Hello Kitty Gets A Make-Over

Oooooh my God! Squeal! I heart Hello Kitty. Having done a stint in Japan at uni and having the requisite Japanese exchange students during high school, I quickly developed an appreciation for all things Hello Kitty. So it seems has the Estee Lauder Cos Inc (owner of Mac Cosmetics). I bought a fabulous Mac eye make-up compact just the other day which I have since passed on to Santa Claus - Santa, being remote and all, can't always do his own Christmas shopping - and was just thinking how clever Mac is with all its limited edition collections, super sexy pin-u girls and general awesome makeup.

The Hello Kitty offerings fall into two collections: the Hello Kitty Colour Collection and Hello Kitty Kouture (this sounds like the high-end, bells & whistles bit). As always, the names are very twee, with lipsticks carrying meow meow names like Fashion Mews and Strayin’, and eye compacts titled Lucky Tom and Too Dolly. Shades range from pinks and turquoises to lavenders and greens. The range also incorporates glitter eyeliners.. !

Hello Kitty Kouture features Dazzleglass (this sounds uber glossy), featuring a reusable silver chain pendant with Hello Kitty outlined in white Swarovski crystals on black with a pink crystal bow (I think I want one!). Sheer Mystery Powder is packaged in a silver powder compact with Hello Kitty outlined in white Swarovski crystals with a pink crystal bow on a black background.

In addition to all the Hello Kitty-ness of it all, the in-store visuals have been designed to remind consumers that make-up has transformative powers (and thus consumers must buy more!) - so on one side of the store we can expect a blonde model holding a black vinyl Hello Kitty doll, with the other visual in black - and a little dominatrix-y. So... Who do you want to be today? I guess this taps into the Britney Spears Womanizer clip fantasy of multiple, sexy personalities.

While none of the Estee Lauder or Sanrio executives have discussed sales projections, industry insiders are tipping the collection to sell o upwards of $12 million in North American retail sales alone (recession? what recession?). That projection is slightly larger than that of the hit Barbie collection (I had one of the Barbie lipsticks - it kind of dries out your lips but it's a great colour).

While the 34-year-old Hello Kitty character is usually assumed to be a cat, she is actually a girl. And a girl without a mouth, so she "speaks from the heart," according to Sanrio. No lips, but plenty of lipstick.