MAC, hype and our roles as consumers

[Dianora]

This is a great thread. I, too, wonder a bit sometimes at people who skip bills to buy MAC and buy entire collections even though there are items in it they don't use. I don't think your post came across as snooty or condescending at all - I didn't read the original thread you posted in, but this one is informative and non-judgmental.

I've said before when people complain about all the LE collections that MAC only puts out what we buy. Obviously, somewhere along the way they noticed it was more profitable to squeeze out LE after LE collection rather than focus on their perm items. As consumers, we can change that by A) only buying what we will wear and B) comparing LE items to perm items and purchasing the perm dupes.

I'm really, really picky with what I buy because of my current income - I've only purchased 2 eyeshadows and 3 paint pots this year (and luckily was gifted with Cool Heat shadows for my birthday) and I've STILL got colors that look the same. If I'd taken the time to swatch the N eyeshadows and compare them with what I already own, my 2008 haul would be down to only 3 paint pots.

Out of all those questions you asked, Ruffage, I do come to Specktra almost every day to see if there is any new news. But it does help, because while my initial reaction is, "Ooooh, pretty, must have," getting the news ahead of time allows me to spend some time with my collection going, "Okay, what do I already own that's just like that?" I'd originally planned to get most of the Cool Heat shadows and then eventually convinced myself that the teals/greens/blues I already own were sufficient and that I should just use those more often - and then my stepmom went and bought them for my birthday, making it all a moot point.

(And I'm so glad she did, these colors are gorgeous)

Plus, it makes work less boring.

 

[AdlersMommy22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by florabundance Thank you for this truthful, intelligent and articulate post. In honesty, I am aware that the hype surrounding MAC is the fundamental part of its charm, but truthfully, I don't care. To me, that is what makes it fun to be a part of and interesting to purchase. That said, i'm not one to find something that "omg, i must have" in every single collection - far from it. What struck me most was the part about guerrilla marketing, because I distinctly remember that when I first came to recognise MAC as a brand was after I went to see Christina Aguilera's stripped tour in '02. I was only 12, and i was awed by all her looks that night, so i flipped through the tourbook to find out as much as I could have about wardrobe and makeup. When I saw that all cosmetics were by MAC and MAC Artists i had it in my mind from that age that when i'd start wearing make up, it would HAVE to be this brand. Again, thanks for this, so thought-provoking and interesting! p.s. does this kind of research appear in Social Anthropolgy courses too?

omggggggg.. I seriously remember reading an article about the fact that CA wears pretty much *nothing* but MAC a few years ago and thinking "thats it.. Im wearing MAC.. nothing else.. I dont care what I have to do but I will LOOK like christina aguilera." HAHAHA... that jsut really hit close to home.

Anyways...

As someone who is fairly "new" to MAC-- meaning I didnt start really buying it until February 06... I have to say that... I am now completely addicted, and Iraelly dont know if it has *much* to do w/ LE collections, even though they do play a big role.

I dont have a MAC counter or store anywhere around me, but after buying one l/g (c-thru.. GREAT purchase!) for the first time in 06 after seeing a friend of mine who lives in tampa wearing it, I was completely hooked. While down there visiting, I was SO captivated by their colors, all the exciting DIFFERENT l/gs and l/s... (which i think is the samereason why i have dreams about eyeshadows at the mac counter now) that I ended up letting the MA do a makeover on me and buying over $500 worth in my first haul.. I remember copying my friend and getting retrospeck as my first e/s too.. I was hooked.

The packaging I think has a lot to do with it... I remember going back to my boyfriends, spreading my collection out of the floor and taking each eyeshadow, l/g, brush, foundation, moisturizer, etc out of that BEAUTIFUL black box and just oogling the gorgeousness of the packaging... I dreampt all night about millions of eyeshadows in pretty black boxes...

I totally also gave into the "hype" of MAC, but i still find myself smiling when I see my new package arriving in the mail all nice and neat in their black boxes.. maybe I'm weird, I dont know...

