The XX Factor: What women really think.

The Lipstick Level: Celebrity and YSL Still Sells

There's good news all around in today's lipstick level, both at the high and low ends. Predictably, Wal-Mart is doing incredibly well, but according to the IHT, it's actually exceeding expectations. Also doing well: niche teen stores like Hot Topic. Apparently the desire for zebra-print leggings remains high even during times of struggle.

Also in the black? YSL. According to Miles Socha at Women's Wear Daily, YSL has become profitable by emphasizing store sell-through rather than loading up boutiques with merchandise. The company is led by Valerie Hermann, a "driven but fun-loving" CEO. Part of the reason that YSL is doing well seems to be their increased brand visibility. Socha notes, "YSL is ranked number-one within Gucci Group in terms of editorial credits, prorated versus advertising investments."

Keeping your brand solid is something that Nespresso, the "upmarket coffee capsule" from Nestle has done quite well. They've built their entire marketing campaign around George Clooney. But that's not all! Advertising analyst Jim Boulton tells the BBC:

The marketing material [for Nespresso] at every touch point is polished and has data capture at its heart. ... Consumers are automatically enrolled in a loyalty programme, and receive a regular glossy magazine that re-enforces the notion that consumers are members of an exclusive club.

I guess everyone wants to join a club that involves fantasizing about waking up next to George Clooney. Thanks to the Cloon and his upscale caffeinated beverages, today's lipstick level is a 70.

Earlier: Introducing the Lipstick Level: A Recessionometer

Introducing the Lipstick Level: A Recession-o-Meter

At the early end of the current economic downturn, the New York Times published an article about how lipstick is a potential economic indicator. The theory is that in times of fiscal woe, women won't be able to afford that $200 frock, but they'll splurge on a $10 lipstick, a cheapo manicure, or some other kind of small luxury. And lately we've heard reporting not on just the lipstick effect," but also on how the credit crunch is killing boob-job loans, how Nordstrom's profits have tanked since the ladies who lunch are brown-bagging it, and how moms are cutting back on their kids' birthday parties, causing a seismic blow to the clown community.  

It seems that every day now there's a trend piece on the way women are spending—or not spending—our increasingly meager earnings. That's why we're introducing the Lipstick Level, an occasional Recession-o-Meter in the mold of Slate's Change-o-Meter rating how the economic downturn is shaping the way women make purchases. A low Lipstick Level score indicates spending as if you still believed those returns from Uncle Bernie were for real, like the article on Bloomberg.com today about how Shiseido is still profiting from a face cream costing $1,350 for a 1.4-ounce jar. “High-priced cosmetics are resisting the economic downturn,” says Shiseido president Shinzo Maeda.

A high Lipstick Level score says we're fast approaching diets of ramen and Target-brand pants held together with twine. An article in Women's Wear Daily by Rosemary Feitelberg on the notoriously spendthrift fashion crowd cutting back is an example of this. According to Feitelberg, "Constance White, eBay’s style director, said she has been trying to explain to her husband what Wal-Mart is." Even those who are aware of Wal-Mart are finding new ways to save: Tailors are doing better business as people try to revive old clothes rather than buying new ones.

So what's today's LL? I'm going to give it a 40 on a scale of 1 to 100. If people are still blowing rent money on cold cream, it could get much, much worse.

Addendum: The Big Money's Hans Eisenbeis wrote brilliantly on the lipstick index theory late last year. His take? "For this recession, lipstick has been upscaled right out of its own economic index. Hello, Hosiery Index!" Sigh. TBM also wrote on Uggs as an economic indicator here.