"The consumer just wants to exhale a bit," said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst at the NPD Group. "Coming out of the recession, it seems consumers' thirst for color and play was being reawakened."
Last week NPD reported that sales of "prestige lip products" - any lip product sold in department stores - were up 7.2 percent, from $172.6 million in January through April last year, to $185 million for the same period this year.
Even more surprising, NPD also reported that sales of lip color - that's lipstick only, not gloss - were up 11.2 percent, from $82.7 million in the first four months of 2010 to $92 million this year.
"For years, everyone was going with the bare lip, the nude lip, just a bit of shimmer," Grant added. "Now the new colors and textures are making lipstick cool again."
Clothes for this season are pushing the trend, with bold color combinations such as pinks and oranges and turquoises and yellows the most popular. And fashion's recent love affair with all things 1940s pinup - pencil midis, vintage pin curls, dotted shirt dresses - is a driver as well. All these looks require a full, retro lip.
It was the February launch of MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam Gaga 2 - inspired by Lady Gaga - that really got our attention. (In Philadelphia, Runaway Red and Lady Danger are among MAC's top sellers.) According to NPD, MAC has been the No. 1-selling lipstick this year, followed by Lancome's L'Absolu Rouge, Clinique's Long-Lasting Soft Shine Lipstick, Lauder's Pure Color Lipstick, and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine.
