'beauty" supplanting beauty

In China, cosmetics now outstrips groceries as the biggest selling item in its department stores, according to a report from Fung Business Intelligence Center.

Made me think of the corollary in personal life where cosmetic acquisitions like clothes and spouses and income and power can grow so overwhelming -- so overwhelmingly convincing -- that nourishment is somehow placed on the back burner and people wonder why their lives feel so unsteady and vapid... "beauty" supplanting beauty.