman, for the insight. One wonders if this logic is the reason for their recent emphasis of the famous lipline at this point in time. However, things don't seem to be as they once were: overall lipstick trends were reportedly down 19% last quarter(source: IRI data Deutsche Bank). Is this where raw data and real world marketing collide?

Hold up. Lipstick has not been a hot commodity for years. As with all beauty items, colors and product come and go. Lip glosses, tints and chapsticky types have been pushed so hard in recent times that I feared an entired generation would never know the beauty of lipstick. Here are a few of my theories behind the seeming demise:

A component may be the nearly decade long push to greener cosmetics. As people continue to scrutinize the ingredient lists of their beauty products, more are becoming selective. How many internet posts have you read on bugs and the like used in your lippy? Whether this is outdated information or not, it became a huge concern for the growing vegan population. Animal free glosses then become a welcome alternative and were marketed as such.

Pricing and quality have also come into play. Where 'green' used to be associated with 'crunchy', many manufacturers have caught up to the fact that a clean product does not have to be, ahem, crap on the lip or for the wallet. Beautiful, and beautifully affordable products, below $20 became bountiful.

The dramatic lifestyle changes that have occurred over the last decade is most likely a major contributor as well. There is a certain formality in the creamy coverage of color in a tube - a seriousness to beauty that seemed to fall by the wayside with pantyhose. Gloss is indeed the symbol of youth and frivality. As we ease into a corrective-action of the wild ride that was the 90's, will that also ease us back into a bit more seriousness for the lip?

I, for one, welcome back the lipstick. Nothing provides such perfect, beautiful coverage, as a tube of lipstick. My theory is, yes, lipstick is on the decline due to intense marketing flux. It's the same flux that is going to bring it on the upswing now. EL has been around a long while because they know what they are talking about. We're just seeing the resurgence of the lipstick after years of submission, and it's going to be beautiful.

Go out. Explore. Be bold. And buy.

(we like pictures too)