In 2015 , prestigiousness beauty became a$16 billion industry in the United States , global information and market research business firm The NPD Group , Inc. report . This was a 7 percent increase from 2014 . Meanwhile ,   other industries , including upscale style retailers , arefaltering : Sales at stores like J. Crew and Urban Outfitters have assume a nosedive , while budget - well-disposed chains like forever and a day 21 and T.J. Maxx have find out increased achiever .

What describe for this seeming shift in priorities ? “ I think people are tired of being stinting , but they do n’t have heaps of supernumerary money , ” Eleanor Dwyer , a research associate studying the beauty diligence at Euromoniter , tells theThe Washington Post . “ So premium ravisher brand offer an entry point " to owning interior decorator product .

Just a few years ago , the cosmopolitan public thought “ contour ” was only a type of single-valued function , and “ strobe ” was a way of life to draw visible radiation at a political party . By 2015 , products designed to accomplish the sought after contoured and strobed composition essence ( using production to shade and foreground sure parts of your face for a slimming burden ) had become   some of the cardinal drivers of the industry ’s growth .

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The net   is partially to give thanks for that : Bountiful YouTube and Pinterest tutorials and an endless flow of Kardashian selfies   ( which have well-nigh single - handedly ushered contouring — or kontouring — into the spotlight )   have exposed Americans to niche products and beauty techniques once hump only to professionals . South Korean staples BB and CC ointment have entered the American market in the past few years and become ubiquitous . The new nonsuch of “ bold brows ” has precipitate the rise of products like supercilium - enhancing serum , pomade , and hair mousse . As   Barry Beck , atomic number 27 - founder and CEO of beauty string Bluemercury , toldThe Washington Post ,   55 percent of their top - trade items did n’t exist five years ago .

Additionally , consumers are becoming more informed about the ways the production they choose touch on their skin . " People are becoming more aware that what they put on their skin seepsintotheir hide , " Dwyer said . And with that , they become more willing to pay high prices for higher - quality ware .

According to Karen Grant , a beauty psychoanalyst with The NPD Group , spending money on war paint can also be improbably fulfill on a splanchnic tier .   “ see at some of the top performing brands , we ’re also seeing that consumers are increasingly line to emotional rather than operative appeal . ”

In our selfie - ready cultivation , a binge on makeup can create a sense of pride and confidence . For many , makeup has transcended routine and become something between hobby and art — and for that , the beauty manufacture would like to give thanks you ( and the Kardashians ) .

[ h / tThe Washington Post ]