The Lipstick Theory

I've been away from the blog for far too long, but with good reason. Things are picking up in the lab and I've been working on a little personal and career development. I recently joined Toastmasters International which is a world reknown public speaking and leadership organization. My primary goal was to refine my speaking skills to position me for a few business goals. I decided to that the cosmetics industry would be the general topic of all of my speeches. This week's speech covered the lipstick theory which I thought to be both timely and interesting. I thought I would share a synopsis of the speech here to let you all into another part of my Glam World. :-)

The lipstick theory arose out of the fact that in spite of economic disaster, women still purchased lipstick. It is representative of the idea that people always need a touch of luxury, even if it is an "affordable luxury" like lipstick. The theory held weight in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks when key players in the industry like Estee Lauder saw an increase in their cosmetics sales. While 9/11 was not quite a major economic disaster, it was certainly a precursor for what we face today.

The recession has shown that the lipstick theory is plausible, although it may be due for a name change. Nail polish has risen as the ultimate female recession buster which is not a great surprise considering the similarities. Both lipstick (lipgloss) and nail polish come in a multitude of colors, styles and textures so there is something for everybody. Color has a way of altering moods and complimenting personalities and styles. Personally, lipgloss and nail polish make me feel feminine and can instantly boost my mood. Women love to feel pretty so even if we can't afford a fancy dress or the fab shoes of the season, we can usually splurge on choice glam cosmetics.

Clearly, this is not the 6 and 1/2 minute speech I gave at my club earlier this week, but that's it in a nutshell (minus the quotes and the numbers, etc). You can expect more of my speech summaries in future blogs. :-)