(^156) | marieclaire.com.au
PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD URRUTIA; ELENA IV-SKAYA/APIX SYNDICATION.
Social media and its innate shareability has
undoubtedly helped with our eagerness to be more
intrepid. It’s also encouraged brands to up the fun
stakes to get our attention.
“Brands are stepping away from more traditional
branding approaches towards something that focuses
on fun and playfulness,” says Sadsad. “We have
seen exciting newness in terms of fun packaging,
cute names and brand-new formulations.
It’s an exciting time for beauty.”
FUN-TIME MAKE-UP
With the mantra of “Make-up doesn’t have to be
serious to look good”, Benefit is one beauty brand with
fun in its DNA – even if it wasn’t entirely by design.
“It wasn’t ever ‘This is our strategy of how we’re
going to market our products.’ It was just how Jane and
Jean [Ford, the sisters who founded Benefit] knew how
to sell,” says Annie Ford Danielson, daughter of Jean
Ford and chief beauty ambassador for the brand.
“That’s just who we are. Jean and Jane have always
been able to read women instantly. That’s why there’s
an intimacy in the way we talk about our products.”
There are other make-up brands that share this
philosophy. Labels such as Too Faced (its tagline:
“A serious make-up brand that knows how to have
fun”) and Tarte, which likes to reward its loyal
“Tartelettes”, are full of coy product names and
good-time formulations that perform as promised.
Then there is Nars, which burst onto our
collective beauty consciousness when creator François
Nars launched his Orgasm blush in 1999. Its peachy-
rose tone and slight gold fleck caused near hysteria
among women keen for that flirty flush. This year the
brand celebrates 20 years, which goes to show how
a bit of personality and sass coupled with a great
formulation can really go the distance.
FLIRTY SKINCARE
Skincare can veer towards the serious, but there are
brands that like to keep it light. GlamGlow is one
skincare range making time at the basin fun. It boasts
glitter-spiked masks and psychedelic daily cleansers.
Other brands include Sunday
Riley and Ole Henriksen, which
both create serious formulations
and give them quirky names,
as well as covetable, candy-
coloured packaging. It’s the
equivalent of a wink every time
you do your morning and
evening skincare routine.
Locally, there is Go-To
skincare. Created by Zoë Foster
Blake, Go-To combines natural
formulations with product names
designed to make you smile.
“Skincare is allowed to be fun
and funny,” says Foster Blake.
“Just because we’re a clean
brand doesn’t mean that we’re
a boring, earnest brand.”
FUN VS EFFICACY
So, does a good time mean you
have to give up on quality?
“When you have the
efficacy of the formulas and
the shades and the textures
that we have, it doesn’t matter
if you don’t package it in a
sleek silver box,” explains Ford
Danielson. “You want to have
a good time with it.”
Foster Blake agrees: “I think
people are frightened, in a way. I
just wanted to make women feel
confident using skincare.”
And it’s not just niche
brands having all the fun. Chanel
recently launched a body glitter
gel, while Dior has given its
famed Lip Glow a candy
cane-inspired twist.
Then there are big-brand
social-media initiatives, such as
“ONE OF MY
FAVOURITE
SAYINGS IS, ‘WE’RE
NOT FOR THE
YOUNG, WE’RE
FOR THE YOUNG
AT HEART’”
Annie Ford Danielson,
8ZcZëi
1 TARTE Seaglass
Eyeshadow in
Suite Life, $31.
2 BENEFIT Roller
Liner Liquid
Eyeliner in Black,
$38. 3 TARTE
Setting Superpower
Powder Brush, $45.
4 NARS Jumbo
Blush in Orgasm,
$61. 5 TOO FACED
Fruit Cocktail Blush
Duo in Papaya
Pop, $46.
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sharon
(sharon)
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