The king is dead: Why mascara loses popularity
You'd be surprised, but analysts predict a fall sales in the most seemingly popular category of decorative cosmetics. We understand why this happened and what the future of mascara awaits.
TEXT: Roxana Kiseleva, author of the telegram channel godblesstheconcealer
What happens to carcass sales
According to the report of The Business of Fashion, mascara sales are falling: buyers are interested in lipsticks, eye liners, palettes of shadows, various cosmetics with glitter, but not ink. And new and fashionable makeup brands like Fenty Beauty, Huda Beauty, ColourPop, Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty have not even included it in their range. In May of this year, the main glossaries of the Glossier industry surrendered: they released the Lash Slick mascara, which gathered a lot of positive feedback. But, as the brand founder Emily Weiss says, it took as much as 18 months to develop it, because Glossier wanted to do something special. While the mascara continues to be one of the largest categories of decorative cosmetics, analysts expect its sales to slow to 2% by 2021 instead of the previous 4%, according to research organization Euromonitor.
Lovers of makeup in recent years really began to treat products for eyelashes with less enthusiasm. Blogger Mila Bulatova says: "I have the most ordinary eyelashes: not the most fluffy, not the longest, light on the tips and with a very sensitive ciliary edge. In those makeup I usually do, the emphasis on the eyelashes is either not needed at all or the mascara is just It’s not enough. No matter how voluminous and lengthening it is, if I make dramatic arrows or bright Smokey, I still don’t need the desired effect. Therefore, most often I just glue false eyelashes. Besides, they are easy to take off and I have to sweat with good mascara. both when applied and when removed These, and as a result, the eyes are also red, like a rabbit, and itch.My personal nightmare is a heat-resistant mascara, which in theory should be taken off with stockings using warm water and which you can’t really take off with anything.
In our culture, long eyelashes are still considered a must-have attribute of a conditionally “beautiful” woman.
To those who decide to try to wear false eyelashes, I would advise them to draw arrows more often - they will hide all the flaws, and the eyelashes, in turn, will hide the asymmetry of the arrows. Take, for example, Ardell and DeCo: they are inexpensive, they have a thin tape and glue is included. If I still use mascara, I choose the one with the classic (not plastic) brush. When I paint the eyelashes, I want to paint them as best as possible, and the silicone bristles irritate the skin. Ideally, I would like the mascara to be easily washed off with any cleansing agent, curled eyelashes and give them volume and smelled of nothing. "
Mila does not believe too much in the final decline of a ciliated empire: “In our culture, long eyelashes are still considered an obligatory attribute of a conditionally beautiful woman. Now girls continue to receive mascara as a first cosmetic product, and they believe that brush strokes make them queen But it would be cooler if they just felt like queens without any additional conditions. "
Why is this happening
If you try to analyze all the hot trends in makeup in recent years, we can distinguish two directions: “instagram” make-up in the spirit of Huda Kattan and Nikkietutorials and its complete opposite - minimalistic and simple style, in which freedom of expression is more important than the notorious “emphasizing natural beauty”. And in both cases, the mascara was not very necessary: the instaives either prefer false eyelashes to them, or even make extensions, and beauty-enthusiasts from the second category, if they use mascara, then only colored or shiny.
Technical writer Daria says that she has not used mascara for about four years: “I began to paint as I myself like, and not as“ accepted. ”Before that, I believed that mascara and tone are the minimum required in makeup. I finally stopped buying mascara after such a story: I dyed my hair and eyebrows in red and decided to pick up a mascara that would make my eyelashes really red, of a natural golden color. I did not find such mascara on the market, I got angry and realized that for there’s no ink on my makeup a.
