Millennials' Lust for Makeup Is the Lipstick on Retail's Pig
Meghan Roark isn't too proud to admit she has an addiction. Her habit? Makeup.
Ms. Roark, a 27-year-old who works in retail in Abingdon, Va., estimates that she spends $300 a month on cosmetics and skin care. She watches at least three hours of tutorials each week on YouTube, learning new techniques or keeping up on emerging brands. Her morning makeup routine takes 30 minutes and involves up to 15 products.
Young shoppers like Ms. Roark are the driving force behind a boom in the cosmetics industry. Always camera ready, they are buying and using almost 25 percent more cosmetics than they did just two years ago and significantly more than baby boomers, according to the research firm NPD. And millennials who identify themselves as "makeup enthusiasts," NPD found, are using six products each day.
Revenues at Ulta Beauty, which sells both prestige and drugstore brands and has been opening about 100 new stores annually in recent years, are expected to top $5.9 billion this year, up from $3.9 billion two years ago. Revenues at Sephora have doubled since 2011.
The success illustrates the way that millennials — who may spend hours on social media platforms watching video bloggers and following so-called influencers — are rewriting the rules. And brands are racing to evolve with the quickly changing market.
Cosmetic companies are shifting ad dollars from traditional television and print platforms to Instagram and YouTube. But brands and influencers are walking a fine line as they form tighter bonds.
Beauty influencers who grew their subscriber base by providing honest reviews risk losing that trust if their audience believes that they have been paid to give only glowing reviews. For brands, there are other risks. Unlike scripted commercials with paid actresses, the brands lose some control over the messaging and content on a video blog.
Gabriel Zamora, a 24-year-old "beauty boy" vlogger from Los Angeles, said he has relationships with about 20 brands. He said he mostly receives free products from the companies and has been selective about his paid endorsements.
Tarang P. Amin, the chief executive of e.l.f. Beauty said staying ahead of millennials is a tricky business. "Five years ago, no one talked about Instagram and today, Instagram is probably the number one social media platform for our products," said Mr. Amin, who has spent 30 years in the packaged goods industry. "And five years from now, it will be something else."
▍生词好句
millennial /mɪˈlɛnɪəl/: n. 千禧宝贝 (广义上指青春期成长在2000年后的人)
lust /lʌst/: n. 情欲；迷恋
lipstick on a pig /ˈlɪpstɪk/: 粉饰没有内涵的人或事
addiction /əˈdɪkʃ(ə)n/: n. 瘾
cosmetic /kɒzˈmɛtɪk/: n. 化妆品
tutorial /tjuːˈtɔːrɪəl/: n. 教程 (视频)
emerging /ɪˈməːdʒɪŋ/: adj. 逐渐崭露头角的；新出现的
driving force: 驱动力量
boom /buːm/: n. 繁荣
baby boomer: 婴儿潮时期出生的一代人 (通常指出生在1940年至1960年之间的人)
enthusiast /ɪnˈθjuːzɪast/ /ɛnˈθjuːzɪast/: n. 对某事热衷的人
revenue /ˈrɛvənjuː/: n. 收入
prestige /prɛˈstiː(d)ʒ/: adj. 名贵的
drugstore /ˈdrʌɡstɔː/: n. 药店
influencer /ˈɪnflʊənsə/: n. 有影响力的网络人物
walk a fine line: 小心行事
vlogger /ˈvlɒɡə/: n. 视频博主
selective /sɪˈlɛktɪv/: adj. 精挑细选的
endorsement /ɪnˈdɔːsm(ə)nt/ /ɛnˈdɔːsm(ə)nt/: n. 背书；支持
tricky /ˈtrɪki/: adj. 复杂的；棘手的
