I was hungry. I was carnivorous for another tinted lip salve, unable to put the fork down for the latest pH changing jelly tint mask. It seemed like nothing would satisfy my cravings. My appetite was insatiable, my mouth and wallet, opening at the sight of another highly-anticipated, long wear, high-shine treatment. These days, the beauty bag sat atop my vanity was appearing more and more like a large picnic basket, overflowing with saccharine treats for the lips.
But this obsession isn’t just personal. The beauty industry has long capitalized on our senses, and recent years have seen an explosion of food-inspired products that seem to blur the line between what goes on our lips and what tempts our taste buds. From cherry-infused glosses to lip masks inspired by honey and jam, brands are turning to playful edible concepts to market their products.
It would be wrong not to mention Rhode, the spearhead of the recent eruption in finger-licking beauty marketing. The Bieber brand strays from the common ornamenting of a few fruits and flowers around a product, symbolizing a flavour or a concept. Perfectly toasted or pristinely chilled, paired with silverware, then glazed with oozing toppings, Rhode is not afraid to get messy, submerging their peptide lip treatments into the edible experience.
It would be even more blasphemous to discredit its succulent and sweet predecessor, Glossier. Dripping juices, sometimes tangy or tart, the balm dotcom has tested our temptations since its release in 2014. Like Rhode, the brand has also played with syrupy drizzles and plating, but adds its own element to the tasty equation. Food is not only created, displayed, and enjoyed for Glossier, it must also be stored. As an item in your grocery store tote, or the box tucked in your pantry, Glossier’s secret ingredient is the mundanity of our everyday interactions with food.
Looks like food, smells like food, tastes like food… then it’s probably makeup. As beauty brands have begun to erase the visual divide between our makeup and our meals, how have our minds adapted to this tasty shift in pace?
Psychology suggests that a large portion of our food consumption is driven from pleasure, rather than the actual physiological need to satiate hunger—a phenomenon beauty brands have cleverly tapped into with food-inspired marketing. The search for pleasure stems from ‘food-related cues’ ranging from advertisements, scents, and even conversations about food that stimulate our hunger signalling hormones. This is what makes us want to eat with our eyes, with stomachs rumbling and minds ruminating of caloric satisfaction.
But beyond this bodily system, these hormones also work closely with levelling the body’s dopamine—also known as the ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter. Now, the recipe makes for an emotional one, where certain smells, images, and associations feel better than others. It feels good to satisfy cravings, and even better when my satisfaction promises a 24-hour everyday tint.
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In a semantic nightmare, our natural need for consumption may be heightening our habits of product consumption. In the current pastry-plane of tasty lip products, the beauty world’s current combination of food and shopping is becoming physiologically hard to resist.
Now, as we can all see, it’s not my fault. I’m hardwired to thrive in a Sephora-esque habitat, where hunting for lip jellies feels like a primal instinct. Call this a small step towards recovery, but I’ve decided today not to buy another item for my tired makeup bag. Instead of indulging my cravings, I’ve whipped up a guide to the most delectable lip products out there—because if I can’t buy another, at least we can all drool over them together.
For The Almond Mom
Maybe you’re missing some iron in your diet, but luckily you can still incorporate some Corsican honey or sea moss in your everyday look.
For The Fruits Of Your Labour
In the form of crisp flavours, or the infusion of fruit oil ingredients, refresh your day with a swipe of succulent berry—melon, pomes, tropical, or citrus—bliss to your lips.
For The Celebration
There’s lots in life to celebrate! Have a cocktail, but be sure to top it off with a sparkling gloss or a strong punch of colour.
For The Sweet Tooth
In the name of order, desserts are last on the menu. Treat yourself to the rich, buttery glaze of a new lip treatment or the shimmering sprinkles of a glittery gloss.
If the sight of influencers testing tasty products, edible pop-up collaborations, or descriptions from extremely talented online article authors excite your taste buds, you’re not alone. All too often, I find myself with a watering-mouth, appearing like the Pavlovian dog of the lip product aisle. Although I may not be physically fed, the temptation of my first bite of new oils, sticks, and glosses may be all my brain needs.
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A common misconception of dopamine is that it spikes at the moment a fluffed lip butter or jelly oil coats the lips. In actuality, before it ever even reaches your vanity, pocket, or purse, the edacious need for these products is slowly built overtime, weighing greater than the actual moment of application. The “feel good” hit we receive from food and shopping comes in anticipation of the stimulus.
Our natural bodies have limits to our need for consumption, but finding that same level of restraint towards product consumption is becoming harder than ever before. If you’ve recently felt ravenous for a rouge à lèvres, or starved for iridescent salve, you’re not alone. The beauty industry seems to be putting the fork in our hands for a slice of their newest products, opening up our appetites beyond necessity. At the end of the day, everyone wants their cake and to eat it too, but maybe our psychological senses are making us take more than we can stomach.
