The click of a compact, the reassuring weight of a lipstick; the reasons we buy the beauty products we buy are as many-faceted as the notion of beauty itself. Beauty Mart Co-Founder, Anna-Marie Solowij explores the mysterious triggers that lead us to the point of purchase...

Channel surfing the other night, flicking between Mary Berry Cooks and Channel 4’s Shop Secrets: Tricks of the Trade, I learned two important things: that to make perfect Yorkshire puddings the fat has to be smoking hot, and that to sell a beauty product, all you have to do is let the customer hold it. Can it really be that easy, closing the cosmetics sale? (The Yorkshire trick works every time.) There has to be more to making a product so desirable that even the most hardened, wrinkle-raddled cynic will pay for the latest anti-ageing potion. 

Of course there is. We’re complicated creatures and the psychological triggers behind why women buy beauty products are as multi-layered as Mary’s mille-feuilles. From the allure of advertising and the click of a compact, to the slip of a cream over the skin and the seductive crackle of cellophane, our shopping habits are a well-analysed science and the factors influencing choice run the gamut from emotional to economic.

"Like hearing an old record, certain beauty products, especially fragrant ones, elicit feelings of nostalgia"

I once spent nearly £100 on shipping and import duty for a cleanser from Sweden that only cost £20 because I associated this particular product – its smell, texture and packaging - with feelings of comfort during a really stressful time at work. Back then, it was my amulet against psychological harm; I used to leave the office, get home and immediately wash my face and feel cleansed of the negativity of the day. More recently, when I needed that kind of emotional support again, only this cleanser would do and I willingly paid a small fortune for something of relatively low value for the way it made me feel. 

Like hearing an old record, certain beauty products, especially fragrant ones, elicit feelings of nostalgia. Aveda Love Oil? Los Angeles, 1991, driving back from a nightclub with Things That Make You Go Hmmm by C&C Music Factory on the car radio. I adore Love Oil and I still use it now, I just wish a better song were playing. 

'Familiarity with a product or brand is the greatest incentive to buy,' confirms Honey Langcaster-James, psychologist and life coach. We’re attracted to things we know and recognise, whether subliminally, via advertising, or previous use. 'There’s a comfort factor at play and a sense of trust that inspires purchase,' she says.

Trust is only part of it – what about the semiotics of packaging – all those messages conveyed by colour and design? Green is natural, white means clinical, black is mysterious or fashionable, gold equals expensive, orange is for tanning products, red – er, red is big in Asia where it means good luck but in the UK, even though we all love the weird red moisturiser Astalift Jelly Aquarysta, red is not a beauty product colour that we’re comfortable with.

There’s more: a jar conveys luxury while a tube signifies convenience and practicality; the heavier the weight of a lipstick case, the more we expect to pay (manufacturers add internal weights to metal coated plastic tubes to make them feel more premium). The consumer associates boxed products with prestige status. Add a cellophane wrap and a brand can increase the retail price by £5 even though the cellophane costs pence. 'An expensive product signifies greater value and in turn makes us feel of higher status and worth,' explains Langcaster-James. 'We’re not just selecting a product for its function but for what it says about us. It’s ultimately about self-esteem – we buy because we value ourselves.'

"a jar conveys luxury while a tube signifies practicality; the heavier the weight of a lipstick case, the more we expect to pay"

Bagging a bargain also elicits feelings of positivity, albeit for different reasons. The ‘Primarni’ minded consumer who is savvy enough to recognise that lots of products are equal underneath their packaging congratulates herself on evading the marketing ploys and takes pride in - and may even boast of - paying less. 'We get some sort of primitive psychological hunter/gatherer thrill from seeing through the tricks,' says Langcaster-James.

Even product names are seductive, especially if they’re in a foreign language, such as Embryolisse, the cult French pharmacy cream beloved of make-up artists which translates as the slightly weird ‘embryo-soft’. Even the Franglais sounding Le Weekend serum by Chanel is enticing, partly because it’s Chanel but also because Le Weekend sounds more appealing than a British weekend and the idea that a product is to be used on the two nicest days of the week surely only adds to its appeal.  

And what of celebrity endorsement? Do women seriously believe that they’ll look like someone famous if they use the same products? 'We’re social animals and choose products because people we admire endorse them and we consider ourselves in the same social circle. It’s the same with bloggers who share the contents of their make-up bags with their followers. You may not know these people personally but you have a parasocial connection with them.'

I once worked on a department store beauty counter for a week, perhaps one of the most high-pressure retail environments in the world. I saw all kinds of seducements at play including a private seating area dedicated to clients targeted for the most expensive range in the brand (sitting is friendlier, more personal and intimate which makes it harder for a customer to get up and walk away from the sales pitch). The brand’s products with the highest profit margin were placed in the eye line, the most valuable piece of retail space and we were encouraged to link-sell (customer asks for an eye cream? Show her a mascara and eye make-up remover too.)

I learned a lot yet realised that what actually prompts a woman to swap pin number for product is… complicated. If a product can make you feel happier, glamorous, valued, younger, richer, smarter, included, sophisticated, pious, famous or foreign you’ll buy it.