Q&A W/ Alexis Page: The State Of The Beauty Industry
For the second part of our report series “The Status Economy: How Everything Became a Signal of Cultural Knowledge”, we delved into the world of beauty and spoke to the most insightful oracles in the beauty galaxy to shed some (red) light on the mysterious universe that is everything beauty and beautifying. But we can’t keep all the good parts to ourselves, can we?
So, enjoy the wisdom that beauty priestess, MAC alumna, Glossier-shaper, and Pat McGrath-advisor Alexis Page shared with our in-house fortune teller of global Research & Insights Anna Burzlaff. Of course, since we’re incurable yappers, this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
ANNA BURZLAFF: ALEXIS, WHERE IS BEAUTY AT CURRENTLY? WHERE IS IT GOING?
Alexis Page: The biohacking aspect is certainly where beauty is going. Beauty has to do with groceries and health and wellness. Beauty no longer means just lipstick and eyeshadow palettes. Some companies still think that it does, and that's their bread and butter, and that's fine. Someone will always buy lipstick. But that’s not where the cultural conversation is now.
YOU WERE HEAD OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT WHEN GLOSSIER WAS FOUNDED IN 2014. GLOSSIER WAS THE BEAUTY OF THAT ERA. WHAT DID IT DO RIGHT?
They were the first company that was willing to say out loud (and to live by it): The beauty industry is about psychology. If you're a person that thinks psychology first, then you can figure it out pretty easily. It's not rocket science. Most brands don't operate that way. Most brands pride themselves on being data-driven. As in, ‘Vitamin C serum sells, so we'll make a Vitamin C serum’. You could. Or you could say, ‘Why is Vitamin C serum selling? It's about brightening. What else could be brightening? What does brightening mean?’ Most brands don't dissect it that way.
BEAUTY, HEALTH, AND WELLNESS HAVE BECOME COMPLETELY INTERTWINED. SO MANY THINGS ARE HEALTH-CODED, BUT ACTUALLY THEY’RE ABOUT BEAUTY.
Now, young people work out and don’t drink. That’s crazy. Health is thought of at a younger age and that ties into beauty. People are doing this from a place of wanting to look good. If you're a 20-year-old girl and you're obsessed with working out, it's not because of your cardiovascular health. You want to look hot. So, it's still related to beauty.
BIOHACKING SEEMS TO BE BECOMING MORE AND MORE MAINSTREAM. WHY IS THAT?
This biohack-y culture came from male fitness. Women then learned they can inject peptides — like boys do — to grow more muscle and solve the problem of how they think their butt should look. Traditionally, men used to be over there in the fitness space and women did other stuff, like injectables and surgery. Now, everyone is doing the same thing on different levels. The lines aren’t so clear anymore.
YOU STARTED WORKING IN BEAUTY AT MAC. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON MAC CURRENTLY?
During my entire run at MAC, MAC was the number one makeup brand in the entire world.We could do whatever we wanted. We were number one in every single category. MAC is nowhere near number one now; they did not at all pay attention to what was happening in culture. They rested on their laurels. They did not look at what was coming down the pike. They did not take YouTube people seriously. They didn't take the Kardashians seriously.
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