Today, beauty brands aren’t just found at the drugstore or some department store. They are found online and some are solely dependant on the exposure in the virtual world. A world which turns out a new product everyday. What you have today is yesterday’s news. And talking about yesterday’s news becomes too late because tomorrow’s new product has been mentioned today! You have to have it because if you don’t you will never be like everyone else. But why be like everyone else when individuality is what really made the internet great?
You found people who had similar interests as you and finally found acceptance which you could never find in real life because everyone thought having an interest in makeup was just weird! Okay, I am confessing about my youth!
I am old, no doubt about it. I still remember the feel of the glossy paper print between my fingers and the smell of the magazine. I turned each Vogue page as if it were some magical carpet taking me to some exotic destination. Places I knew I would never travel to and people I would never meet, but I was allowed to dream. Dream of being as perfect as the hand-retouched photos of each ad.
I know it took a lot of effort for magazines to retouch photos during the no-internet days. Winter products were photographed in the summer to allow the artists to meticulously retouch the photos with a tiny brush and by hand in time for the winter issues.
Some of you might remember that one September Vogue issue of Isabella Rossellini. Even though she was consistently the cover model on previous Vogue issues, this one stood out. Her eye looked weird but you didn’t know why! Her lacrimal gland had been painted out. It was intriguing to say the least. That weird cover really stamped a memory into my mind of both Isabella Rossellini and the makeup line she represented, the prestige cosmetic brand Lancome.
Even though she was the product of two great cinematic parents, Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman, she never ever portrayed herself as some celebrity. That personality visibly enhanced every Lancome ad.
The ads changed Isabella Rossellini with each campaign. Sometimes the look was so polished and natural; she could look like your neighbor next door. Then, more dramatic to look like the mysterious and gorgeous woman at a soiree. Lancome created the many different sides to Isabella Rossellini.
If makeup could change the look of this beautiful woman, then the products had the possibility to change me. That feeling of possibility was the subtleness of the ads. I wanted everything used on Isabella Rossellini. I didn’t care if the turquoise eyeshadow would never work with my skin tone. I just WANTED to feel as beautiful as possible. The Lancome ads spoke to the ugly duckling inside me.
Other factors added to my makeup memories; my senses were stimulated. The anticipation of the weekend nearing, that trip to the mall, and to the department store with my mom. The smell of different fragrances as I passed the counters to get to Lancome. The excitement as I looked at the new collection. My finger touching the powdery shadow as I swiped it across my wrist. I used as many of my senses as I could. This is why I remember!
Today, social media sites have become the new print ads. Everything has become instant. We are deluged with the same beauty products-of-the-moment but by different
It is more about what you won't have than who gets to try the products. It is about feeling inferior and jealous. It is about having everything possible yet it ends up to be nothing because more will come out tomorrow. Quick and instant exposure on the internet.
And, I don’t remember any of them! Maybe, I am old. Too old and my brain cells are shrinking and have become raisins. They are dehydrated and lacking the stimulation to remember any of the products offered by many of these beauty brands.
OR many of these brands just choose to accept their products to be hyped by the same people who wear their makeup the same way and say the same thing to an ever changing crowd, a crowd which turns fickle easily. Is the robotic sell really a good idea? Will the teens of today remember their idol 30 years from now? Will they feel the hopes and dreams which Isabella Rossellini created for me when I was a teen? The hope of someday being as level headed and beautiful inside and out like her? I wonder!
I also wonder about the longevity of these social media beauty brands. I know it is important to sell, and it is also important in marketing to have your name become a lasting product in itself. Will many of these brands exist 5 years from now? 10 years? 20 years? Will they be remembered? Selling a product fast and rising to popularity may be great in the beginning for a brand but anchoring the name now becomes the growing memory towards the future.
Brands need to give their audience a rest from the same old overexposure. If they don’t, everything they worked for will become one big blur. Life isn’t just about today and now, it is about what will become and what is remembered! Like the beautiful Isabella Rossellini!
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Do you have any great makeup memories? Let me know!
