Nothing cures the hangover from a failing banks bailout and rising unemployment rates like a shiny new lipstick. At least that's the theory behind the Leading Lipstick Indicator, which has increased about 40 percent in recent months.
The theory is that we're likely to avoid making big purchases to save money in uncertain times and treat outselve to smaller pleasures instead. It's far from a foolproof economic prognosticator, but, according to Investopedia, it has been "quite a reliable signal of consumer attitudes over the years."
Leonard Lauder, chairman of Estee Lauder Cos., coined the term "Leading Lipstick Indicator" in the days after 9/11 when he noticed that lipstick sales were rising inversely to the falling economy.
Photo: Flickr/vidrio
