The makeup of makeup artists

The makeup of makeup artists, this is the slogan that is been used by this famous company: Max Factor. This name has become synonymous with beauty to millions of women around the whole world; also it has developed countless makeup innovations over the years. Nowadays, when we talk about the most famous cosmetics brands we can’t forget Max Factor. The company is also developing and improving their marketing communications strategies to effectively establish their new products in the market. One effective way for accomplishing this, is through commercials or advertisements. Its success not only relies on the fact that the brand name is already famous all around the world, but the fact that many famous celebrities use the product. In addition, the company also uses quotations or slogans to add to the brand of the product,and be remembered easily by the public. While watching commercials of this company, I have noticed that the previously mentioned slogan always come back. In these commercials we often see a model getting her makeup done by professionals behind the scenes. With this kind of advertising, the company wants that those products will be seen as high quality products which are used by professionals, since makeup artists are not easily satisfied about a product.

I am not sure if this kind of advertising would work for everyone because to me, seeing makeup artists using certain products does not necessarily mean that these products are good. Sometimes, what works for others might not work for me. 

Let’s say YES

Whenever someone says carrots, tomatoes or cucumbers you would probably think of salad or food in general, but in this blog, I am not going to talk about anything of that. I want to write something about the new name on the market, Yes To products.   

Founded in 2006, Yes To is a consumer-inspired line of hair and skin products born out of a desire to make people look and feel their most happy and radiant. Yes To combines high-quality organic fruits and vegetables with a special mineral elixir derived from the Dead Sea to nourish and hydrate naturally. With four unique collections, Yes To Carrots, Yes To Tomatoes, Yes To Cucumbers, and now Yes To Baby Carrots, the Yes To family addresses a variety of skin and hair needs to help people find their own "recipe" of products. And the best part is, this company has not only found a way to offer all of this incredible quality at a very accessible, guilt-free price, but a portion of all Yes To proceeds has been dedicated to the Yes To Carrots Seed Fund. The Yes To Carrots Seed Fund is a non-profit organization that helps making a difference in people's lives through sustainable agriculture.

I use one of these products for a while now and personally, I think this company is doing a great job! They are not only making products that are affordable for the majority of people and that also have a very good quality, their mission is to spread happiness through the undeniable power of YES. I would say: yes to Yes To product!...

Cosmetics for men

When it comes to appearance, men always follow women 10 to 20 years later. For example, in the 70s, when women used shampoo and conditioner, men did not. Indeed, surveys at the time show that people thought men who used shampoo or conditioner must be gay! Nowadays, men use more shampoo than women. Whoever said that make-up is only for women has it all wrong. We now live in the 21^st century and believe it or not, even men use cosmetics nowadays. In order for companies to protect their position on the market against competitors it is important that they always innovate themselves and more importantly their products and services. Companies such as L’Oreal have a whole line of skincare products that are especially made for men. Other brands, such as Nivea also have a brand line made for men, called “Nivea for Men”. With this factor companies want to expand their target group. Products that are popular with the male population are namely conditioners, hydrating and moisturizing crèmes. There are even men that use foundation to cover up facial problems. I think that there is a big market for men cosmetic. Nowadays more men have problems that they want to hide, and if there were more products designed for men, they won’t have to be ashamed when using it. 

promotional tricks

In this blog I am going to talk a little about the promotional activities of the cosmetic industries and how they use it to draw the attention of the consumers. First form of promotion that I am going to discuss is advertising through TV-commercials. When companies such as L’Oreal, Max Factor, Maybelline and Rimmel London introduce a new product on the market promotion is necessary to promote the product. When using TV-commercial as a promotional activity it has caught my attention that the commercials specifically show off the product. For example when a commercial is being made about a new lip gloss you can see that the model is wearing very natural make-up on her face, but her lips are much accentuated. The reason why companies do this is to show the customers that that is the effect that the lip gloss is going to give you. I feel that this is a smart way to show of the product, because it shows what is being sold and it makes you want to buy the lip gloss to create the same effect. But on the other hand I feel that the consumers are being misled, because those models are being photo shopped and the consumers are not able to have that same effect. So companies must be careful that they do not mislead their clients.

