Cliique's Black Honey Almost Lipstick.

In this blog post I chose to use Clinique’s Black Honey Almost Lipstick as my muse. This particular lipstick is one I own and am very fond of. It comes in a sleek silver metal tube with a very dark wine almost black color. The formulation of the lipstick is akin to an almost lip gloss texture. The color applies sheer and is buildable with multiple layers of lipstick. I like it for everyday looks and for more formal night time looks. It is said to be universally flattering on all skin tones, and I think it certainly flatters mine. The price tag for this lipstick is not particularly cheap, retailing at $20, when you can find it in stock at Sephora, Ulta, or the Clinique website.

Clinique’s value proposition is “No parabens.No phthalates. No fragrance. Just Happy Skin.” This comes as no surprise for a cosmetic and skincare company that has been established as long as they have from their founding in 1968.

This ties into how the Black Honey Lipstick is actually not a new product, but an old favorite that has recently had a new resurgence because of TikTok. This product went viral in 2021 for being recognized as the lipstick Liv Tyler wore in her role in Lord of the Rings. This lipstick was also worn by Molly Ringwald in the famous 1980’s film The Breakfast Club. Because of nostalgia and the current 90’s resurgence in popularity the lipstick was primed to make a comeback. As a former staple for the Boomer and Gen X generations, found in all mom’s and grandma’s purses alike, this lipstick has seen many things. It was created in 1971 in a pot form, to be applied as a type of gloss, hence the name. In 1989 it was translated into the tube form that you see today.

After going viral on TikTok this lipstick racked up 43.8 million views with the hashtag #blackhoney. Clinique alone has #216 million views under their brand hashtag on the platform, with many of the top videos being about the lipstick. The product quickly went out of stock after becoming popular so quickly.

Some specific comments and reviews of the Black Honey are that they love the versatility and how natural it looks, but wish it came in more colors.

Other commenters were concerned about how Clinique is not a cruelty free cosmetic company, and how they would love the product, but they just have ethical concerns regarding it’s creation.

Another commenter loves how pretty it is, but does not love how it wears off quickly and is not a long wearing lip product. 

Another concern I was seeing was with the price tag. Coming in at 20 dollars, that is no small fee for a small tube of lipstick, with many similar products on the market, the hunt for duplicate products was bound to happen. Many more affordable products that give the same sheer berry finish were featured in the videos and recommendations I was looking at. Specifically Burt’s Bees Red Dahlia Tinted Lip Balm and Elf’s Sheer Slick Lipstick in Black Cherry. Both of these products were reported to look and feel similar, but with a less expensive price.

Clinique as a whole is a relatively old and well established company that has an aging clientele. I think of the main demographic for Clinique and I think of my grandma and the moisturizers she uses. I think this company, which is a subsidiary of Estee Lauder, has a very specific customer base that is based a lot on brand loyalty and tradition. Because of the changing landscape of marketing, specifically in the marketing of the cosmetic sector. This affects how a brand like them would need to evolve and appeal to a younger Gen Z generation. Having a revival of older decades like the 90’s and 80’s helps, so that the company doesn’t have to entirely create a bunch of new products, but simply repackaging and rebranding products that already exist. 

Looking at Cliniques socials; their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, there looks to be a focus on the Black Honey product as it has exploded in popularity in the past year. A lot of the social media focus is on commenting on how they had a product that went viral on TikTok, with a sort of flaunting attitude. But I’m not sure they can capture exactly what feeling was evoked for that to happen. I think they know it was a mix of nostalgia and luck that allowed that to happen. A sort of right place, right time scenario. Who's to say other cult favorite products from decades past couldn’t make  a resurgence like Black Honey did? Or was there something special about the product that distinguished it from the others. 

                

        

That being said, the company is trying its best to appeal to a younger demographic. They have a really clean Instagram, Twitter, and website, with pictures and graphics that look modern and professional.

The senior vice president of Cliniques marketing department Carolyn Dawkins comments on how the product’s revival led the brand to react in an article with Glossy. She said that since the lipsticks popularity rose Clinique quickly took advantage of the marketing opportunity. By reposting content about the product from TikTok, and also using Instagram to post and talk about the Black Honey cultural internet moment.

The brand also tried to bring some celebrity recognition to the product by having one of their brand ambassadors Emilia Clarke, former Game of Thrones star, try the product for an Instagram post. The SVP went on to further note that the brand wanted to try and capture the “authenticity of normal people” trying the product, as to get other potential customers more excited about the makeup. Dawkins wanted to make sure Clinique did not have a “hyper polished brand response” towards the situation. 

I think this was very smart, just in the way this generation processes marketing and can deduce when something is not real or fake very quickly. I think a lot of the appeal of the product is its ability to be marketed by word of mouth through social media.

In the brand’s social media that I was looking at, it looks like there was a significant effort made to respond to commenters or help reviewers with concerns they had for the product. Some examples of this are found in an Instagram post where the user commented how they liked how the lipstick could get to a deep purple, and Clinique responded to them by agreeing.

This was one of the many interactions that I saw that seemed largely positive. Some more examples as seen on their Facebook page:

 I think the brand’s approach to social media could definitely be tailored to fit how Gen Z uses these platforms, by interjecting more humor into their responses. And possibly as a brand participating in more internet trends found on TikTok to be more relevant to a younger audience. Also just trying to appeal to the refinement and sophistication of the brand, instead of being seen as grandma’s makeup. I think getting modern day celebrity endorsements could be helpful for the brand.

I learned a lot from this assignment, and I loved taking a deep dive into this product. Looking at the evolution of this brand and this lipstick from start to finish was fascinating. Thinking in terms of marketing and how a brand can transition to appeal from one generation to the next, to create a timeless feel is something that is very difficult. I’m not sure if I was able to fully address this in this blog post, but it was fun dissecting the pieces and trying to see it from a bigger brand perspective!