Changing shopper behavior creates opportunity in beauty

Officials at HatchBeauty Brands, which develops proprietary products, said the potential for ingestibles in the beauty space is mammoth. Consumers, especially Gen Zers, already are digging deeper into research about ingredients that foster beauty from the inside out. In a July 15, 2020 report, “How the Wellness Movement is Changing the Face of Beauty Forever,” HatchBeauty noted that searches for terms around wellness have increased almost 100% over the past five years. 

“As we move into the new roaring 2020s, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where wellness and beauty don’t continue to merge and evolve. We believe consumers will begin to associate ingestibles as a nonnegotiable part of their beauty routines,” the HatchBeauty report stated. The company said ingredients to watch include vitamin C; conjugated linoleic acids, or CLA; astaxanthin; whole food fermentate; algae fermentate; and birch bark.

Home fragrance also is a category getting a fresh look for its role in the wellness equation. “Home fragrance is more than candles or diffusers,” said Laura McCann, founder and CEO of Asheville, N.C.-based Adoratherapy. “We envision our fragrances in wellness because our clean essential-oil based products are mood boosters.” 

Is there also new life in the mass fragrance world as people seek well-being? Kevin Shapiro, senior vice president of U.S. marketing for consumer beauty at Coty, said the category saw growth when luxury stores were completely closed. Consumers sought out the mass market for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts, or as “special thank-yous for those lending helping hands during this unprecedented time like front-line healthcare workers,” he said. 

Beauty offerings with CBD play into consumer wellness demands as well, and there’s plenty of activity, including Jane Fonda signing on as ambassador of Uncle Bud’s, CURE Pharmaceutical’s purchase of Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Sera Labs, and e.l.f.’s extension into the space.  

For e.l.f., the move is a continuation of the success it had when it introduced its Cannabis Sativa Hemp Seed Oil last year. In May, the company launched its Full Spectrum CBD line at mass. The new collection features face and body care products infused with full spectrum CBD.

“We continue to focus on skin care as a strategically important category and understand our consumers’ desire for wellness and self-care, especially during this uncertain time,” said Kory Marchisotto, chief marketing officer at Oakland, Calif.-based e.l.f. “Skin care has been outperforming cosmetics during the COVID-19 crisis and CBD, in particular, is projected to be a $22 billion industry by 2022.” 

The uptick was good news for New York-based Coty’s Sally Hansen line. “We’ve seen growth across all nail segments, which speaks to the variety of benefits that consumers are craving,” Shapiro said. “Be it long-wear performance through Sally Hansen Miracle Gel, which just launched a new top coat that delivers an at-home mani that lasts up to eight days, or a more ingredient-conscious product like Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure., which launched in January.”

Shapiro also said that nail care has seen momentum as consumers take more care to make sure their nails, cuticles and fingers are hydrated and healthy. That boosted Sally Hansen’s nail treatment, which leads the category with a 44.6% share, up two percentage points based on Nielsen data for 13 weeks ending June 27. 

“Overall, Sally Hansen continues to offer products and innovations that consumers want,” Shapiro said. “They have validated that with their purchases, since March 2020, we have seen triple digit e-commerce growth in the U.S. and a brick-and-mortar market share of 44.9%, according to Nielsen.”

Tam Tran, founder and CEO of North Miami, Fla.-based Anise Cosmetics, which produces the Nail-Aid Brand, believes women are looking for simplicity — not glitter or loud colors that are difficult to remove. Many women will avoid the salon for health and economic reasons, she said. 

Hair color sales for the 52-week period tracked by IRI jumped 7% with unisex products — often vibrant colors — soaring almost 60%. That’s huge news for retailers since hair color sales have been in the minus column for almost a decade in the mass market. 

“Consumers have discovered just how easy Clairol’s Nice ’N Easy is, some for the first time even if they have been coloring for decades,” Shapiro said. He also highlighted an uptick in Clairol’s Root Touch-Up for those who want a 10-minute solution to cover roots in between appointments. 

Brands for textured hair care blossomed during quarantine as many consumers could not get to hair salons for styling or products. Many of these brands are owned by Black female entrepreneurs. Yet, what has emerged during COVID-19 is the selling potential of the brands stretched beyond race. 

Lip color sales are sagging thanks to mask wearing, down 12.3% for the 52 weeks ended June 14 in mass doors tracked by IRI. One bright spot is eye care, where early indications show that women are buying more products to make their eyes standout. Eye combo (palettes) sales jumped almost 12%. 

“From March onward, as we saw people across the country begin wearing masks, eye has been the strongest-performing color cosmetics category, with the spread further increasing between eye and face trends from March to June,” Coty’s Shapiro said. “Our brands have benefited from this more robust consumer demand for eye.” Coty’s brands in color cosmetics include CoverGirl and Rimmel. “The new CoverGirl Exhibitionist Uncensored Mascara launched in January and over delivered its launch expectations despite COVID,” Shapiro said.

Rimmel Mascara consistently has been outpacing the mascara category with its best sellers within the Scandaleyes and Wonder franchises, according to tracking data.   

While makeup suffers, skin care is building — up 4% per IRI data — as people attempt to look better on Zoom calls. Companies such as Coty with its CoverGirl franchise are leveraging the “skinification” of makeup to try to generate a sales spurt in the category. “Our launch of CoverGirl Clean Fresh Skin Milk in January, with CoverGirl Lili Reinhart, delivered against consumer demands for both traditional foundation benefits of a lightweight feel and dewy finish, as well as a moisture boost to skin and nourishment with ingredients consumers recognize like hydrating coconut milk and aloe extract,” Shapiro said. 

TikTok influencer Addison Rae also announced the launch of her own beauty brand, Madeby Collective. It debuts with six makeup items online. 

Not to be outshone by the latest online sensations, TV and film celebrities are trying to wrest power back from influencers. Tracee Ellis Ross and Taraji P. Henson continue to grow their hair brands and, in an interesting twist, e.l.f. is partnering with Alicia Keys — known for her no-makeup look — for a lifestyle beauty brand.

“She’s been wanting to do something in beauty and wellness for quite some time,” said e.l.f. CEO Tarang Amin. The company calls the launch a culmination of Keys’ personal skin care journey with “skin-loving, dermatologist-developed, cruelty-free products.” The lifestyle beauty brand, which will roll out in 2021, will be wholly owned by e.l.f., and Keys will become a shareholder, Amin said.