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The Cosmetic Lens: Korres, A Greek Skincare Company

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Korres: Where Greek Heritage Meets Modern Skincare Innovation While scrolling on social media, I came across a Greek skincare and cosmetics brand called Korres. It immediately caught my attention, as I’m Greek myself, and I was curious to see how their product line reflects Greek values and heritage. The founders, Giorgos and Lena Korres, created the brand with the goal of using natural and organic Greek ingredients that are unique to Greece, but it doesn’t stop there. What I found most compelling about the company is their commitment to overseeing every stage of the product development process. According to Giorgos, they select the seeds for the herbs used in their products, source them through partnerships with organic farmers, formulate the products in-house, and manage all branding internally. This end-to-end involvement makes the brand feel highly curated and intentional, with a strong sense of coherence across both product and storytelling. On their website, they note that this l...
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The Cosmetic Lens: Rhode's International Expansion and Brand Growth

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  Rhode’s International Expansion and Brand Growth Brand: Rhode  Rhode is a skincare and cosmetic brand founded by Hailey Bieber in 2022. Since its launch, the brand has experienced rapid growth and is now estimated to be worth approximately $1 billion. In the past week, Rhode has expanded internationally to Australia and New Zealand, following strong consumer demand and rapid growth in the beauty market. The recent expansion highlights the brand’s strategic positioning and presents an opportunity to analyze its success through key principles of marketing and consumer behavior.  Principle 1: Motivation stemming from self-enhancement Rhode’s successful growth can be attributed to self-enhancement and goal-relevant motivation. Consumers are much more likely to engage with brands that allow them to achieve personally valuable goals, especially those related to appearance, confidence, and even social belonging. By linking skincare to self-presentation, Rhode increases persona...
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The Cosmetic Lens: Glossier Marketing Growth Analysis

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For my marketing class called Consumer Behavior we were told to analyze any brand of our choice and my mind immediately went to Glossier. We had to come up with a new innovative way to attract new customers, expand demographics, and enhance marketing. I thought that the best way to do this was through a skincare line. I think skincare is such an integral part of our daily routine. It is a way we take ourselves and having a set of well-developed and complementary skincare products is a perfect way to enhance Glossier's product line.   Glossier Marketing Growth Analysis Glossier is a skincare and beauty brand that emerged from the blog Into The Gloss and, in under ten years, scaled into over a billion-dollar company by redefining how consumers engage with beauty. Unlike many traditional cosmetic brands that rely on top-down marketing and endorsements, Glossier built its success by directly engaging with consumers and incorporating their feedback into product development. By leve...
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Why One Cent Changes Everything

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     You probably wouldn’t think twice about spending $9.99, but $10? Somehow, that feels different. This post explores a classic marketing concept known as left-digit bias and how it shapes the way consumers perceive value.      Left-digit bias is a cognitive bias in which people place disproportionate weight on the leftmost digit of a price, often underestimating or overlooking the remaining digits. As a result, prices like $2.99 feel meaningfully cheaper than $3.00, and $99.99 feels closer to $90 than $100. Our brains anchor on the “2” or the “9,” rather than fully processing the true numerical difference. In both cases, even though it is one cent, our brains don’t necessarily process prices logically. This effect is often amplified when prices are presented side by side or when consumers are required to make rapid decisions with limited time for deliberation.      This is where left-digit bias becomes especially interesting. A price like...
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The Psychology of "Limited Edition":Why Scarcity Makes Us Buy

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I am by no means an expert, but I wanted to share some thoughts inspired by my psychology courses. I was first motivated to write this post because of the famous cookie brand, Crumbl. Their cookies have been everywhere on social media, from influencer taste tests of weekly flavors to reports of an everything bagel, flavored cookie. But it got me thinking, how did a small cookie business grow into a nearly $2 billion company with over 1,100 stores nationwide?      For those who aren’t familiar, Crumbl launches a weekly menu with roughly four to five new cookie flavors. In my opinion, this is where their marketing really takes the cake, or should I say cookie :). Each flavor is only available for that week, and after Saturday, customers can no longer try them. This creates a perceived sense of scarcity, triggering a natural urgency to buy. Consumers may place a higher value on cookies they can only try that week, and the scarcity often sparks feelings of FOMO, fear of miss...
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Why We Form Emotional Attachments to Packaging

  Why We Form Emotional Attachments to Packaging There’s something intriguing about how certain product packaging feels intentional and curated, creating an almost emotional experience. For some products, the act of unwrapping paper or plastic is part of the journey itself. It’s not just about the product, it’s about the feeling it evokes in the consumer. I remember watching a video when I was young about how companies leverage packaging to enhance the consumer experience. That was one of those pivotal moments for me, I was fascinated by how much psychology could be involved in something as mundane as opening a box. Apple packaging is a classic example. The thick boxes don’t open quickly, the lid resists just enough to slow you down. That small friction builds anticipation, turning a simple action into a sensory experience. In that moment, you’re not just opening a product, you’re entering the brand’s world. Over time, the connection extends beyond the product itself. Many people k...
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The Cosmetic Lens: How Product Packaging Affects Sales in the Cosmetic Industry and How it Can Be Used to Create a Competitive Advantage

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White Paper to Product Designers: How Product Packaging Affects Sales in the Cosmetic Industry and How it Can Be Used to Create a Competitive Advantage Introduction The “glow” of the beauty world has proven to be irresistible as consumers are captivated by its flashy commercials, starstruck billboards, and premium products. The industry attracts so much attention and success that its global value in 2022 was approximately $430 billion in revenue and is expected to increase by 6 percent each year reaching a projected $580 billion by 2027. The cosmetic industry encompasses four main categories: skincare, fragrances, makeup, and haircare. Brands all across the world have three main goals in common which are to create products that stand out amongst their competitors, appeal to consumers, and ultimately produce profits for the company.  To achieve these goals, brands dedicate thousands of hours toward cultivating the perfect formulas for their products and creating their ideal brand ...
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