The total value of the British prestige beauty market is £1.2 billion in January to August 2015, which grew 6.4% on the previous year. Make-up represents a substantial part of the sector accounting for 32.8% of this market and has grown by 3.2% on the same period in 2014.
“Make-up is really driving growth in the prestige beauty market fueled by the popularity of the selfie. Pioneered by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, it’s a trend we see across the board and make-up is essential to creating the perfect look. At the same time strobing, which emerged in early 2015, is the years’ hot new make-up trend which is driving consumers to spend more on highlighters so they can experiment with this new way of accentuating the face,” explains June Jensen, Director U.K. Beauty for The NPD Group.
Selfie Generation
According to NPD, the three core segments of the makeup category have all reported double digit growth in the period January to August 2015, compared to the same period in 2014. The total value of face make-up is £206 million, up 17%; total eye make-up is valued at £101 million, growing by 13% and total lip make-up reported sales of £54 million growing by 16%. Foundation alone, which is part of the face segment, reported sales of £112 million and grew by 16% in the period January to August 2015, compared to the year before.
This dramatic growth can be attributed directly to the continued popularity of the selfie. “Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Beyonce and Cara Delevingne have inspired a generation of women to post selfies on social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook. Face, eye and lip make-up is vital to achieving a photo-ready finish and brands have responded with foundation and primers that reference the look people want to achieve using terms like photo-ready, camera-ready and HD. It’s spurned a new sub-sector and is driving sales,” explains Jensen.
Strobing
Emerging as a key make-up trend in 2015, strobing - a new make-up technique used to layer highlights on the face to create an illuminated complexion - has driven growth in the highlighter/illuminator sub sector by 48.5% in the period January to August 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Total sales of highlighter products in this period were £8 million whilst in the same period in 2014 sales were £5.5 million.
“Highlighters have witnessed an incredible amount of growth in the past year driven solely by the new trend for strobing. This has been a huge topic on social media, on beauty blogs and in the mainstream press. Brands have capitalised on this with new launches and focusing marketing on existing lines to drive sales in store and online,” concludes Jensen.