Another form of promotion that is being used is giving samples to the customers. This is a smart way to promote new products that will be introduced on the market. Customers can use the product and get an example of what the product is and whether they want to purchase it when it comes out. 

Affordable quality

In my last blog, I wrote about the cosmetic products of Essence. This time wanted to talk about a similar product, but Essence’s biggest competitor: Catrice Cosmetics. Just like Essence, Catrice is a German company which sells low prized make-up. Besides, Catrice is Essence’s biggest competitor, since both companies sell cosmetics in the same price category.  The assortment of both companies is very similar too.

My first experience with Catrice was two years ago. I went shopping for a cheap mascara, because I didn’t have much money for an expensive one. There wasn’t much choice left for me, since mascara is an expensive cosmetic product. If you want a mascara of good quality, you easily end up with a mascara of 10 euro or more. Eventually I found a cheaper brand: Catrice. After I bought Catrice’s mascara, I was surprised by its quality. This made me buy other products of Catrice. These products were good too. It was surprising that such a low prized product could contain such good quality.

What caught my attention was that Catrice kept developing the brand and its products, which made Catrice stronger in comparison with Essence. At a certain point Catrice renewed its collection entirely. This means new products, new colors, new names and a complete different look.

This new look makes Catrice look like an expensive brand, while it’s very cheap. The renewal didn’t have any influences on the price. The price stayed low and because of the new look, it got more buyers. Catrice is very popular now.

Something to think about

I thought the time of animal abuse was over, but this appeared to be otherwise when I read an article about animals which are still used as laboratory animals for different cosmetic brands.  Some companies succeed to keep this secret, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen anymore. However, using laboratory animals is forbidden in many countries, but there are companies out there who don’t care about this rule. Cosmetic companies still test their products on animals.

People, who don’t care about animals, probably don’t care about the laboratory animals either. But for the people who do care about (laboratory) animals are not amused by this. Many animals like mice, rabbits, birds, monkeys, cats and dogs are being tortured, so the final product of the cosmetic companies can be sold in the stores.

Cosmetic company Essence thinks differently about this. This company goes by the slogan ‘No testing on animals!’. Essence claims they don’t use animals to test the products on. The company itself doesn’t use animals to test their products on. They managed to keep their products 100 per cent animal experiment free. The companies Essence cooperates with don’t use animals either. Although Essence isn’t the most popular cosmetics brand, this decision can provide more consumers. People who care about this are easily willing to choose for Essence.

I’m using Essence too. It may not be a brand with the best quality, but the fact that they don’t use animals to test their products on makes it attractive for me to use this brand.

A touch of Luxury..

Have you ever seen an promotion advertisement for Chanel? I haven’t… The thing is, they only promote their latest products, but just for a little while. You’re probably wondering why, because I did too. After thinking about it, I thought of an answer to this question. It is a deliberate choice that Chanel doesn’t use discounts, benefit packages or any other type of promotion. The reason for this choice is that Chanel wants to keep its brand exclusive. I find this very surprising, because during my study I’ve learned that the sales figures of a certain product increase because of promotion. Chanel does this differently.

Chanel’s consumers know about the quality of the products. Promotion is unnecessary. Also, Chanel is a luxury brand. If Chanel uses promotion like discounts or benefit packages, they will lose their consumers. The main reason why the most of these consumers choose for Chanel, is because of its luxury.

It’s not a secret that Chanel belongs in the high prized category. The packaging is quite simple. Usually it’s black with a white Chanel logo. It’s of good quality. They barely promote their brand. So if you think about it, you mostly pay for the luxury feeling you get of buying this luxury product.

It’s well-done. Chanel doesn’t have to spend a lot of money to promote their brand and they don’t lose any profit because of discounts or benefit packages, but they still have a big amount of loyal consumers. You know what they say: Once you go Chanel…