I just wanna feel pretty

A recent Newsweek article talks about the Lipstick Index, an economic indicator defined by an inverse relationship of cosmetic sales and current economic well-being.
When the economy is bad, it says, people start dropping more money to look good.
I’m skeptical about that “dropping more money” part.

It stems from Leonard Lauder, chairman of Estee Lauder, who coined the term after his company observed a sharp increase in lipstick sales following the Sept. 11 attacks. He said it proved that when a nation faces a crisis, women turn to lipstick.

Supporters of the notion point at other empirical evidencing of this trend, such as in the midst of World War II, when cosmetics company Tangee ran a marketing campaign extolling the patriotic virtues of lipstick. It called on women to “put on a brave face” for their country – and increased their sales by 25 percent.

But looking at snapshot statistics like this one and consequently making sweeping claims (i.e., when the economy is down, Sephora is up) is questionable, to say the least. In fact, beauty analysts are quick to point out that sales boosts in certain cosmetics were due to product-based nuances at that time – for example, this theory also would have fit when lip gloss sales started to soar, but that was also because the lip gloss craze was just taking hold in the market.

I think it’s pushing what might be a behavioral trend a little far to go ahead and slap an “economic theory” label on it.

I can buy the argument that under stress, people might want to look better. But to say that transcends to spending habits – in this case, their financial stress leading them to take actions that will lead them to more financial stress – is a little absurd.

If one zoomed-in portion of makeup sales rise during a recession, it’s presumptuous to just assume that it must be because it’s an inferior good – when incomes go down, purchases of that good go up, and vice versa.

But at the same time, the behavioral trend itself seems to have some footing, even if the causality behind the purported “theory” is wrong.

Marketing history hints that at least something is right about the idea that under stress, people try to keep the base camp tidier. When I get stressed out, I definitely find myself looking more put-together than usual.

If I’m wearing eyeliner on campus, my life is probably in shambles. Several of my friends admit to doing the same thing.

When things get crazy, one thing people do have their in their control is how they look – it allows for taking a small, pitiably ineffectual pleasure in the fact that, gosh darn it, you look good today. And then lament the fact that that American Apparel dress you’re wearing will do precisely jack in fixing the data problems in your econ project.

But whatever.

So, the Lipstick Index is not something I would label as economically profound (or even valid, really). But it doesn’t change the fact that recessions – standing as a societal proxy for stress – manifest interesting behaviors, shown here, apparently, through makeup.

If looking good while broke is patriotic, then let’s do it. Forever 21’s got to be good for something.