The fact that MAC is so readily used in the fashion and entertainment industry is also what gets me.. I am the kind of person who sees something (aka christina aguilera's look) and says "Ill be damned if Im not going to get my makeup to look JUST LIKE THAT"... and then I find out that MAC is what was used.. it fuels my addiction even more

"look at me! Im wearing the same make-up as the stars.. look at my collection! look at how glam and fabulous I am!.. screw your drugstore brands, im wearing MAC!"

I think its awesome that you wrote something like this because I think every one of us can relate to it in some way... Great job!

 

[florabundance]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdlersMommy22 omggggggg.. I seriously remember reading an article about the fact that CA wears pretty much *nothing* but MAC a few years ago and thinking "thats it.. Im wearing MAC.. nothing else.. I dont care what I have to do but I will LOOK like christina aguilera." HAHAHA... that jsut really hit close to home.

Ohhhh snap!!! LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdlersMommy22 "look at me! Im wearing the same make-up as the stars.. look at my collection! look at how glam and fabulous I am!.. screw your drugstore brands, im wearing MAC!"

how freaking true.

 

[AdlersMommy22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meaghanb2926 Thank you Ruffage. We all need a gut check from time to time! MAC's marketing department is clearly genius and worthy of being studied. Look in the Traincase forum and the fruits of their efforts is VERY apparent. I too am easily able to admit that I am affected by the LE hype. I too purchased every Cool Heat shadow and have only used two of them. I think at the heart of this "hype" is really a self-esteem issue. I believe if you were to survey all the members of this website and ask them about their feelings about themselves you might find that many of us purchase makeup to fill a void. Makeup seems to be a filler for less than stellar self esteem. Self conscious about your weight... buy a contouring blush to contour your cheeks and take off 20 pounds. Buy a bright blue eyeshadow to draw attention to your eyes instead of double chin. While you might grow out of that outfit... you can use this lipgloss whatever weight you are! Self conscious about your skin? Purchase this foundation to even out your complexion. True this is a marketing technique, but ultimately, the marketing departments are playing into our society's (and women's in particular) low self esteem. A study was recently done about how often a woman is subjected to unrealistic pictures of the ideal woman (internet, TV, magazines) on a daily basis and the number was insanely high....something like 25-50 times. We, as women, in turn want to emulate and be just like these celebrities and are willing to do whatever neccessary...botox, plastc surgery, makeup... While I do love this site, it only helps further this. Is an eyeshadow going to turn your life around? No. Might it make you feel great about yourself for a day? Sure. Ultimately, if we spent the amount of time and energy that we do on this site and on makeup in general, on something truly good for us (exercise, healthy cooking, etc) I wouldn't doubt that there would be a whole lot more happy women out there. Myself included...

I totally agree with this. I honestly look foward to putting makeup on every single day (esp my e/s!).. but not nec because I have a specific inperfection that I want to hide, but because while I've struggled with an eating disorder my entire life, I found MAC when I was just starting to come to terms with it and stop throwing up my food all the time.

For me it was almost as though MAC was another outlet to look "pretty" without killing my body...

Now that I'm finally OVER all my body issues (not to say I dont have days where I look in the mirror and think "I seriously hate my body".. because I do!)... I think that subconsiously I hold onto MAC as the thing that helped me get over my eating disorder..

Wearing MAC for me has become such an obsession because when I put on my makeup, I feel GORGEOUS.. I feel on top of the world, and the fact that its MAC and my face alone is worth probably 100's of $$ (as materialistic as that makes me sound)... makes me feel even BETTER about myself, you know?

 

[roselyn112]

Amazing Article!!!!!

 

[CellyCell]

Great post, I'm happy to finally see one of these up.

Most folks are not understanding the concept of, "you already have a similar shade of that blue... do you really need to get this one just because it's a tad bit lighter or LE? It looks the same when you wear it." I stress that a lot in my posts to save folks their time/money - but I totally understand more now that they're being built up on hype.

I too have "fallen" for this, but it's more because it happens to be something I already needed as oppose to something I just wanted. I'm still in the search for that perfect yellow or red, haha. Recently, I've seen Cool Heat and it totally bugs me how much it's colors resembles ones from the permanent line - Freshwater is a perfect duplicate for the recent blues I've seen come out.

