My Favourite Beauty Brand: Urban Decay

URBAN DECAY, (N.D.) Urban Decay Logo [digital image] [viewed 18th Jan 2015]. Available from:http://www.nubimagazine.com/review-urban-decay-makeup-setting-spray/

Urban Decay was established almost 20 years ago in January 1996 by Sandy Lerner, David Soward and Wende Zomnir.  Sandy Lerner and Wende Zomnir were fed up of the beauty market only offering them shades of pink, red or beige, so with the help of David Soward introducing the two to each other, they launched Urban Decay Cosmetics, with merely 10 lipsticks and 12 nail polishes.  Their products were innovative, bearing names such as Roach, Smog, Oil Slick and Acid Rain and breaking away from the usual pinks, reds and beiges that the beauty industry was renowned for at the time.  Urban Decay's first magazine advert was entitled "Does Pink Make You Puke?", which charged a revolution within the cosmetics industry, as other brands began to rush to keep up.

Today, Wende Zomnir still takes charge of Urban Decay's growth as their Chief Creative Director, alongside Tim Warner who is Urban Decay's  Chief Executive Director.  Hundreds of Urban Decay products fill the shelves in US stores such as Sephora and Macy's, as well as the virtual pages of beauty.com.  Many retailers in Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the Middle East also stock Urban Decay products.  Urban Decay is also a PETA assured cosmetic company who have never, and will never, test their products on animals.

Urban Decay sell many types of make-up products, however their brand portfolio does not include skincare, perfumes or haircare.  Their products include; eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, brow kits, false lashes, lipstick, lipgloss, lip pencil, prep spray, primer, concealer, foundation, blush, bronzer, highlighter, powder, setting spray, make-up remover, nail varnishes and make-up brushes.

Urban Decay tends to work with their own make-up artists within the brand to better their products and advertise them, rather than collaborate with other artists with a celebrity status.  This is because they focus more on their products for advertising, instead of using celebrity faces to advertise their products for them.

I have only ever seen adverts for Urban Decay in magazines, and below are a few of my favourite examples:

URBAN DECAY, 2012. Naked Skin Poster [digital image] [viewed 18th Jan 2015]. Available from: http://popsop.com/2012/11/loreal-to-buy-urban-decay/

Above is a picture of a poster that was created by Urban Decay back in 2012 to advertise their NAKED SKIN collection, which was their latest range of products at the time.  I like this advertisement and have chosen it because I think that it is a flawless image.  The two models in the poster have amazing skin and the make-up used in minimalistic, with a bit of blush and slight tint to the lips as well as the skin base.  They take the main focus in the advertisement, with the product and it's logo peeping in from the left hand side.  This advertisement is effective because it is very basic and simple, much like foundation, and with the effect being so simplistic it makes you want that simple, but necessary, product.

URBAN DECAY, 2011. 15-Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection [digital image] [viewed 18th Jan 2015]. Available from: http://styleblazer.com/12300/styleblazer-beauty-urban-decay-15th-anniversary-palette-its-a-must-have-ladies/

The advertisement above if for the brands 15th anniversary, for which they released 15 new eyeshadow shades back in 2011.  This advertisement shows Urban Decay more for what it is known - experimental shades and new products.  You can see the model on the left, with big and slightly messy hair to accompany the bold colours of green, purple and pink on the eyes and lips.  On the right is the product, logo and writing, which shares equal focus to the model.  This advert is effective for different reasons to the first that I looked at.  For example, there are more colours involved as the product is more colourful itself and it is a busier advert to reflect the colours in the product.

URBAN DECAY, 2013. Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick [digital image] [viewed 18th Jane 2015]. Available from: http://glamourglutton.com/beauty-health/the-best-of-fall-2013-beauty-campaigns/

This last advertisement by Urban Decay in 2013 was for their Revolution Lipstick, and you can instantly tell that this image is to advertise a lip product, as they take the main focus and stand out to you straight away.  The rest of the model's make-up is fairly simple, with the lips popping out against her skin tone and having been made to look glossy, whereas the rest of the image, as a whole, is matte which is making them stand out against the whole image, and not just the model's face.  The advertisement does not specify what it is actually advertising, so it could also be a general advertisement for the brand.

References:
- URBAN DECAY, (N.D.) About Us [online] [viewed 18th Jan 2015]. Available from: http://www.urbandecay.com/aboutus/about-us.html