This week, I break down an influx of new industry data from Circana, Launchmetrics and Dash Hudson, which includes the categories and social media trends that led to 8% sales growth for prestige beauty in the first half of the year. Additionally, a new executive appointment to know at the Estée Lauder Companies and a case study in entering the pet category with a new dog fragrance from D&G and a mass pet launch from Raw Sugar Living.
The trends driving the beauty industry’s growth in 2024
It’s been a busy week for new industry data with reports from Circana, Launchmetrics and Dash Hudson charting category growth and the top industry trends.
On Tuesday, Circana market research company released its findings from the first half of 2024. The group found that the U.S. prestige beauty market grew to $15.3 billion, up 8% compared to the same time last year, while sales at mass merchants held flat.
The group found that fragrance was the fastest-growing prestige beauty category, with dollar sales up 12% in the first half versus the same period in 2023. According to the report, higher-priced eau de parfums and parfums topped sales growth, while units sold of mini- and travel-sized products grew at double the rate of the overall category’s growth. It also found that younger shoppers, as expected, favored under-$25 body mists and dupe fragrances.
But the growing bifurcation across consumer preference within fragrance is also expanding out to the rest of the industry, said Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at Circana, in the report. “An accelerated bifurcation is emerging in the beauty industry highlighted by the continued strong growth in prestige in relation to the mass market,” she said. “Within prestige, drivers of growth point to a similar pattern, indicative of a consumer who is seeking elevated value. Optimizing these opportunities will vary as consumers’ approach to beauty spending differs by demographic — from attitudes and usage, to purchase influencers and shopping preferences.”
Meanwhile, the makeup category grew by 5%, with lip products overperforming thanks to double-digit growth led by lip balms and oils. Other standout categories included liquid blush; stick, balm and liquid bronzer; stick foundation; and stick eye shadow. In the mass sector, lip gloss and liner were top growth categories.
Skin care remains the fastest-growing category based on units sold and, overall, had a 7% increase year-over-year. Body care, which sits under skin care, was the top growth category. Body spray sales grew triple-digits, and creams, lotions and cleansers won double-digit growth. But perhaps the most interesting piece of data was consumer interest in prestige body products, which saw 17% more buyers in this market compared to last year and a 25% increase in spending on prestige body-care products.
Meanwhile, Launchmetrics released its 2024 data and insights report for the first half of the year, which included a ranking of the top 20 beauty brands based on media impact value, or MIV. Similar to earned media value (EMV), it measures the impact of all media placements and mentions across beauty, fashion and lifestyle media.
The ranking has Dior, L’Oréal Paris, Charlotte Tilbury, MAC, Maybelline, Lancôme, Chanel, Fenty Beauty, YSL Beauté and Huda Beauty in the top 10. Rounding out the second half are Nars, Nyx, Rare Beauty, Armani Beauty, Estée Lauder, Benefit, Shiseido, E.l.f, Make Up For Ever and Pat McGrath Labs.
When assessing these scores, Launchmetrics found that more than half of this value, or 62% of all meaningful mentions, was driven by posts made by influencers, followed by the media with 18%. Eleven percent was driven by the brand’s own media platforms.
In its platform breakdown, Launchmetrics ranked Instagram as the leading social platform for driving beauty content, accounting for 38% of its monitored MIV content. TikTok came in second with 20%, followed by YouTube with 12%, RED (China’s Xiaohongshu) with 8% and Facebook with 3%.
Finally, Dash Hudson, an all-in-one social media management platform for brands, partnered with market research company NielsenIQ (NIQ) to assess the correlation between a beauty brand’s entertainment-focused social content and sales growth, among other assessments.
The study looked at 150 beauty brands over the course of one year. To start, Dash Hudson gave each brand an entertainment score — a proprietary score that measures engagement and retention — of 1-10. The results show that brands with a score of five or better had a 67% increase in sales over that year, further showing the importance of entertaining social content. The company’s case studies of top performers include Sol de Janeiro, Rare Beauty and Starface.