I never understood backups - I know folks have their HG and all, but I hear often how MAC re-promotes products a year or two later. So to me, it's not worth buying 20 of the same eyeshadow when I'm not even done with my 1st one. Plus, folks tend to forget that MAKEUP DOES EXPIRE!

In the end, it's one's own money - and they should spend however they want to freely. But, I really wish folks looked at their collection and check to see if they really NEED it instead of falling for the hype.

But makeup is a great thing/hobby... don't get me wrong, It's one of my many obsessions but it isn't my life.

MAC really does have a genius in Marketing. To be that bastard with Millions

 

[jasminbarley]

*****

 

[makeup_queen81]

I have always hated the LE lines...that doesn't meanI don't buy anything from them..i went 2 years without buying anything from MAC..in the last year i have started to buy MAC again...but it's been driving me crazy with all these LE lines..it seems every couple of weeks there is a new collection....atleast over the years I have learned not to buy just because it is LE...now i only buy what i actually like...MAC doesn't have the best products, however it does have a wide range of e/s, which i love, but some of their products well they suck..like foundations..horrible, IMO..

I do find it crazy when people buy 5, 10 of backups for a product...i have only bought one back up and that was Lucky Green e/s......i see it as they always come out with new collections...so there will always be something better...and they also repromte all the time

 

[darkishstar]

I don't hate the LE lines, and I don't let myself fall into the hype either so to speak. I thought I did, but compared to a LOT of people, I was really controlled with my spending. I only got colors I REALLY needed. Sure, I'll let myself get excited over all the beautiful colors getting released... but I don't need 50 shades of purple, I'm NOT an MA.

I think it helps when you think of building a collection by the colors you need. I know once I finish building the colors I want (which is REALLY soon!) I will slow down.

I will be happy with my colors. I build my collection from LE actually, so that having something limited in production will make me happy, but I can always find a similar color in the perm line once it runs out or when another LE collection comes out with a similar color.

That being said, this was an insightful article all the same, if I had much more money than that of which I work REALLY hard for, I probably would let myself fall into hype more. But since I don't, I can't let myself. I won't go hungry just to have fancy make-up. But man, because some will... MAC does have fantastic marketing indeed!

 

[aimee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdlersMommy22 I totally agree with this. I honestly look foward to putting makeup on every single day (esp my e/s!).. but not nec because I have a specific inperfection that I want to hide, but because while I've struggled with an eating disorder my entire life, I found MAC when I was just starting to come to terms with it and stop throwing up my food all the time. For me it was almost as though MAC was another outlet to look "pretty" without killing my body... Now that I'm finally OVER all my body issues (not to say I dont have days where I look in the mirror and think "I seriously hate my body".. because I do!)... I think that subconsiously I hold onto MAC as the thing that helped me get over my eating disorder.. Wearing MAC for me has become such an obsession because when I put on my makeup, I feel GORGEOUS.. I feel on top of the world, and the fact that its MAC and my face alone is worth probably 100's of $$ (as materialistic as that makes me sound)... makes me feel even BETTER about myself, you know?

aww this touched me im glad your over your eating disorder
i have an ED too and i just feel pretty when i wear make up
its like a mask ...its the person i wanna be....i dont wanna be the person without make up because the person without has a lower self esteem
sounds sad i know but hey make up is fun ...i like to be creative...its a hobby too ...i like MAC because of the Quality...i used to buy Chanel and dior before and versace so its still cheaper to buy MAC

 

[melliquor]

Great article and thank you for all of your insight.

I def have collector tendencies... I have all my life for anything that I get into. I don't think there is anything wrong with collecting makeup... as long as you enjoy it. I don't believe that you should not pay bills or use your grocery money towards Mac... that is wrong. I made a comment a few days ago that I said that I will be eating beans on toast but that was a bit of a joke. I use my spending money on Mac... that is money after all bills, food, and savings. I have alot of excess money every month... I don't drink or smoke and really enjoy buying makeup. It is something that gives me fulfillment and makes me happy.

