Makeup has always been interesting to me as a way that individuals are able to express themselves. Trying new makeup routines has been a hobby of mine for several years now and it is interesting because It can completely change how someone is perceived by others. Two months ago, I subscribed to a service called Ipsy. After you fill out a questionnaire that tells them what you are interested in, Ipsy hand selects five beauty products per month for all of its customers. They send out items such as skin and nail care, brushes, lip wear, and eye makeup among other things. One of the most interesting things about makeup is looking into how various cultures have treated it in the past and how they treat it now.
Some cultures celebrate external modification to a person’s looks to the extreme, while other cultures want their modifications to look as though they are not there. Traditional makeup from some of the Native American tribes were very bold and were made of berries, charcoal, and other things they could find in nature. They would wear face paint for celebrations and war and had different designs for the different occasions. In present day America, cultural appropriation of traditional Native American looks has become a problem.
After the colonization of America, on up until around the 1980s, American women generally preferred a more subtle and natural look that only took care of blemishes and accented one feature. The rise of Pop Culture in the 80’s helped to expand our horizons in many ways including makeup.
The cosmetic industry as a whole was worth around 181 billion Euros or 203 billion US dollars in 2014 and makeup sales made up about 17% of total sales. The Asian market consumes the most amount of products from the industry with the Western European and North American markets following, respectively. L’Oréal and Estée Lauder are the two largest producers of cosmetics, but the former is larger than the top seven companies combined.
Tune in later for more interesting facts and a review of my September Glambag from Ipsy!
Sources:
http://www.consultancy.uk/news/2810/cosmetics-market-worth-181-billion-loreal-dominates
http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/make-indian-war-paint-9642.html
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