Dolce & Gabbana Make Up - Will it survive the cluttered cosmetic market?

[Getgawjus]

Dolce & Gabbana Cosmetics introduced this year around but I don't see it flooding beauty blogs for some reason? Scarlett Johansson in her Marilyn Monroe inspired look is all I remember of the brand. A stroll around the counter hooked me up for a while with its dull gold packaging and decent array of colour for eye shadows and lipsticks and that's about it. I could not get my self to buying any of the products really, regardless of the price.

Burberry on the other hand sure did hit curiosity levels regarding bloggers who initially found it slightly boring but then classified the range in to the 'neutral' everyday category and suddenly paying £30 for a blusher seemed justified. I guess the distinctive plaid design worked well in attracting its religious clients and more.

Seeing that we already have an exhausting list of competitors - YSL, Dior, Chanel, Guerlian, Armani, Burberry, Clarins, Estee Lauder and many more, what are the chances of D & G striking the right chord with consumers?

Have any of you guys got anything from Dolce & Gabbana Cosmetics? Any reason why you choose to opt for it amongst the others?

 

[Honey&LemonGirl]

There are several reasons, I think. For one, D&G Beauty isn't available at as many of the retailers I shop at, compared to other luxury brands. The products all look and feel lovely, as does the packaging, but the brand doesn't stand out to me because it hasn't really carved out a niche for itself. It doesn't seem like it aims for any particular consumer, the products don't have any special aim--there's just no overarching property that ties together all the products and distinguishes them from another brand.

For example, for luxe packaging, I'd go with Guerlain hands down. For classic looks, as you've said, Burberry, or Chanel. Every product under the sun at affordable prices, MAC. There's nothing that makes me think "I can only get that in the D&G Beauty line" and persuades me to pay the luxury price. If D&G Beauty comes out with a unique or outstanding product, I suspect it will get the talk going. For example, for YSL, it was really the Rouge Volupté lipstick line that disseminated the brand through the blog and YouTube world; it was the product that created top-of-mind awareness for the brand in a wide variety of consumers, not just the people who can afford a lot of luxury products.

 

[RedRibbon]

I think they need to just get out there a bit more and tell people more about it, if you're willing to spend that much money on a product (as a customer) you want to know how it will perform.

People are set in their ways re. the makeup they like and will carry on buying it unless you blow their socks off. Illamasqua is a key example, if someone had told you two years ago (or even a year ago) that a new brand would come out and people would be leaving MAC for it, you'd have thought "yeah right". But look at Illa now, it has so many fans who have used MAC for ages but now find that Illa caters better for them.

Illamasqua went to the people who have the "power" and got their brand recognised that way. If you Google Illamasqua products, you will see tonnes of reviews from bloggers. The same doesn't happen with D and G. As you said, there were a few posts and then it kind of went away.

Another reason why I think it hasn't made as big a splash is because it isn't widely available if I'm correct, it's only in a few places in the UK? I don't know about other people but I want to be able to swatch products if I'm going to be spending a fair wedge on them.

For me personally, it was the ad campaign which put me off. SJ was photoshopped beyond recognition and I am always a bit dubious about that because my thinking is "if they need to photoshop her THAT much..what does that say about how good the products are?" Having said that, LV did that to Madonna and their bags stand the test of time BUT then again, they are established and people know they're good. Plus, photoshopping a bag doesn't change how sturdy it is whereas you can photoshop makeup to make it look more pigmented.

I just think that people know what they want, they know which high end brands do glamour well (Dior, Givenchy, Guerlain) and which ones perform as they wish for them to perform and that you have to work hard to get people to recognise that your brand is good. I feel that Giorgio Armani are kind of in the same boat. Everytime I have been to Selfridges, I find that their counter is quiet. I went at peak rush time (Saturday) and you wouldn't even get the MAC counter but the GA one was empty, but they must be doing something right as that counter has been there for a lonnng time and I bet ground rent in Selfridges isn't cheap!

I also think (As the other poster said) they should have really come out with one product that is a right blinder. Illamasqua have their molten liquid powdery things which people know them for and everyone loves their blushers. Brands like Chanel have recently done very well with their nail polishes (Jade, Paradoxal etc..), D and G need something like that and people will flock.

 

[sailordom]

I would agree that its availability doesn't help; I think it's only sold in the United States at Saks in five or six cities.

I live in a major U.S. market (Dallas/Fort Worth area), but this line isn't sold here. I'm interested in a few of the lipstick colors, but I'm hesitant to try a new line sight unseen in real life.

Interestingly, it was seeing a blogger's post (Makeup and Beauty Blog) that got me interested in it. But I think I've only seen her and a (bad) review on Temptalia really talk about the line.

Some more publicity would help, but until it's more widely available, I don't see it going as head-to-toe quite yet with the rest of the luxury lines.

 

[Mercurial]

I remember seeing the ads for it last year I think but I've never seen it in store. I live in the UK and I presume the brand is sold in larger dept stores like Selfridges, Harrods etc and I don't have one nearby. The palette that was advertised looked pretty, but so do Guerlains and they are much more of an accessible brand. The publicity is low and for me, the brand is forgettable for these reasons.

 

[BadBadGirl]

I want to try the lipsticks that are in the Fall collection. If it was available at Sephora, Bloomingdales, etc I could have snagged one by now. I rarely go into Saks and I won't walk in just for lipstick. So if I remember to buy one, it will be from saks.com. I have 2 glosses, they are ok and not worth the full price. I'm wiling to give the lipstick a try though.

 

[Twinkle_Twinkle]

I'm sure ultra-limited availability isn't helping the brand, but buzz begets more buzz. Sure most people don't waltz through Saks browsing, and I for one don't have the money to shop there, but when G. Armani was only carried at Saks at one point (in my area) I went there because I'd heard so much about the bronzers and wanted to try them. Burberry is just as hard to find, but people are buying it because there was pre-launch buzz, and curious people purchased, blogged and so on and so forth. I didn't even know D&C had a cosmetics line until I saw pictures from a Specktra member. Also, I think the packaging isn't helping the brand to be distinct either. It's gold. Okay, so is Estee Lauder, YSL, Guerlain, etc. And like others have said, they need one stand out product.

 

[arvika]

You know...I had some extra money to blow and I really wanted to try Dolce & Gabbana makeup because the shades seemed so nice and I loved the gold packaging. Don't care for Scarlett Johanson but STILL DAT PACKAGING!

I went to Sak's (only place I know of that carries the D&G cosmetics line) and I bought the Champagne eyeshadow quad and a few lipsticks and lipglosses. I liked the lip products okay, but the quad was rubbish. Beautiful colours, but poor pigment and they wore like garbage even over a primer.