Sales of Chanel-branded cotton pads sent stratospheric as TikTok trend spirals

Sales of Chanel-branded cotton pads sent stratospheric as TikTok trend spirals

THE WHAT? A hack that’s gone viral on social media platform TikTok has sent sales of Chanel’s cotton make-up remover pads sky-high, according to a report published by the New York Post.

THE DETAILS The cheapest thing listed on the Chanel website, the cotton pads are not only popular in and of themselves but also because of the two free samples and luxe packaging included with every order, the New York Post says.

TikTok Influencer Erin Smelcer uploaded the original unboxing video to the site, which has racked up some 7 million views to date.

THE WHY? Unboxing is the trend that keeps giving for designer brands – and, done well, could lift luxury sales out of the doldrums for the price of a logo-emblazoned box and a sheet of tissue paper. Stand down lipstick effect, enter the box boost.

The Lure of Luxury: Why TikTokers Are Buying $20 Chanel Cotton Pads

What’s the point of spending four times more on cotton pads to wash your face with than you usually do? It’s for one reason: because they’re Chanel.

Remember when unboxing videos first took the world by storm? In the beginning we saw adults unboxing kids’ toys and YouTubers unboxing different tech items. It then evolved to YouTubers posting unboxing videos of their holiday present hauls and shopping hauls. And then we saw celebrities unboxing PR boxes on their Instagram Stories—yes, we’re still hoping our Poosh holiday delivery was lost in the mail.

But now, we’re seeing something totally new. The next evolution of unboxing has shown up on TikTok, the hottest new social media site that we hate to love and love to hate. TikTok influencers are taking the world by storm, videos are amassing millions of likes, and we just. keep. scrolling. Sure, we can blame the algorithm for being “too good” or rationalize the hours of scrolling (“How is it 4 a.m.? I swear it was just 11 p.m.”), but the fact of the matter is that we are addicted to TikTok, the app we swore we didn’t understand and thought was for kids until the pandemic hit.

With TikTok’s popularity and the fact that it’s a video platform, it seems natural that the new unboxing trend would emerge there. So what exactly is this new trend? TikTok users have been going viral for unboxing the cheapest items from luxury brands like Chanel, Hermes, Dior, and more. The TikTok shopping hack went viral after several users started buying Chanel Le Coton, the $20 extra soft cotton from the brand.

Chanel Le Coton, the $20 extra soft cotton pad that is sold out due to a viral TikTok shopping hack. Chanel

While some users have dedicated their entire accounts to these unboxing videos, some have just made a few videos amongst many others. TikTok user @theerinmarie was one of the first people to go viral for this trend after buying the Chanel cotton pads in August 2020. She revealed the purchase in a three-part video, with the first video gaining more than seven million views and more than a million likes. As for why she’d buy Chanel cotton pads? She wanted to see if they’d send it in a Chanel box, according to the TikTok. In the three-part series, she shows the product as well as free samples of mascara and Chance perfume that came in a “cute bag.” She explained in the videos that she’ll use the cotton pads to wash her face at night. So what’s the allure of getting 100 Chanel cotton pads for $20 over drugstore cotton pads that cost as little as $6.99 for 400? “They’re not just regular cotton pads, they’re Chanel cotton pads, and they’re extra,” according to the TikTok video. She feels like she’ll be washing her face in luxury, but the purchase is more for the packaging and the aesthetic of having a Chanel box than anything else. Since her August videos, she has moved on from that trend and has posted “get ready with me,” designer deals, and college videos, but they haven’t been as popular as her original Chanel video mini series.

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Another user, @thebrokecollegestudentk, also went viral for unboxing the cheapest thing from Gucci: the Mascara L’Obscur, a $35 mascara. That video has almost 50,000 likes and more than 175,000 views. She’s since created other videos as well, but they also haven’t done as well as the Gucci unboxing video. This trend is unstoppable.

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TikTok user @uptop.n.downbelow also went viral for unboxing Hermes and Dior notebooks, some of the cheapest items available from the luxury brands. Like many others, her videos are mostly focused on the packaging itself rather than the product they send. She first bought an Hermes notebook and was unimpressed with the packaging and the small notebook. That video gained more than 523,000 likes and almost five million views, while her follow-up video, a Dior notebook, is not quite as popular with almost 49,000 likes and a little more than 330,000 views. So why the discrepancy in numbers? For one, the big difference between the Hermes and Dior videos is that the Hermes one was negative but the Dior one was positive—the user loved the Dior wrapping and notebook and thought the whole thing was really well done overall.

