New cosmetics campaign a triumph of e.l.f. expression

Most make-up companies create a product then target their market. Adele Cardani on one that’s doing things differently

The company put out a call for users of its products to appear in its ads (Supplied)

The phrases “beauty” and “unattainability” have always felt excruciatingly synonymous to me. As a teenager, my own expectations of feminine beauty were shaped in large part by supermodel-heavy media that thrived on exploiting insecurities, convincing me I had many flaws and then selling me solutions.

That tempting possibility of reinvention was, and still is, encouraged by the blemish-free, poreless faces and the thin, bronzed, plucked bodies plastered across social media. However unrealistic and contrived the imagery might be, it implies that the products being promoted yield “perfection” worth striving for.

But the old adage rings true: comparison is the thief of joy. And as the topic comes up among my peers, that feeling is shared. We all want to feel like the best version of ourselves, not look like an aspirational version of someone else.

They selected 20 personalities, including a punk poet and a medical researcher (Supplied)

This sentiment has propelled global beauty brand e.l.f. Cosmetics’ latest community-led campaign – it’s called “Express your e.l.f.”. So I sat down with the chief marketing officer at e.l.f., Kory Marchisotto, to talk about the future of their advertising.

She says: “Recently we took to the streets of cities around the UK, asking everyday users of our products to star in an advertisement running across social media, television, and in London Tube stations.” That yielded a cast of 20 personalities, including a punk poet and a medical researcher, who reflect numerous Gen Z subcultures.

Marchisotto continues: “We have always chosen to be a brand of the people, by the people and for the people. And for that to be true, we need to listen very intently and actively to the people’s unique needs and desires.”

She tells me that recently, e.l.f.’s older audience shared that the firm’s Camo Concealer was settling into their fine lines and wrinkles. In response, the brand developed a new iteration – the Hydrating Camo Concealer – that’s crease-resistant, formulated specially for mature skin.

The campaign aims to reflect that e.l.f. is a brand ‘of the people’ and ‘for the people’ (Supplied)

She says: “Our community is the reason why we create the products we create. As such, they should be the face of those products. This is very different from how other beauty companies operate – where they start with a product vision that they shape with imagery and then find an audience for.

“Very often when you do a campaign shoot, brands will give the models a brief on what they should be wearing, and what they’re expected to look like and embody. We’ve done the opposite for ours. We asked real people of all ages to come as they are, wearing whatever made them feel like the most authentic, confident version of themselves – whether that was beautifully bare-faced or in full glam.”

The UK community’s response to the images speaks for itself. After spotting the campaign in her local Tube station, television presenter and author Anita Rani took to Instagram, saying: “[I] found myself staring at this poster and feeling emotional. A young South Asian person, a bit alternative, like so many I know; short hair, piercing, tons of eyeliner, leather jacket, sassy, gorgeous.

”It’s quite a thing when you’ve grown up in a country and you finally see an image you can relate to... after 45 years. How wonderfully empowering for this generation. We exist in many different guises.”

Marketing campaigns and adverts help to convey how beauty is defined at any given time, and more than ever, consumers are watching and yearning for the beauty industry to reflect them. Imagery holds power, and the team behind e.l.f. understands this.