makers of the hottest bag don’t want to see their precious creation worn by the actress’s nanny or her
sister.
Very rarely do celebrities use products they advertise. More often than not, the boatfuls of
free products they receive end up in a stylist’s bag or are given away as gifts.
Having a famous face advertise or ultimately design the beauty product is the epitome of marketing
efforts for any cosmetic manufacturer. And they spend extravagant amounts of money to achieve this
goal. Hiring stars like Jane Fonda, Eva Longoria, Scarlett Johansson, and Penelope Cruz to face its
hair care and makeup campaigns eats a significant share of the $250 million advertising budget of
L’Oreal.
If you can’t help but snatch a bit of a celebrity style here and there, try using famous women as role
models. If you have pale skin, steal some of Nicole Kidman’s beauty secrets, such as her complete
avoidance of sun and choosing tasteful, pastel hues of makeup. If you have an olive complexion, look
at Halle Berry and master the art of wearing foundation that doesn’t look ashy or shiny. And even
when celebrity endorsement sounds just right, don’t forget to scrupulously examine the product,
starting at the ingredients list. Only ingredients matter when it comes to taking care of your skin or
hair. Remember, bottles and boxes with celebrity pictures on them end up in a trash can. Chemicals
and plant extracts end up on your skin and inside your body.
Lesson 4: Become Immune to Advertising
When a cosmetic company launches a new product, we seem to see it everywhere: on billboards
and TV, in every magazine, and on store displays. Very soon, we start to suspect that we are hugely
missing out on something if we do not buy this very promising bottle. Even the most critically minded
individuals cave under pressure and run to buy a cleanser that will rejuvenate, tone, exfoliate,
rebuild, and sing Christmas carols in between.
Open any glossy magazine. What’s in the first beauty ad you see? It’s the face of a very young girl,
often a teenager who stood at the end of the queue when pimples were handed out. She smiles
mischievously as if picturing a romantic date she’s going to have tonight. We cannot help but think
that if we buy the same concealer or lip-gloss she is using, we will also have her skin, hair, and
playfulness. Romantic dates will inevitably follow. We see this model every day, on every page, in
every commercial break. We suspect that not all of these mediums can be wrong. We are constantly
reminded that this product will solve all of our skin dilemmas, and “repetition, repetition, repetition,”
as every Madison Avenue intern knows, is the most powerful tool at an advertiser’s disposal.
Apart from riding high on the image of youth and sexual attractiveness, cosmetic companies are
busy maintaining the elitist image of their products. Let’s take a look at Estée Lauder ads. All of them
feature a model with fine bone structure pictured in the lavish garden of a spacious old mansion. She
sends us a subconscious message: Look at me; I swim in old money; I wear only silks and tweeds; I
am born for refined living; I have ponies and Labradors; I golf, sail, dine on silver, and sleep on
white linen. And we believe and open our wallets.
Just buying a blush in a pretty, blue monogrammed box won’t instantly transport you to a summer
house in the Hamptons. If you look at the ingredients in Estée Lauder blush, you will soon realize that
it is not much different from the Clinique blush that is sold across the department store aisle. The
color selection may be slightly different, and Clinique doesn’t put its blush in a velvet pouch as if it’s
some sort of precious piece of jewelry, but the staying power, ease of blending, FD&C colors, and