Color-correcting options provide lift

When Sephora introduced its compact contour app two years ago, it ignited the contouring trend. Now, Sephora has put its efforts behind teaching women how to “cancel out color concerns.”

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)



Dark circles? Redness? Dark spots? Dullness? The answer is just a click away on the beauty power-house’s website.



And IT Cosmetics’ Jamie Kern Lima built her line and a problem-solution premise after she started having skin issues, such as rosacea. Her line became an instant classic on QVC and at Ulta Beauty.



Becca Cosmetics is regaining its glow with its complexion products attracting loyal followers. One weapon in its arsenal is Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation, which features the merger of a light-reflecting particle and a pigment. An Aqua Luminous Perfecting Concealer is slated to launch this fall, and a new lip product is scheduled for early 2017.



Already, mass retailers are expecting major brands to enter the fray. Contour and sculpting kits brought in much-needed incremental sales this spring. The complexion correctors expected for early 2017 should do the same.



Already the mass market has enjoyed a lift from concealers, which help correct imperfections. Sales of concealers for the 52-week period ended May 15 across multi-outlets were up 12%, according to IRI. Big gains were posted by NYX (more than 200%), Maybelline (28%) and e.l.f. (27%). In individual items, Maybelline’s Face Studio Master Concealer stole the show, with sales soaring 200%. Maybelline Fit Me and Revlon PhotoReady also scored big.



Foundations had a halo impact on the move to correct the flaws consumers want to hide; for example, more and more women are letting their imperfections show through, but are covering up such severe issues as rosacea. Foundations, which had been flat over the past few years, jumped 3.5% for the tracked period, ignited by upturns in Maybelline’s Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation, and L’Oréal’s Infallible Pro Matte. Younger audiences previously shied away from foundations, but are now road-testing them as they seek the perfect selfie. Physicians Formula took advantage of that in celebration of National Selfie Day.



The other booming segment is primers and complexion preparation. Makeup primers and CC creams delivered $490 million to the beauty industry in 2015, according to NPD. Now there are primers for eyes, lips and face, which also are building baskets, buyers said.