The Rise of Sensory Beauty

Since the rise of social media from 2020 till now, there has been a growing amount of sensory marketing in cosmetics. Sensory marketing uses the five senses to create an experience surrounding a product. There are many ways of doing this, but some of the most popular are by making products flavored or scented like popular food, by making the texture similar to a food, or by making a comparison between the color scheme of a product and a food. It actually causes you to crave the product like you would the food that it’s being compared to.

This summer, some brands have started to think outside the box of sensory marketing and how they can use it to their advantage. They’ve begun partnering with actual food companies to make signature flavored products. Some of the most notable ones are Baskin Robbins x Laneige with their Rainbow Sherbet Lip Mask, Dunkin x Tarte with their second collab, the Vanilla Icing Collection, and Glossier x Magnolia Bakery with their Banana Pudding Balm Dotcom.

As another way of taking advantage of this sensory-based market, brands have been strategically choosing their flavor releases based on the season. Now that it’s getting to winter, we’ve already seen tons of new products. Laneige has released a Hot Cocoa Lip Mask, Summer Fridays created The Holiday Trio Set with Lip Butter Balm in Hot Cocoa & Toasted Marshmallow, Gisou introduced new Honey Infused Hydrating Lip Oil flavors like Sticky Toffee, Vanilla Glaze, and Milky Mocha, and Glossier dropped the Sugar + Spice Balm Dotcom Lip Balm Duo Makeup Gift Set with flavors Peppermint Bark and Ginger Snap. The newest brand collab that I just learned about is Tower 28 x Poppi: the Fizz + Frost Holiday Duo featuring GetSet Powder Blush in Cranberry Fizz and ShineOn Lip Jelly in Cranberry Frost.

These flavors are all warm, cozy, and associated with the holidays. They draw you in with how they fit into the season and your daily routine. They also tend to be sold in bundles, becoming the perfect holiday gifts and stocking stuffers. By purchasing these products, you participate in holiday cheer!

With new product launches happening every few months, there are also many changing trends and aesthetics. The trends correspond to the colors, scents, and products. Basically as the seasons change, so do the trends. They’re all linked together. In winters before, the color burgundy has become very trendy. When this happens, flavors like cranberry and black cherry also become popular. These two trends then evolve into aesthetics that inspire makeup, fashion, and home decor. This is a natural rotation that the fashion and makeup industry go through each season.

Sensory marketing has transformed both itself and the beauty industry over the past few years. By blending taste, scent, color, and context, brands aren’t just selling products, they’re selling a reality that taps into our real life cravings, seasons, and moods.