Can Consumers Kiss the Recession Away?
Cosmetics, perfume and skin potion sales have been known to hack economic slowdowns. The bad news? We may be past peak beauty already.
Lip service for the economy.
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Stocks go up. Stocks go down. Everyone’s watching the Fed so intently, faces virtually wrinkle up in the process. All those creases are not a pretty sight. For a couple of decades now, market watchers have had a kind of Botox available: the Lipstick Index — the brainchild of Leonard Lauder, then chair of Estee Lauder Cos Inc., which postulates that the sales of cosmetics, perfume and skin potions increase as consumers heighten self-care amid economic uncertainty. That’s certainly been the case since the world went into and out of Covid lockdown. The industry, says Andrea Felsted, has been “on a tear for the past five years.” In June, a survey by Bloomberg Intelligence reported that 40% out of 650 respondents said “they would cut back on other purchases before reducing spending on beauty and personal care this year.”