Frustrated that your makeup clients just won’t give it to you straight? Drop the angst. A new study has come up with six makeup looks women really like at different stages of life. (Hint: it isn’t glitter.)
A new US study, conducted by The Benchmarking Company, has found out what every makeup artist (and makeup brand) wants to know about their clients. Here we go…
Eyeshadow is a major “yes please”
Eyeshadow is the most reached-for product by all three major demographics polled – Millennials, Generation Xers and Baby Boomers. A whopping 99 per cent of Millennials use it daily (so, like, you barely need to ask “would you like a bit of eye definition?”), while 84 per cent of Gen Xers and 67 per cent of Baby Boomers call it a daily must.
Bottom line: feel free to blend the eye pigment.
Oh, but…pass on the glitter
Surprisingly (or is that just us…?), glitter and metallic eyeshadow doesn’t rock the world of over a third (36 percent) of Millennials, who feel that too much sparkle is just too young for them. Perhaps predictably then, this number rose to over half (55 per cent) among Gen Xers and over three-quarters (77 percent) of Baby Boomers.
Bottom line: Don’t want to make anyone feel Tweenage? Skip the glitter.
Shades of grey
If you want your younger clients to walk out happy, offer them a smouldering, smoky eye. Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of Millennials felt the ideal makeup look was the smoky eye.
Bottom line: Smoky and sophisticated rules.
Soft, pillowy lips win major points
More than half of Gen Xers (55 per cent) and Baby Boomers said soft, neutral lips is their preferred makeup look. In fact, at 43 per cent, soft neutral lips was amongst the top three makeup looks across all age groups, along with lip gloss (43 per cent) and contoured cheeks (40 per cent).
Bottom line: If you can make ‘em look naturally amazing, do that and feel the love.
But hey, she’ll give red lipstick a shot too
A bright red lipstick can make any woman feel a million bucks, and this study found that, no matter what her age, women will happily slick on red lippie to give themselves a lift. Only 16 per cent of Baby Boomers and 13 per cent of Gen Xers believe they are too old for red lipstick.
Botton line: Suggest a bold red lip when your next makeup client seems a bit flat. They may just say yes.
She’ll tell her friends for shizzle
“Sorry, could you just hold on a sec while I text my friend?” Yep, phones can be a pain when you’re doing makeup on a client but, according to the research, women of all ages love to share. Known as the G2G or “Girlfriend to Girlfriend” effect (or just “talking” if you’re not a marketer), majority of Millennials and Gen Xers (89 per cent for both groups) said they would pass on the news to a friend if they fell in love with a beauty product or colour. Baby Boomers were almost as quick to speed-dial a pal, with 81 per cent likely to go all G2G on their friends if they found a great beauty find.
Bottom line: If you want clients to keep coming back, get at least one of them to love you…
Have your say: Do you find this research rings true with your clients?