The Lipstick Index is Over and The Rise Up Of The Eyeshadow Index Is On Like Donkey Kong
If you know makeup and you’re a huge part of the beauty community the “lipstick index” is a term you’re familiar with. If not, that’s ok, we can do a brief history lesson. The Lipstick Index or the Lipstick Economy is a term coined by Leonard Lauder, chairman of the board at Estee Lauder, which he used to describe the increase of cosmetics and beauty items during the recession back in 2001. He actually made the claim that lipstick sales are a great economic indicator because lipstick is actually a hot ticket sales item during a recession. It’s considered a “cheaper” item compared to couture or higher priced accessories like purses or shoes. When lipstick sales go down there’s a good chance that the economy is doing better and is stronger. When lipstick sales go up it’s a sign the economy is doing bad. Women or men feel more comfortable splurging on a pretty lipstick when money is tight compared to splurging on a pretty new piece of clothing or shoes or a new purse.
It’s been suggested during our current pandemic that we’ll have a mascara index which pretty much means eyeshadow and mascara sales will rise up. Why? Obvious one right? We’re all wearing face masks and lipsticks and lipglosses aren’t actually a great option. Lipstick and lipgloss + face mask=red hot mess.
Now, if we all sit around the campfire and share we’ll likely admit that we’re all tired of eyeshadow palettes. For the last three years or so the beauty industry has been saturated with eyeshadow palette releases. We’ve all had enough of it. Some of us have even reached a point that we ban ourselves from indulging. And others just wait for a sale because if we learned anything in the last two years everything goes on sale.
The pandemic has a good chance of changing the beauty industry in a major way. The excess and the endless palette releases might just stop. This could be the great purge we have all been hoping for! We might be actually re-entering a phase in the world of beauty where we’ll see things return to a more normal release schedule. In the past year, we have seen some let up in releases and I suspect we’ll see even more of that when we venture out of this stage in our lives. Heck, maybe we’ll even see things starting to release on a more seasonal schedule.
I do think at this point we’ll finally see some brands revamping their single eyeshadow collections. A lot of brands have been really remiss in their single shade ranges because they’ve spent so much time, money, and attention developing the next biggest palette. Too Faced, Urban Decay, Tarte, and many other mid-range brands are guilty of this. I have no doubts Fall 2020 will be a turning point where brands start focusing on their core permanent range of eyeshadows. This may turn into them revamping their current line or adding new shades to it or maybe even launching an entire new eyeshadow formula.
Sadly, our current situation probably won’t be completely gone by Fall so, I suspect one of the biggest Fall trends will be eyeshadow and eye makeup. As Fall approaches I typically look to the runways to see what sort of makeup trends will pop up but will New York Fashion Week even happen this year? I suspect it will but on a way different level than we are all used to. I also predict eye makeup is going to play an important part of the looks we see on the runways.
But I think we can all agree that we’re heading into an eyeshadow index right now. We better all break out our favorite single shades and grab our fav palettes and start doing up our eyes because the eyes truly are the window to the soul and people are going to be staring at your eyes rather than your whole face for a while.
Guess what? That’s ok. Because I do love a good eyeshadow.
Let it begin!
How will you accent your eyes when you venture outside?