Decoding desire: brain science investigates the cosmetics industry

How brain imaging is redefining lipstick evaluation ('neurocosmetology') 💄

Sometimes I think I should write about some soft, easy, topics. This isn’t one of those those pieces, howevet; although it is a topic all-too-easy for the uninformed to sneer at - the neuroscience of fashion - and specifically, lipsticks and cosmetics.

Photo by Kaja Reichardt on Unsplash

Fashion is a very serious business - it is approaching $1 trillion in value worldwide, if current numbers are to be believed, and it is growing quickly, year on year. Little wonder that Rhianna and the Kardashians have become seriously rich from sales of cosmetics.

Total world GNP for 2023 was $106 trillion - so fashion is getting to be about a little less than 1% of GNP worldwide. That’s a lot!

It’s several times the total estimated value of sport worldwide (and all that sports apparel is part of the fashion industry, too!). You’d be surprised with other comparisons, too (it’s larger than a famously and uselessly addictive substance - tobacco; and x4 annual coffee sales).

I’m going to have a look at some recent neuroscientific studies of cosmetics - specifically of lipsticks 💄. There's a relatively new and quite useful brain imaging technique (called fNIRS for short - more below¹) for examining changes in the brain: it is generally unaffected by motor movements or breathing (so it is quite useful for measuring certain types of brain when applying cosmetics to the face and lips, among many other uses: full disclosure - I recently got a grant award to establish a fNIRS lab in Trinity College - collaborations welcomed).

Photo by Shamblen Studios on Unsplash

Topics

1. decoding desire: how brain science is reshaping the cosmetics industry

2. lips

3. when expectations clash with reality

4. the price tag in your prefrontal cortex

5. the happiness gauge in your haemoglobin

6. the quest for standardisation

7. the hidden challenges: beyond the hype

8. toward a new era of beauty tech

9. inherent shortcomings and challenges

10. (plus a short reading📚 list and video demo of brain imaging)

decoding desire: how brain science is reshaping the cosmetics industry