Lipstick Shade Names Analysis

Situation

I've loved cosmetics for years, and I kept wondering how often you can tell what color a lipstick is from the shade name alone. A shade name is there to sell the lipstick, and it can do that without telling you the color. I decided to find out how common that is.

Task

Pull a sample of real shade names, sort them by what they refer to, count how many state the color, and check which brands add a written color description on the product page.

Action

I used Claude to help pull 150 shade names from 12 brands, then checked every one against its source page myself. From there, I sorted each name by what it refers to. 12 categories covered about 97% of them: travel destinations, defiance, food, fabric, archetypes, romance, slang, hometowns, and more. Then, I went through each brand's product pages to see which ones write a color description for the name.

A couple of honest limits: I sorted the names myself, and some could fit in more than one category. And 150 names from 12 brands is a small slice of a big industry, so I treat it as a sample; if I expand it, I would pull in more prestige and indie brands.

Result

Only 23 of the 150 names state the color; the other 127 point somewhere else: a place, a food, a feeling, or a person. I don't think that is a mistake. Rue de Rivoli sells something Deep Rose can't, and that is the job of a shade name. What varies is whether a color description comes with it.

7 of the 12 brands write a short color description on the product page: 6 on every line, and Juvia's Place on 2 of its 5. The other 5 leave it to the swatch. Swatches are helpful, but they shift with the screen, the lighting, and how the photo was shot, and they aren't an option for shoppers with visual impairments. The fix is small: add a few words, such as "vibrant coral-pink, pearl finish," beside a name like "Enchantment Under the Sea."