We're trained to want to transition our makeup when a new season starts. We're bombarded with runway images well before the season we're enjoying ends, and beauty companies pounce on this.
"Makeup is more in line with fashion than it's ever been," says Bennett. "Now, just like you shop for a new wardrobe, you look to key makeup colors to swap for last season's faves."
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They get crafty with colors
You might think that pretty packaging is designed to look aesthetically pleasing in your medicine cabinet -- and sure, that's part of what makes some products so appealing. But cosmetics companies are way more conniving when deciding what color palette to use when creating product lines.
"What we know as branding specialists is that certain colors resonate with consumers and convey certain feelings," says Bennett. So what do specific colors say to our subconscious minds? Perner and Bennett break it down:
• Black: This is the color the modern cosmetics consumer trusts. It's strong. It's definitive. It's sexy.
• Blue: This color is calming and associated with reliability and trustworthiness. Various shades of blue -- slate, teal, aqua -- are often used in skin care products because they feel clean and clinical.
• Gold: This color often speaks to a more mature customer.
• Silver: This color tends to be used when a brand wants to communicate modernity.
• Purple: This color can help a brand feel more feminine.
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They promise skin-enhancing benefits
Once upon a time, we wanted our makeup to simply hide our imperfections. Now? It needs to do double-duty, treating blemishes while masking them. "The message used to be all about perfect color," says Bennett. "What you see now is a promise for perfect skin."
We have similar expectations of our cleanser, toner, and moisturizer as well. Thanks to all the new technology that's infused in skin care, why wouldn't we expect our morning serum to shrink our pores? As a result of this new demand for multi-tasking products, companies make all kinds of claims about a product's anti-acne, wrinkle-reducing, complexion-evening powers. And not so surprisingly, those promises prove alluring enough to give the products a shot.
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They make products look like a prescription
Just like we're suckers for a doc's name on our products, stuff that comes in apothecary-like containers and with very clinical-looking type on the box makes us think the product works.
"Consumers actually want products to feel like a prescription," says Bennett. "It conveys efficacy."
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They put products at eye level
We really are such simple creatures, us human beings. What marketing pros know is that the products they put at eye level on store shelves sell. As a result, "companies put their new products and best-sellers in this prime retail spot," says Bennett.
Translation: Cosmetics companies make it easy for us to buy what they want us to buy. So make sure you check out what's on the lower shelves for less expensive products and go-to staples.
Ever wonder why you walk into Sephora on a mission -- say, to find a new signature scent -- and walk out $127 poorer because you couldn't resist also picking up a skin-clearing face serum and lash-boosting mascara? You probably chalk your unexpected purchases up to the fact that you're a bona fide beauty junkie. That's what we do.
At least, that's what we did until we met Ben Bennett, founder and creative director of Hatch Beauty, a Los Angeles-based branding, packaging, and product development company. Bennett has spent years in the beauty biz as the creative mastermind behind top cosmetics, skin care, and fragrance companies, so he knows a thing or two about the tactics manufacturers use to lure us in to buy beauty products we don't really need.
"Companies spend a lot of time and money researching the right words and colors that will subconsciously attract consumers to buy their products," says Bennett. And those tactics work, says Lars Perner, PhD, assistant professor of clinical marketing at the University of Southern California. "Our subconscious mind is quite powerful. Well thought-out word choices, fonts, package colors, and where products are placed on a shelf make a bigger difference than you might think in how drawn to a product you are," says Perner.
Because we're not ones to get duped -- especially when it comes to our beauty stash -- we asked Bennett to tag along on our next trip to Sephora. We pointed out the products that called to us like long-lost lovers and let Bennett fill us in on exactly what tricks those companies used to hook us hard enough to head to the cash register.
Turns out they've got some nifty tricks up their sleeves. Will it stop us from our monthly (OK, weekly) beauty counter buys? Probably not. But hey, knowledge is power, right?
Here, the 9 insider secrets beauty companies use to get us to buy their products.
