Too Cool For School
The new age of makeup brands.
Traditionally, I gather with my 3 girlfriends every Thursday to share a bottle of natural wine and simply gab. Our conversations are incredibly soul-nurturing; ranging from fashion references to Love Island. We try our best to be diverse. In the middle of our dinner, as we are chatting about the endless Kate Middleton conspiracy theories, I take out my Kindred Black multi-use stain. This product always draws attention to itself because of its mysterious packaging. It comes in a small vial and looks straight out of one of Snape's Potions’ class. Nonetheless, the item always causes a positive stir and it did, as expected. My friend instinctively, before I could even reapply it on my lips, just grabbed it and said:
“I always count on you to bring something we haven't seen before.”
My product is passed around the table and becomes a topic of conversation which makes us all say, almost in unison, how these post-2020 years have been incredible for makeup, and beauty in general.
Makeup lost momentum during lockdown - as health became the number one priority, makeup purchases significantly declined. This was crucial not only for brands to pivot, but for consumer awareness regarding their makeup consumption habits. Makeup brands proved to us that innovation combined with the right marketing, was in fact the golden ticket for its revival. Concomitantly, clients started to worry more about their skincare habits post-COVID while becoming more mindful about their spending habits. These two factors combined - skincare awareness from brands and customers - became a powerful tool for makeup brands to rely upon when selling it to clients in a post-COVID economic landscape.
Post-lockdown, as people return to the office and want to at least cover the dark circles under their eyes with some concealer, there's a re-emerging necessity to invest in makeup products. Yet, the consumer is more aware of their spending and wants to invest in products that not only promise a more natural feel but also don't compromise their skincare habits. Makeup needs to transition to something more seamless, and on-the-go. We see brands launching tinted moisturizers/sunscreens, and multi-use blush/lipstick products - a direct reflection of the return to normal life. At the same time, the customer aims for simplicity in their everyday activities including beauty.
The desirability for new and niche products is not a novelty, it's quite a commonality. In 2022, when the world was semi-normalized and people returned to their semi-regular-consumption habits, most of us perceived makeup brands that were constantly available at Sephora to be repetitive and dare I say, uninteresting. I didn't want my makeup cabinet to be filled with the same things I saw on TikTok over and over. I wanted something that attended to my skincare concerns while being cool enough. Suddenly, the allure of makeup products that served as a fashion statement, or any statement in general, was the it factor for me. I thought myself to be so pretentious I couldn't even say it out loud until I met several people that thought the same thing. I felt as if I could finally breathe.
Makeup brands such as Westman Atelier were observant enough to understand the consumer mindset shift - not just mine, it seemed. Consumers were not only creating an aversion to products that damaged their skins, but they also wanted a hint of coolness in the product that translated beyond results, but in some form of mysteriously elegant packaging. Westman Atelier's ethos is to make beauty minimal, effortless, clean, and elegant. They don't just sell makeup. They sell, in perfectly inconspicuous chic packaging, bottled luxury and the feeling of it - usually translated in the format of lipstick or foundation. In its infancy, you could only purchase the brand at luxury retailers such as Liberty London, Selfridges, Bergdorf Goodman, and Goop (a great niche beauty incubator, dare I say?) - now, even though they have become more mainstream, their core values are very much intact. Other brands with the same value proposition followed suit. Lower SKU count mixed with the promise of naturality, coolness, and it girl factor, were the core marketing strategies for brands like Tower28 Beauty, Saie, and even Merit Beauty. All of these brands are cheaper and catered more towards Gen-Z's, coining the term lazy girl makeup as part of their irreverent brand strategies.
Now, there's too much competition, dare I say. Prada and Celine announced their beauty category launches, harnessing the aspirational consumer in times of economic instability for the luxury market. At the same time, tons of beauty players have entered the market through exclusive commercial spaces - Goop, Violet Grey, and Niche Beauty. On the consumer end, it seems fantastic to have so many options to choose from. Yet, brands must compete in this market that even though sells beauty - and the idea of it - is very cut-throat. What is the strategy here? Selling a product is no longer enough when there's plenty of fish in the sea. Brands are competing beyond tangible aspects such as - affordability and versatility - but they must sell aesthetics as well.
