What is the beauty of mass-market cosmetics wins?
Masha Vorslav
We have already discussed whether it is worth using mass-market cosmetics (costs) and which types of it should be paid special attention to. The lack of snobbery regarding consumption is not the only reason to consider the stands in the "Girlfriend" stores no less than the Net-A-Porter collections. Winning in price is also, oddly enough, not the most important one. Now we explain.
Let's start with the fact that all decorative cosmetics are divided into professional (there will be a separate conversation about it) and consumer cosmetics, and that, in turn, into “luxury” and “mass market”, the difference between which seems obvious, is price. Paradoxical as it may seem, it is at the expense of the greater cost that a luxury, at first glance, wins against the mass market: the reason is not only the popular opinion that “more expensive means better”, but also our social burden to luxury.
Architect Joseph Hofman, the creator of the "Vienna workshops", said that the possession of beautiful things makes us feel beautiful. And economist Thorstein Veblen, in his Theory of the Idle Class, wrote: “As a rule, great satisfaction with the consumption and contemplation of expensive and seemingly beautiful objects is largely due to the satisfaction of our taste for costliness, which is hidden under the mask of beauty. highly value certain things for a prestigious character than for beauty. " This does not mean that expensive items can not be beautiful, but the fact that their attractiveness is largely based on the realization of financial inaccessibility is indisputable.
It is difficult to deceive yourself from luxury, and you don’t need to wean yourself (just in case: we don’t urge to abandon expensive goods and love them ourselves), but to be guided only by it when choosing makeup is to cover the horizon. Inexpensive “banks” are deprived of the opportunity to give a well-known aesthetic pleasure (flick of the lipstick case, perceptible weight of a tube of ink, tactile material of the palette body) and tell rich stories (they just have spectacular ones), but their strength is utilitarian - from this point of view they become very close to professional cosmetics.
Inexpensive “banks” are deprived of the opportunity to give aesthetic pleasure - their strength is utilitarian
The lack of intent to attractively envelop the product - one cannot say that the mass market categorically refuses the presentation, but it is definitely not its strong point - it allows you to focus on its essence and gives that level of freedom that “serious” brands cannot afford: they cannot look ridiculous. Yes, sometimes they deviate from the general course and give out orange mascara, black or green lip gloss - but with a skillful presentation, all these means still do not crawl out of the usual canvas and fit well into the image of a woman of the N brand, after whom we go to her . Those who are ready to go beyond the limits of established images and expand the boundaries of their style will surely reach the corners of professional brands and “Girlfriends”.
The mass market is often loved because, for a small price, he unexpectedly throws good things ashore. In fact, the ratio of quality and poor quality in this segment is not too asymmetrical to feel like a treasure hunter, and there is a reason to thank inexpensive brands. With a wild speed, they produce dozens of ambiguous, not always successful, but honestly clumsy tools like lace stickers for eyelids, a holographic ribbon for nails and a mascara of a flat, bright shade. They quickly follow the trends and sometimes predict them, are not afraid to interpret the most rabid of them and strive to work on the principle of "all at once" - therefore, their range is wide and allows you to review their visual templates and, as we like, go out of the comfort zone.