Everyone knows that there is a very wide variety of different makeup products available for people to choose from. Each product is different, whether it be the formula, the textures, the cost, or even the available shades. However, social media, along with brand names, often influence people to buy from certain brands regardless if it’s truly the best fitting product for each person. 

Numerous studies have continuously shown that buyers are a lot more likely to buy products after seeing their favorite influencers using it. An example of this is CeraVe, a skincare brand, which has seen an 89% increase of sales just last year. This is how businesses spread awareness of their products. As the number of users on social media is rapidly increasing, brands are using new strategies to advocate for their company. Such as using brand deals, partnerships between content creators and businesses, to promote their products as the best. 

This creates a standard in the beauty industry. Often times, there are alternative products that are extremely similar, but do not get the same response from consumers. This is because of a few reasons, whether it be the assumption that drugstore products are not as good or the shoppers are already settled on purchasing the well known products. “I think it’s about image. And it’s about making people feel good because they have the best and they want to show that they can afford the name brand,” said psychology teacher Daleana McPherson.

The more exposure a brand has, the more likely their sales are going to increase. The majority of the consumers are going to want to use the products the industry has collectively decided on as the best. This was revealed several times; an example is when users on TikTok determined that Benefit Hoola bronzer was the best bronzer and Dior Lip Oil is the best lip gloss. 

This leads to another issue regarding the beauty industry. There have been several cases when people’s desire in high end makeup products leads to counterfeit. “The name is more appealing to them, so even if it’s counterfeit, it still has the name,” said sophomore Jeanna Warren. Especially during COVID, this issue has become more apparent, as people are purchasing online, due to quarantine. 

Since the pandemic began, haircare, skincare, and makeup brands have been heavily affected by this. Amazon and Ebay are both popular online stores that consumers buy products from. The issue with this is they don’t take the proper actions to ensure that people are buying the actual products, not counterfeit ones.

This has become such a problem that Jessica Schiffer writes, “The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office considers counterfeiting to be the largest criminal enterprise in the world and predicts that fake goods will contribute $4.5 trillion to the global economy by 2024” (Why counterfeit beauty products are booming amid Covid-19).

This ties back to the idea that though there are other brands that may sell essentially the same products, consumers often rely back on the more expensive brands regardless how reliable they are.