According to the theory of the Leading Lipstick Indicator, people who are worried about the economy spend less money on clothes and more on smaller, cheaper things like make-up. "Leonard Lauder coined a name for this phenomenon after lipstick sales doubled after Sept. 11 - the Leading Lipstick Indicator - and while the name is a bit tongue in cheek, the correlation between cosmetics sale and economic woes seems to be strong." These days it's up 40%, so, uh, congratulations, Sephora. [Style List]For more stories from Racked, go to racked.com.