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One user doing something a bit different is @marc.unbox, who has dedicated his entire TikTok account to these videos rather than just posting a video or two. To no one’s surprise, he has gone viral for “buying & unboxing the cheapest items from luxury brands,” according to his TikTok bio. He has almost 140,000 followers and more than three million likes on all his videos across TikTok, and examples of his videos include some of the cheapest items from Chanel (the cotton pads), Celine (a tennis wristband), Hermes (glycerin soap), Fendi (a tie), Loewe (socks that came with complimentary branded masks!), Valentino (a bracelet), Saint Laurent (a magnet), and more. He unboxes the product, shows it off, and wraps up with rating the experience, including the wrapping, shipping, and anything else he finds relevant.

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This trend has become so popular that Chanel Le Coton was backordered for months and now shows as out of stock online.

So, what’s the point of spending the extra money on an everyday item? The luxury brands lure us all in—everyone wants to be a part of experiencing luxury, and buying the cheapest item is seen as a way in. It gives people a sense of belonging and makes them feel proud to be able to say they have something from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, or any other luxury brand. But more than that, it’s about the aesthetic. Unboxing videos are already popular, so why not take it to the next level of rating how luxury brands package their products? And for people who can’t or aren’t buying these products, it’s surprisingly satisfying to watch. Add in the flex of having a Chanel box or Gucci bag to decorate your house with or the simple beauty of decorating with these items and the reason for this trend is undeniable.

Why people are buying $20 Chanel cotton: Inside the viral TikTok trend

It’s what’s on the inside that matters, right?

Apparently not, according to the viral TikTok shopping hack in which people are buying the cheapest thing on the Chanel website — mostly for the luxe packaging, two free product samples and designer clout that come with it.

What is the cheapest thing you can get with the double-C insignia? It’s called Le Coton, French for “cotton,” and that is exactly what you get. The box contains 100 cotton squares made for washing your face or removing makeup, and costs a grand total of $20.

While this is a lot more than your average package of cotton pads, these “exquisitely soft, tri-layer cotton pads” just hit different, according to the Chanel website and diehard fans of the brand.

“I use them everyday actually when doing my skincare routine. They’re super nice and so soft,” said TikTok influencer Erin Smelcer, who went viral after posting her three-part unboxing video of the Le Coton pads.

Smelcer, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin Madison, runs the popular TikTok account @theerinmarie. To date, her Part 1 video has been viewed over 7 million times.

“It’s currently my most viewed TikTok. I think it really took off because designer brands are considered supertrendy and it’s something a lot of people want,” she said. “Being able to get a Chanel product at an affordable price is definitely pretty cool. I think a lot of people relate to this and that’s why the video became so popular.”

But let’s be honest here: The classic Chanel box in sleek black and white definitely is the big draw. The brand knows this all too well, and even features a fully produced video on their website about the boxing process. The clip showcases a pair of well-manicured hands carefully placing Chanel products into the box, on top of a cushion of course. The hands then place a white card into a white envelope before sealing the white box with more white tissue and a stark black sticker, resembling a wax seal.

The video then reverses, showing the unboxing process, not too unlike the ones featured on TikTok after receiving the famed package in the mail. Heavy on clean, crisp aesthetics, maybe beauty only runs box-deep after all.

TikTok user Amya Williams (@myxva) has also tried this trend — admits she “really just wanted the box. Like the box just looks fancy, and it just looks like I have money, so,” she said in her unboxing video with over 305,000 likes and 1.1 million views.

“I have not used one single cotton pad; I’ve let guests in my home touch the cotton pads to feel the softness but I haven’t used one,” said Williams, 20, from Baltimore. “The cotton pads are definitely worth the purchase if you’re extra like me. When I initially placed my order it was on back order because they had sold out since they went viral. I waited about 2 1/2 months for them to arrive. Chanel even contacted me to ask if I wanted to cancel the order.”

In the unboxing videos, aside from the box itself, people are also ordering the pads for the goodies that come with it. In a small black drawstring bag, there are two samples included. With any makeup, fragrance, or skincare purchase, no matter the size, customers can choose two sample-size testers of an array of products at checkout. Some of the options currently include Chance Eau de Parfum spray, Le Volume de Chanel mascara and a multi-use Hydra Beauty Camellia Repair Mask, to name a few.

“I did use the samples. I love their Le Volume Mascara. It’s amazing, so I love getting samples whenever I can.” said TikTok user Kelsey Venkov, 28, of Seattle. “I saw value in ordering them because it came with the nice box and samples too. I think that’s why a lot of people ordered them; because it’s more about the experience of unboxing something fancy rather than the actual item itself.”

Venkov’s TikTok account @kelseyvenkov features shopping hacks and hauls from an array of brands and sites. Her video featuring the Chanel cotton pads and samples racked up 1 million views and over 95,000 likes.

“It’s a little moment of attainable luxury,” she said. “And that’s why I love TikTok, because we are just normal people sharing cool things we wouldn’t have otherwise seen and it has brought us all some normalcy in 2020.”

There is no cost for standard shipping, and the sales tax will run you an additional $1.25, making your grand total $21.25. Sounds like a designer deal to us.