Image from refinery29.com
THE REVOLUTION OF INDIE MAKEUP
Words by Jessica Velazquez
As most girl my age, I grew up with very limited knowledge
of makeup. My mother and grandmother, which whom I grew
up, were never interested in that topic as I was. Their idea of
“full glam” was some lipstick and with luck, some mascara on
their top lashes. I had to rely on those teenage magazines that
barely explained what to do and just showed a few drugstore
makeup brands that would pay for ads and whose quality was
questionable at that time. This days, teenagers are incredible at
blending and contouring, and have at their reach a huge range of
brands that were not available in my days. With the growth of
social media, a new wave of influencers came along, and with
them a new way of makeup advertising was born.
This new makeup brands are usually small, with a limited
staff, and even smaller budget. They are known on the makeup
community as indie brands, because they are independent from
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big cosmetic companies like Estee Lauder or L’Oréal. Some
indie brands have become so popular that eventually were sold
to companies like Estee Lauder, some of these are: Becca, Bobbi
Brown, MAC, Too Faced, and many more.The freelance makeup
artist Sheila Sanchez told Sync’d that, “I’ve seen a big growth
on makeup brands lately, and even though people usually ask for
more mainstream brands, they are very interested in what’s new
out there.”
Image from social.diply.com
Indie makeup brands now have the advantage of using social
media to promote themselves, reach their target and communicate
with them. More than half of Millennials and Generation Z are
motivated to make purchases, and most of them do it, through
social media platforms facilitating the process for the brand and
making it less expensive.
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