It was always believed that without mascara makeup can not be considered complete. Because of this, the mascara was bought by everyone, and very few people in her cosmetics bag had it. For example, I love bare skin with color accents: I use mono-shades of bright shades, for greater luxury I apply a highlighter to the corners of the eyes and lower eyelid, I like bright lipsticks, and I ruddy the rouge, going to the jaw line, neck and ears. And mascara does not seem to me an essential element. In fact, mascara itself can be an accent. I hope the drop in demand for black and brown mascara will force manufacturers to do something interesting and advertise it truthfully. I do not need to increase the volume of eyelashes a hundred times, and I do not believe that colored eyelashes will make me more seductive. But I would buy a mascara that glows in the dark or turns my eyelashes into little feathers. Let the ink promise me to do something interesting, and then I will start using it. "
The blame is on advertising
Colossal Big Shot mascara has become a sensational ad campaign not only because Maybelline first chose a man brand ambassador. Pay attention to Manny's eyelashes in the advertising image in his instagram: obviously, it was almost the first time when Maybelline did not use Photoshop, false eyelashes and other tricks for shooting campaign mascaras. For example - here is an earlier advertisement of the same brand of ink. Surprisingly, selling us the idea that beautiful eyelashes should look like this, not a single cosmetic company for more than a hundred years (the first mascara was released back in 1913) could not invent a mascara that would fulfill all its promises. . Bottom line: services that not only help to achieve the appearance of eyelashes "as in advertising", but also significantly reduce the time for morning gatherings, are becoming more in demand every year. And today it is not only a build-up, ten types of which will be offered to you in any salon, but also a perm, lamination and even collagening of eyelashes. And those who want to look ultimatum luxurious right now and at no extra cost, just go to the nearest "Girlfriend" and buy false eyelashes for 300 rubles.
Musician Irina is another girl whose mascara gradually disappears from her cosmetic bag: "For the last three years I rarely use mascara - if I experiment with makeup or when I apply false eyelashes for glue. My eyes often get watery, so with the ink I risk turning into a panda already in a couple of hours. In addition, I’ve never been able to remove it completely with makeup remover, and it’s annoying. Now, I think I haven’t used mascara for about eight months, but I’m fine without it and do all my favorite makeup and every day outward, and “out.” Everyday is usually a ciliated edge and mucous in a dark shade, and the evening ones are bright shadows or arrows. I have rather dark and long eyelashes, so I just curl them with a curler. I have not tried experimenting with Asian brands heat shakes, but if they really do not crumble, do not flow during the day and easily go down “tubes,” I would buy one. I did not notice a drop in interest in mascaras, and the advertisement of the new Glossier mascara in the noosphere was so well noted that apparently mascara will remain popular Oh.
Not a single cosmetic company was able to invent a mascara that would fulfill all its promises.
As for advertising, it’s banal not to offend your audience and use false eyelashes and photoshop in mascara ads. Personally, I would buy an advertisement with an emphasis on the convenience of the carcass in a sock and the simplicity of its removal. I think for many girls it would be relevant. "
Brands themselves react to a drop in mascara demand
It seems that marketers of beauty-brands noticed a drop in sales in this category two years ago and now they are trying with all their might to return consumer interest to mascara. Colored mascaras and shining toppers for eyelashes literally one after another this year released Urban Decay, Estée Lauder and MAC. Primer for eyelashes has become a new product in the category (look at Estée Lauder and Benefit): you can use it as a base for mascara to get a more pronounced effect from it, or as an independent means. Do not lose popularity and accessories for eyelashes. For example, a Surratt curler that has already become a cult rarely available online, and in the brand's corners, you are most likely offered to sign up for a waiting list. Chanel went the furthest: in September, the brand introduced the world's first mascara with a brush printed on a 3D printer. The effect of Le Volume Revolution de Chanel is not that very different from its original version with the usual brush, but when you paint it, you feel like a person of the future. What will happen with mascara further, is not yet clear. But so far, 99% of pairs of false eyelashes from the nearest chain store look too theatrical for the average office, and eyelash extensions or collagening remain a terribly inconvenient process, mascara will definitely be bought.
Photo: Maybelline, Glossier
