We at Angelina’s Wings have always felt that any colour board of makeup aimed at children, or would look good on children, or reminds adult women of their childhood, would be inappropriate for adult women to wear because they’d look silly with it on. MAC Cosmetics has not gotten our memo.

   MAC has teamed up with Sanrio Global Consumer Products to create a Hello Kitty color cosmetics collection. The line will arrive on MAC’s Web site Feb. 10, in North American stores on Feb. 12 and into overseas stores in March.

   “MAC has been mining pop culture since the brand was founded,” said John Demsey, group president of the Estée Lauder Cosmetics Inc. (MAC is Estée Lauder’s bitch). “This is a sexy and innocent fashion line, and a true MAC moment. In these times, everyone can use a little fun — and a little Kitty.” 

   We think women could use a little more cash in their purses and less crap in their makeup cases. 

   “The partnership was a no-brainer,” said James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of MAC Worldwide. “We cater to people who love to play with makeup.” Read, “kids.” 

   While in many licensing partnerships, the licensor shops his or her property around; MAC went after Sanrio, Hello Kitty’s owner, to do the deal. “They had never done makeup before, and I was certain that all those women who already own a bit of Hello Kitty would also want to own branded makeup,” said Gager. 

   Sanrio’s worldwide retail sales of licensed products for 2007 are estimated at $5 billion. “We are thrilled to partner with a brand that shares the vision of offering an innovative, authentic and transforming experience to our loyal fan base,” said Janet Hsu, president of Sanrio. Read, “We are thrilled to partner with a brand that will make us even more money.” 

   The 34-year-old Hello Kitty character is usually assumed to be a cat but she is actually a girl, according to Sanrio, a girl without a mouth. “She may not have a mouth, but she’s going to sell a lot of lipstick,” cracked Demsey. You know that when a company president is cracking jokes he’s getting ready to pick your pockets. 

   “To me, MAC Hello Kitty embodies the ultimate beauty icon,” said Jennifer Balbier, senior vice president of product development for MAC Worldwide. Sorry Jennifer but a 34-year-old cartoon girl with no mouth is not a beauty icon. 

   “She’s sweet and sexy, slightly edgy,” said Balbier, “and appeals to a wide range of customers. We wanted to reflect that through a sweet side, but also something slightly mischievous when it came to the colors. I started out by creating a palette of pinks, since they fit and always trend well in the spring. And this look is so much about the eyes that we did two eye shadow quads.” The Lucky Tom quad has violet blue, brown, gold and pink-coral shades, while the Too Dolly palette has mint, blue-silver, pale pink and magenta shades. 

   “We incorporated glitter eyeliners because she (no, no, it…Kitty is a thing) loves anything that twinkles, and we took the coral and hot pink theme and did pretty, poppy [coloured] blush,” added Balbier. Isn’t this beginning to sound like stripper makeup, or something that would appeal to Joy Hickey from the sitcom My Name is Earl? 

   While this collection is intended to have a sophisticated presentation, MAC hopes to appeal to younger fans (future customers) with two shades of lip conditioners. 

   Here’s the crunch; the Hello Kitty offerings fall into two collections: the Hello Kitty Colour Collection and the higher-end Hello Kitty Kouture. The bulk of the items fall into the former category with cosmetics ranging in price from $12 for a mascara, $14 for a lipstick, to $38 for a four-colour eye shadow palette. Affordable for a teenager. 

   Hello Kitty Kouture prices range from $28 for a tube of Dazzleglass lip gloss (each comes with a reusable silver chain pendant, something we all look for when buying makeup…not) to $90 for a silver, Hello-Kitty-branded powder compact. My nieces would probably gladly buy these items; the oldest is six.

   MAC has also Hello-Kitty-branded a collection of bracelets, dolls, makeup bags, mirrors, and totes priced from $22 to $50. We’re sure many of these items will find their way onto tween wish lists.

   It is the dream of every cosmetics company to capture new, ever-younger customers and regardless of what you think of MAC or Hello Kitty this marketing ploy is aimed at tweens and teenagers. The Angelina’s Wings girls are not fond of MAC or the Kitty, but we have found other, more interesting, methods of employing Hello Kitty imagery. We doubt Sanrio would approve.

Author: Alexandra Highcrest

Research: Angelina Pieros

Source: MAC Cosmetics, Sanrio, Women’s Wear Daily