Estudiante

Because I have been in the industry for a short time (as a beauty editor) I haven't noticed any changes in particular during my tenure. However, in studying the beauty industry and in the process ofbecoming somewhat of an expert, I have noticed the following:
1. There is a lot of money to be made in beauty, now more than ever. Every month, there seems to be a new product on the marketpromising youth for older women and glamour for younger women. Every magazine has a huge beauty section because the advertisers are willing to pay big bucks for huge glossy ads about eye shadow or lipstick.And it's no wonder beauty is a big business: it doesn't cost a lot of money to produce a small tub of cream (Creme de La Mer costs upwards of $100) but women will dole out their cash to buy it.

2.The anti-aging industry is growing at a furious rate. Ten years ago you had only Oil of Olay promising to erase fine lines and wrinkles. Now you have microdermabrasion products, Retinoids (thinkRetin-A, which isn't just for acne anymore), antioxidants and peels. On top of this, you have a whole host of new minor cosmetic procedures that women are trying as early as age 25. These fillers (thinkBotox and Restylane) offer women a simpler, less costly option to look younger (facelifts are so 1980). They are becoming so mainstream, women in Dallas are getting them done in the mall of all places.3. On a lighter note, recently I've noticed a 'less is more' trend that I hope takes off. It started with an article in a magazine about how the French are so much more casual than Americans withtheir makeup and we all know French women are so very sophisticated. This unleashed a few 'Beauty secrets from the French articles'. Then the New York Times writer Alex Kuczynski wrote a book that got aton of recent buzz about how she became obsessed with cosmetic surgery and has opted to now go au naturel. Perhaps this new trend is a result of the number 1 and 2 trends I outlined above. We'll see...