NYTimes: Beauty Products Lose Some Appeal During Recession

From The New York Times:

THE COUNT: Beauty Products Lose Some Appeal During Recession

What price beauty? More consumers appear to be asking this question as
they rein in their spending.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/business/economy/20count.html

Beer and lipstick were considered recession proof, so were casinos.
We have seen Vegas falter this during this depression. And we have
also seen beer sales drop. There is no secure haven in cosmetics. If
the consumers stop buying then sales will go down.

Paraphrasing one of the cosmetics icons "you don't sell cosmetics, you
sell hope." What happens when people decide to stop aspiring for the
next level, and are satisfied where they are?

Hoping meant buying a house that was too big. A much nicer car, better
vacations, etc. It also meant spending beyond your means, torching
savings and going into huge debt. As purchase adjustment happen fewer
stores will survive. And when the money dries up, there will no longer
be "Jobs Americans don't want to do."