The makeup phenomenon that occurred in Birmingham at the weekend, courtesy of 19-year old genderless vlogging superstar James Charles was a seminal moment for the business in the way that it demonstrated the significant groundswell of support for beauty in just ONE single generational sector.
The event and its impressive turnout (thousands according to The Guardian) was widely reported – positively, largely, with the odd raised eyebrow in some corners.
For those of us who champion beauty it was a perfect example of why our business is so valuable and deserves better recognition.
What other industries garner this kind of traffic-stopping attention and spend over one 30 SECOND event? And over one person? No one who knows beauty well was surprised by this, or indeed is by our business’s estimated annual turnover of £18 billion, we know the power of beauty in the way it makes people feel, engages and unites them.
And while it’s certainly evolving and losing some of its conventional chains, beauty remains an enormously successful business which deserves to be taken more seriously by all those sectors – commerce, media and government – who grant the same significance to football, film and fashion.
