The Lipstick Effect: Do we need to be wary of ‘treating’ ourselves to little luxuries during a recession?

The Lipstick Effect (or Lipstick Index) was a theory first posited by, unsurprisingly, a purveyor of lipstick. In 2001, in the aftermath of 9/11, Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder noticed a marked uptick in sales of lipstick. He came to the conclusion that products like lipstick were a good gauge of the economy: in times of slump, purchases of smaller luxuries get a boost, he proposed. A proportion of society will still want to treat themselves, but money’s too tight to splurge on life’s bigger aspirational items. Designer handbags may be out, but having an immaculate face is within reach.

It might be more than 20 years old, but the concept captured the consumer consciousness to such an extent that it’s been wheeled out as a marker during subsequent economic downturns, most notably after the banking crash and . A flurry of articles appeared, including a  piece called “”. The theory resurfaced again as , when market research firm Kantar Worldpanel found that UK sales of lipstick were nearly