I have tons of makeup and have spent alot of money but I use everything that I have. I put everything into rotation and make sure that everything get used within a month. There are colours that get used more than others but those are usually my highlighters.

Since I started collecting in 2006, I have only ever regretted about 3 sets of purchases... CShock, Fafi, and Antiquitease MES. I ended up selling them and getting all my money back... so I wasn't too bothered about it. I have dupped some colours but I am usually very careful in what I buy so I don't have too similiar colours. I have fallen into the hype and as I said regretted a few purchases.

If you enjoy it, don't feel bad about spending money on Mac and getting excited about the collections. I love them and love Mac... I don't agree with some of their policies and do wish they would stop have so many LE collections... I think one big collection and month would be brilliant.

Will I stop buying Mac... No.
Will I think about what I buy... Will try but you never know w/ me.

 

[little_miss_mac]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write up an educated analysis of mac's philosophy and marketing techniques and their effects on us (as the consumers). It has been a real eye opener and wake up call to me, as a 'newbie' to mac (i only started buying mac last christmas), although in this short space of time I have fallen into many of the marketing traps that you have outlined. I am glad I have read this before I do further damage to my (or rather, my parents') bank account. Yes, Mac is very clever with it's marketing schemes and has successfully done what all companies seek to do: reach the maximum target audience possible (did I word that right?) as stated in their 'philosophy'. Mac has many followers from young (I should know im 15) to old. I think modern technology plays a very important role in it's popularity amongst consumers. I have noticed that no other company that has got such outstanding results from 'guerilla' marketing. You are soooo right when you explain how Mac takes advantage of the human tendency to accept gifts in such a manner that negativity towards the gift is never occurs, infact very much the opposite. This does lead to a chain reaction in consumers. Easily. As simple as... the beauty blogger receives the 'gift' (a selection of an upcoming *never before seen* collection, and reviews the products in such a manner that the average consumer is compelled to obtain whatever 'item' at any cost. This proves to be a problem for people who just cannot help themselves, but is probably sending Mac's sales through the roof! Mac doesn't even have to spend millions on advertising - we do the dirty work for them.

But really, I think that it is a lot of fun and very exciting (lol very much like at christmas) when we find out about *exclusive* information (yes clearly mac has me tied down.....), as long as we do not get too carried away. This is when the problem arises. I have learnt a lot from reading this excellent report, and in future I will always ask myself those Important Questions before any purchases.

 

[Hilly]

MAC = geniuses

 

[amber_j]

Excellent, insightful article. Very well written and very true.

 

[AdlersMommy22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aimee aww this touched me im glad your over your eating disorder i have an ED too and i just feel pretty when i wear make up its like a mask ...its the person i wanna be....i dont wanna be the person without make up because the person without has a lower self esteem sounds sad i know but hey make up is fun ...i like to be creative...its a hobby too ...i like MAC because of the Quality...i used to buy Chanel and dior before and versace so its still cheaper to buy MAC

I completely agree with what you said- its insane how much better a feel about myself when I put on make-up.. esp MAC.. its like "pretty in a bottle" HAHA... I know it sounds so bad but Im glad that I have someone who can relate to me on that level...

It def is a mask... and a damn good one at that

 

[divineparadise]

Thanks for this very interesting article and I think you really prove to be an intelligent consumer who cares not just about herself but also the general well-being of the makeup community.

I have some friends who boycott MAC - their LE collections are one of the main reasons. Why so many LE? Is it really LE? and whether the colours are just repeats? I know makeup enthusiasts will say NO - but everyone has their own viewpoint.

For myself - I strictly control what I buy and I will only buy stuff that I need - there will be a never-ending list of MSFs, MES... and yes I do fantastise that I can own a whole collection!

But fantasies aside, I really use whatever money I have in excess of what needs to be paid, I never owe credit cards bills and what I have from MAC (not alot, really) is what I need!

