We live in the era of the reconciliation of opposites… which can involve most paradoxical situations. This has implications on the trends underlying the beauty and cosmetics market, as was explained by Leïla Rochet-Podvin, of the Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation agency, and Rémy Oudghiri, of the Sociovision research and consulting firm, during a conference at the 2015 Beyond Beauty show.
Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation is a trends and consulting agency specialized in beauty innovations, and Sociovision is an expert firm in observing societies and following up changes in consuming patterns in France and around the world. Leïla Rochet-Podvin and Rémy Oudghiri, the heads of these entities, shared their expertise to deliver their thoughts on the age we live in, which they consider paradoxical, as every day brings its share of contradictions. And these are valid in the field of beauty.
‘Odd’ people in a paradoxical society
As Rémy Oudghiri reminded at the very beginning of his presentation, in his 1974 book Future Shock, Alvin Toffler had already diagnosed this, and we are all experiencing it today. Forty years ago, this writer, an American sociologist and futurist, wrote: ‘Many people will find it increasingly painful to keep up with the incessant demand for change that characterizes our time.’ In a chapter entitled ‘The Death of Permanence’, he explained that the world was changing, and that what had seemed permanent until then was about to become ephemeral. He said he noticed that more and more people suffered from what he called ‘the future shock disease’, which consists in living one’s present life …
