Put a brave face on it
It’s official: make-up is recession-proof, says Lindy Woodhead
Be honest now. Isn’t there just the teeniest bit of schadenfreude in the hearts and minds of those of us who have watched the spending power of the money men’s wives clipped by the credit crisis? After all, it’s hard to have too much sympathy for a group who keep NetJet’s number on speeddial and whose shopping priority has been to equip three houses with complete wardrobes, leaving them free to travel with merely a Birkin bag. Nor has rampant extravagance been confined to bankers’ wives. There’s a whole generation of casual spendthrifts out there who should be cutting up their credit cards — given that for the foreseeable future, less is most definitely more.
In reality, while conspicuous consumption might have bitten the dust, turbulent times don’t mean we are going to give up shopping. At any event it’s doubtful we could, given it has become so ingrained in our behaviour patterns. But for those on a budget — which in one form or another is probably all of us — it’s a moment to rediscover the delights of being selective. To enjoy an enticing treat — in itself a pampering experience — and taking more time to do it is to appreciate the more subtle pleasures of shopping.
Tracking the highs and lows of consumer activity in financial downturns isn’t rocket science. It’s hardly surprising to learn that new car sales slumped by over 20 per cent in September, nor that cut-price groceries are booming. After all, do you really need to buy washing-up liquid at Waitrose? For my part, the allure of Lidl’s lobsters — even at £4.99 a pop — leaves me as cold as the frozen crustacean. I’ve no desire to drive miles to shop in a grim and gloomy environment, and anyway, it’s a safe bet that any day now lobster lovers will be able to pick up a bargain at M&S, whose plunging figures have just been announced, meaning food margins will surely be slashed.
As far as fashion is concerned, those twin beacons of pizzazz and profit — namely Primark and Topshop — are still delivering the goods girls want to buy, while even the overhyped Westfield is seemingly enjoying a honeymoon period. Fashion purists however have discovered a new and totally original place to find clothes — inside their own wardrobes! Anyone who has invested in beautiful pieces over the last decade (and kept the figure to fit into them) can resurrect most of the season’s looks with what they already own. Updating with a big, bold necklace and lashings of smoky mascara won’t break the bank.
There are apparently no less than six new mascaras being launched this autumn by confident cosmetics companies. Having written a biography about two of the founding females of the luxury beauty industry, Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, and given that these savvy operators worked their way through the chronic post-first world war slump and the boom and bust of the 1920s — both surviving the Great Depression to become millionaires — it’s no surprise to learn that cosmetics are, as always, remaining remarkably recession-proof. A recent survey showed that 29 per cent of women would rather cut back on food than on beauty products. Given that we apparently spend two years of our lives in front of a mirror plucking and pouting to achieve a perfect face, it is no wonder the business of beauty adds up to billions of pounds.
That cosmetics and fragrance take you into a comfort zone is undeniable. Scent heightens the senses like almost nothing else and perfume houses are putting their essences into heavily retro bottles of such beauty that just looking at them on the dressing table is cheering on a grey day. It was the American retail genius Harry Gordon Selfridge who spearheaded the surge to buy scent way back in 1910 when, taking shrewd advantage of the new systems of synthesising aldehydes (which launched affordable fragrances), he relocated the store’s perfume department to the ground-floor entrance. At a stroke, Mr Selfridge changed the layout of department store retailing for evermore — while also obscuring the strong whiff of manure from Oxford Street’s horse-drawn buses and carriages. Today, the store’s beauty and fragrance departments — the largest floor space in Europe — are busier than ever, with unusual ‘treat time’ niche fragrances like Creed’s Love in Black (£95), Robert Piguet’s Fracas (£85) and Le Petit Grain by Miller Harris (£110) in the store’s top ten best-sellers.
If £100 on 100ml of perfume makes you wince, a lipstick costs a lot less, and brings instant cheer. The ‘lipstick’ effect, as noted by Leonard Lauder when sales rocketed in the post 9/11 financial downturn, seems to be as true today — in the last week of September, Selfridges sold an astonishing 7,500 of them across brands in stock.
Make-up isn’t just an indulgence. It’s often about putting on a brave face, as with moraleboosting make-up lessons for patients recovering from strokes affecting facial muscles. Or it’s about a new face. Taking advantage of having a makeover in-store can change heavy-handed habits and freshen up your appearance almost like nothing else. Better yet, it’s free. ❑
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