There's a rise in brands that I like to call too-cool-for-school type of beauty. The whole branding relies on several factors; creating community, highlighting the pristine quality of the products, versatility when it comes to everyday wear, convenient and easily storage-able packaging on your beauty shelf and your bag, and being more than a blush/lipstick/foundation but presenting itself as an accessory - almost as if it were part of one's outfit. The consumer has a specific archetype. Yes, it is a cool girl but the coolness that oozes beyond what they wear.
The coolness of this consumer is practically intertwined with the brands they consume. They take care of themselves, yet, their focus is on beauty in a holistic sense as opposed to simply makeup. In fact, for this consumer, makeup is an afterthought, a simple detail, and it has a very rushed and on-the-go aspect that gives a certain elegance to it. The consumer is definitely not a try-hard and does not hoard an insane amount of makeup products. They have 2-3 high-quality brushes but mostly, apply foundation - when they wear it - with their hands. They prefer multi-use products, for example, a lip product that can double as blush or even eyeshadow, and even if it doesn't, they'll make it work. As you can see, this consumer is the embodiment of a cool girl like Zoe Kravitz - too busy to care about the makeup being perfect, but understanding that beauty can be imperfect. Many brands have perfectly capitalized on this aesthetic.
19/99 Beauty's value proposition lies in simplicity and being universal - whether one is 19 or 99, beauty is for you. Fara Homidi takes her know-how in the fashion industry and delivers, in the most glamorous packaging and formula, the perfect minimal approach to makeup and everyday looks. La Bouche Rouge takes the very French motto of je ne sais quoi and perfectly translates it into their products which feel luxurious and inconspicuous. Isamaya Beauty relies on the shock factor (the p*nis lipstick drove the internet crazy!), not only to create a conversation, but to honor its ethos of being part of this genre of makeup that focuses on editorial-adjacent consumers. Les Filles en Rouje is a ‘spin-off’ of the brand Rouje - all founded by the it girl Jeanne Damas, known for her very Jane Birkin adjacent style. Kjaer Weis comes as an organic one-stop-shop for makeup and skincare, praising everyone's natural beauty and using hers as just a complementary factor to enhance it.
Combined with phenomenal marketing and social media strategies, these brands curate the perfect image of seamlessness that is easily accomplished through their products. Their packaging creates objects of desire and somewhat of a fashion and aesthetics statement. These brands created an image that transcends the thought of makeup just being makeup. All of them highlight a simple thing - when it comes to beauty, there's an embedded coolness that lies in simplicity.
A couple of too-cool-for-school products we love - we wish this was a partnership with Moda!
Rachel's:
Fara Homidi - Essential Face Compact (a conversation starter and forever bringing it with me everywhere)
Isamaya - Dazzle Up Highlighter (excuse me, this packaging?)
19/99 - Cream Contour Stick Tea (too good to be true)
Westman Atelier - Clean Liquid Blender Brush (the only brush you'll need)
Hanna's:
Manasi 7 - All Over Colour (the perfect 3-in-1 product for eyes/lips/cheeks, also extremely creamy and long-lasting. I’m obsessed with this purple shade for some reason??)
ByRedo - Eyeshadow 5 Colours (my new favorite eye shadow palette. perfect balance of neutrals and fun colors, with some added metallics/shimmer for an extra glam look. Metal Boots in the Snow is by far the combo I adore the most)
Rabanne - Famous Top Coat Mascara (I do love anything sparkly if you couldn’t tell already, so you know I didn’t resist the temptation to buy this one. She’s fun and cute, gets the conversation going around how you get your lashes with glitter, and she’s relatively cheap)
Pleasing - Twinkle Toes Set (we could not do a beauty edit and leave out the thing I’m most excited about in beauty: nail polish!! I’m the absolute biggest fan of fun nails - and nail art. I’m all about colorful and funky action going on in your nails, and no one is doing it better than Pleasing. I’m currently loving this set, but check out their website for all the other fun options of polishes and sets!!)