 

[minakokanmuri]

Thank you for writing this article. I found it really interesting how MAC indirectly advertises it's products. I especially liked the questions at the end, to see if we were swept up by the hype. There have been many times when I thought "No, I don't think there's anything I like from this collection." and then after reading threads and discussions, I find myself buying the product! Thank you again for this article.

 

[ewlialovesme]

Thank you, ruffage, for your series of intelligent, analytical posts. I find it refreshing in a sea of LE madness. I've been into MAC since 1996 and don't recall a time when I was on alt.fashion (Usenet newsgroup), where MAC collections caused such a frenzy that people were prompted to buy a) whole collections and b) multiple back-ups!

It is of course anyone's perogative to spend their money however they wish, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. But at the same time, I appreciate that there exists a logical perspective that takes a few steps back from this unusual consumption behaviour and asks, "what is really going on here? How does it affect all of us?"

I don't feel like it rains on anyone's parade - nobody is asking anyone to cease enjoying makeup. I freely choose to partake in the Color Collection forum to weigh in on my fantasy hauls, but at the end of the day I also make my decision to walk away from the counter after taking a good look at the new collections. It is fun to obsess, coo, and drool over the products. For me, part of what is fun about Specktra is the freedom and ability to do just that. But I also welcome "deeper," analytical perspectives and take them as seriously as I do my obsessing over new collections (which I don't end up buying, eventually).

 

[TDoll]

This is a very intelligent and well written article. It was a very interesting read.
I think the marketing tactics used by MAC are genius. They're definitely doing a good job of creating this hype and sucking people in. That said, I wouldn't buy it or have made it my primary makeup brand if the products sucked. To me, the colors and quality can't be beat for the price. That's why I use it. Sure, it's fun to buy the LE things, but I only buy colors that are wearable on me and that I like. I'm not the type to buy out a whole collection because its LE. Thank the Lord I have will power, or I would probably be broke. However, I know there are a lot of people that do, just for the sake of collecting. MAC products have become like little collector's items for some. Which is great... if people have the money to do so, then by all means, collect! But I'm not gonna go broke over some eye shadow or lipstick.

 

[Janice]

Fantastic post, lots of good feedback in this thread.

From a Specktra perspective - Specktra was founded on an enthusiasm for the MAC brand, a place for open and honest discussion, and ultimately a place where people can connect and educate one another over a common interest. Specktra has no formal association to MAC Cosmetics and though we may be focused on the brand there is no bias and we remain as a community independent from the brand. In fact lately we, your beauty editors and Glam Soup hosts, frequently feel quite critical in our opinion new product introductions. This is not to say that there aren't still outstanding products being produced, or that the line as a whole doesn't still have quality products (because it does!). Specktra is an independent resource and much of our information is homegrown and thus extremely reliable. I'd like to mention the collection you specifically mentioned in your article (Red She Said) was not an intentional leak as I myself discovered the information and it was NOT meant for public consumption.

Specktra was around long before MAC began sending out free product like candy to influential new media (bloggers). Specktra is an original community - what the clones can't replicate is the quality of member here. Members like Ruffage, who has opened the eyes of more people than she probably realized or intended and who has probably given MAC a good view of the eventual finesse they will have to employ in their marketing strategy and product development to retain long term MAC loyalists & MAC evangelists.

While we want to see the best for things we love, as a community exchanging information we have the ability to sort the good from the bad and spare the pocketbooks of many shoppers who read up on their purchases before taking the plunge. LE's aren't so LE anymore, generally you can wait a few days to hear feedback before heading to your counter. There isn't such a short production run for LE items anymore, and many times counters/stores/online will be restocked more than once for popular items. This community also has the benefit of many resident artists who advise us what to look out for and what they might not spend their own money on. All this information presents a very savvy and smart shopper who can make an educated decision at the counter.

If you decide you don't enjoy using MAC Cosmetics anymore, or no longer have a favorable opinion of the brand, don't feel like you're slighting Specktra. The community is varied, independent and while we are founded on enthusiasm for the brand there is an excellent discussion forum full of wonderful people who have more than one brand or interest in common.