Lipstick = Happiness

I've never been much of a cosmetics fancier. That is, I've never really thought women needed to spend wads of cash in an effort to beautify themselves. Knowing nearly nothing about the distaff set (having only Fred as a sibling), it always seemed sort of, well, insecure to me that females worked so hard to cover every little flaw or to enhance even the most radiant complexion. But, then again, I know nothing about their motives. I do know that the industry is a multi-billion dollar one and has been ever since ANYTHING was multi-billion dollar. Now comes word that such an item can forecast economic downturns and has for years! Who knew? Leonard Lauder, that's who.
Lauder, the chairman of Estee Lauder, has coined the term "lipstick effect" to denote the fact that during hard times, sales of color cosmetics lke eye shadow and lipstick actually go up! During the Great Depression (before the current one), sales of red lipstick skyrocketed, and that trend continued even after the 9/11 disaster: cosmetics were hot! During the year 2008, sales of color cosmetics were up 4.4%, and I defy you to name anything else that rose in sales by that much. The question is, why?
It is posited that during tough economic times, people restrict their buying because they have lost a job or fear losing one; perhaps inflation has gotten out of control. Whatever the reason, people tend to stop buying luxuries and begin counting their Lincolns carefully (pennies, not five-dollar bills). Now, you and I both know that such an activity is not a good time-hardly fulfilling-so the tendency is to buy small items of a "feel-good" nature, hence, the upsurge in cosmetics sales.
Supposedly, this is about maintaining some kind of control over one's life: there is no control over the stock market, the cost of goods and services, the Saudi or Venezuelan oil prices, etc. but one CAN exert control when buying small, superfluous items. I think it's somewhat akin to the old "when women get depressed, they buy a hat" theory.
Men are not immune to this, either. New cars are replaced by smaller, less expensive electronic gizmos and gadgets (Miatas are replaced by basement renovations). The big one for guys is purported to be fast food. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. Eating four or five double cheeseburgers has a way of making me forget all about the economy, the mortgage or the fact that I'm not allowed to buy lipstick...even for the pig.
The $.99 menu has a whole new meaning.