Our appearances are shown to millions of people online. Now more than ever, consumers care about maintaining the youthful and radiant condition of our skin. The disruption of the pandemic halted the luxury cosmetics market and many gained a temporary break from makeup thanks to the quarantine and mask mandates. Now, as society returns to work and vaccination rates grow, the luxury cosmetics market will re-flourish with impressive new category opportunities.
Our team at Simporter analyzed these new areas of growth with our ideation research software, White Space AI. With nearly 4 million data points analyzed, the results surprised us and just might surprise you too.
Initial Findings
Our analysis showed 143 percent growth year over year from 2019 to 2021, and our analysis expects this growth to continue for 2022.
Skincare rebounded 50 percent quicker than makeup between 2019-2021, a result of a (potentially over) paradigm shift in consumer minds. Consumers talked about skincare products and routines on social media as consumers scoured the internet for skincare product options and reviews from other purchasers. With more time at home – and free time in general – self-care routines became present in virtually every home. But now that masks are coming off, you should expect that to change.
Predicted Winners:
Powders
In 2022, expect consumer interest to grow 48 percent for luxury powders compared to 2021. As society reopens and consumers are increasingly out of home, versatile powders allow people to reapply their makeup in an easy and convenient way throughout the day. Foundation powders, a subset of this category, are expected to be a frontrunner for 2022. The reason being is that these powders are portable, re-applicable, pore-friendly, and work well with oily skin, unlike many liquid foundations.
Self Tanning and Sun Care
People will go outside more. Netflix binges will still be common – but much less. Luxury Cosmetics brands should expect consumer interest in self-tanners and sunscreens to grow 32 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. One hot area will be oil-free products. Beneficial ingredients, such as niacinamide (a form of vitamin B) and hyaluronic acid, will also continue to be at the front of consumer minds. Consumers will search for full-coverage, weightless products that prevent their pores from clogging while still minimizing the appearance of blemishes.
Creams
Creams are expected to grow in consumer interest by 16 percent, with a special focus on night creams. Simporter models rate this category among the highest opportunities for 2022. Consumers will shift away from time-consuming self-care rituals and attempt to compensate by purchasing luxury night creams that take less time to apply than other routine products and “do the magic” in your sleep. Our models predict 16 percent growth in consumer interest for night creams in 2022.
Foundations
Consumer interest in luxury foundations will grow by 12 percent growth in 2022 compared to 2021. Consumers are currently moving toward all-natural products instead of organic products and shiny products instead of matte products. While this trend includes all-natural ingredients, consumers are more interested in their foundation having a natural, minimalistic appearance. Most importantly, consumers are trying to avoid cakey and cracking foundations.
Primers
Primers are predicted to grow 19 percent in 2022, in terms of consumer demand. Consumers will seek easy-to-use, lightweight primers to set their makeup as the category, overall, begins to increase in demand. Even more, primers will help keep makeup looking fresh throughout the day – perfect for workers returning to the office.
Lips
Luxury lip products are expected to grow 11 percent in 2022 from United States data. Lip stains have the highest opportunity for growth because they are easy to use and only require one application for all-day wear – but lipsticks are also poised to grow exponentially. Consumers desire moisturizing, all-day lip products with a variety of conservative colors, including classic red, gold, and nude shades.
Makeup will make up (get it?) for its shortcomings since COVID shocked the world in 2020. The luxury cosmetic market is on the upswing, with expected growth of 10-20 percent in 2022. Overall, consumers want convenient luxury cosmetic products that will help them as they leave their homes, return to offices, and have increasingly busy schedules. In contrast, the self-care trend will no longer be as prominent as it has been over the past couple of years.
What now?
For more insights on luxury cosmetics trends, you can watch our recent webinar 2022 Luxury Cosmetics Trends here on YouTube. If you’d like to sign up for a live demo of our AI-driven software, you can sign up here.