Does Crayola beauty fad offer pencil company an opportunity in the make-up market?

Following in the footsteps of ‘clown contouring’ and the #PowerofMakeUp trends, the online beauty  fad sees young girls using coloured pencils dipped in warm water in order to create bright and bold eyeliner.

Beauty bloggers have been telling viewers that because the pencils are ‘non-toxic’ they are safe to use, and video-sharing platform YouTube has been awash with users posting their own tutorials.

NOT to be used as make-up​

However, colour cosmetics are legally required to go through strict testing procedures before they can be sold to consumers, and Crayola has also repeatedly condemned the practice, highlighting the health risks.

“As the manufacturer of children's products, safety is our top priority at Crayola,”​ says a company statement.

“Although our products are non-toxic, we do not recommend using them to make eyeliner, lipstick or other make-up, and strongly discourage their use in this manner. The products were never intended to be used on the skin or face in this manner.”​

It goes on to add that make-up goes through specific and rigorous testing because it is intended to be used on the skin, and as its products were never meant to be used as make-up, they have not been tested in the same way and should not be used as a cosmetic.

“They are not designed, tested or approved for this purpose,”​ it ends.

Opportunity?​

However, even though correct in condemning this fad and misuse of the colouring pencils, there may be some good to come of this according to Euromonitor contributing analyst, Rob Walker, who says this may highlight a market opportunity.

“Perhaps there is another opportunity here… Unwittingly, has Crayola not stumbled across a gap in the market for low-price, novelty make-up for teens?”​ he says.

“The wider question is whether a portfolio expansion into children’s novelty make-up would harm Crayola’s brand heritage. Some would argue that there are commercial synergies between writing instruments and eyeliners, while others might argue that mixing colour cosmetics with children’s colouring pencils sends out entirely the wrong ethical messages.”​

According to Euromonitor figures, global retail sales of Crayola colouring pencils have been growing at less than 1% a year since 2010 and Walker suggests that going down a new avenue could potentially inject some new life into the company’s sales.