As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q3. Today, we are looking at personal care stocks, starting with Estée Lauder (NYSE:EL).

While personal care products products may seem more discretionary than food, consumers tend to maintain or even boost their spending on the category during tough times. This phenomenon is known as "the lipstick effect" by economists, which states that consumers still want some semblance of affordable luxuries like beauty and wellness when the economy is sputtering. Consumer tastes are constantly changing, and personal care companies are currently responding to the public’s increased desire for ethically produced goods by featuring natural ingredients in their products.

The 11 personal care stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 16.2% below.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 2.2% on average since the latest earnings results.

Weakest Q3: Estée Lauder (NYSE:EL)

Named after its founder, who was an entrepreneurial woman from New York with a passion for skincare, Estée Lauder (NYSE:EL) is a one-stop beauty shop with products in skincare, fragrance, makeup, sun protection, and men’s grooming.

Estée Lauder reported revenues of $3.36 billion, down 4.5% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations, but overall, it was a mixed quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ earnings estimates but revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.

Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “Our first quarter results are largely aligned with our outlook on an adjusted basis, despite the fact that the expected headwinds in China and Asia travel retail were greater than anticipated. Our Profit Recovery and Growth Plan drove gross margin expansion, which was partially offset by operating deleverage. Other pillars of our strategic reset also delivered promising initial results.

Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 23.5% since reporting and currently trades at $66.70.

Is now the time to buy Estée Lauder? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q3: e.l.f. (NYSE:ELF)

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF), which stands for ‘eyes, lips, face’, offers high-quality beauty products at accessible price points.

e.l.f. reported revenues of $301.1 million, up 39.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 4%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ earnings and EBITDA estimates.