Dash Hudson also published data on the value of creators to digital brand marketing. It found that creators get 12 times more engagement than a brand’s content. Within the same data matrix, it found more surprising numbers: “Nano creators are really great with [increasing] engagement rates [while] larger creators will get you more engagements [by volume],” Kate Kenner Archibald, CMO at Dash Hudson told Glossy. “The effectiveness rate also includes shares and saves, which is really interesting [because] we are seeing that mid-level [creators] is where you’re getting a peak, and then, of course, larger, macro-creators are getting [brands] more followers [by volume].”
Broken down, it found that creators beat brands in nearly every metric on Instagram, including engagement rate (3.5% versus 0.3%), total engagements (6,700 vs. 3,000) and effectiveness (65.4% versus 4.8%), further cementing the value of creators in every beauty brand’s digital marketing strategy.
In terms of platform growth, “What’s interesting is followers are still growing quite rapidly on TikTok — not a shock — [but] brands are actually posting the most on X and Pinterest,” said Archibald. “But when you compare the three, you’ll see that Instagram is definitely the highest [in size of average community] but engagement rate is the strongest when it comes to TikTok.”
Executive moves:
- Rashida La Lande is the new evp and general counsel of the Estée Lauder Companies. She previously held the role of general council at The Kraft Heinz Company and is succeeding Deirdre Stanley, who stepped down from the role at ELC in April.
News to know:
- L’Oréal has taken on a 10% stake in Galderma, the parent company of Cetaphil skin- and body-care. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but the partnership marks a further investment from L’Oréal into dermatological beauty and includes a strategic partnership to share knowledge about the category between the two companies.
- Olaplex’s revenue dropped 4.8% in its fiscal Q2, compared to the same time last year, which it shared in its latest earnings statement on Tuesday. Despite the brand’s net sales having dropped nearly 5% to $103.9 million, it saw a 22.4% increase in specialty retail sales and an 18.4% decrease in professional sales, which could be a predictor of the direction of the business.
- Body-care brand Salt & Stone has taken on an undisclosed minority investment from VC fund Humble Growth. It is Salt & Stone’s first investment, and the company will use the money to expand its Sephora partnership and its reach on Amazon. Salt & Stone sells deodorant, body wash, fragrance and various body-care products that retail for $20-$56.
- Expansion into the pet-care category is seeing unexpected growth. Last week, Dolce & Gabbana introduced a dog fragrance named Fefé, named after and inspired by Domenico Dolce’s dog. The fragrance retails for $99 and is anchored around ylang-ylang, musk and sandalwood notes.
- Meanwhile, for pet parents on a mass budget, Raw Sugar Living, a line of hair- and body-care products for adults and children sold at Target, Walmart, CVS Pharmacy and Costco, has expanded its offerings to pet care. The new line, called Fur Kids, launched DTC with three new products for $14.99 each: Freshen Up Pup Wipes, Sensitive Skin Shampoo + Conditioner, and Shiny Coat Shampoo + Conditioner. A representative from the company told WWD that the brand’s retail partners passed on carrying the line.
Stat of the week:
In a report covered by Glossy, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode has usurped Benefit as the most talked-about blush, according to new data from Launchmetrics. For context, there are around 677,000 posts on TikTok tagged #blush and the interest is the category continues to have stunning growth. On Amazon alone, blush drove at least $58.9 million in sales in a 12-month period ending in July. Globally, the market value is predicted to reach $3.5 billion by 2030, according to market research firm Verified Market Reports.
In the headlines:
E.l.f. Beauty sales jump 50% on gains in color cosmetics and skin care and the launch of Bronzing Drops serum. Equinox-owned Blink Fitness files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Auntie Anne’s is launching a pretzel-inspired perfume. MAC Cosmetics partners with home interiors brand Lick on a limited-edition lipstick Shade. Remedy Place will open a new SoHo location. Lily Collins joins Silas Capital and G9 Ventures in celebrity hairstylist-founded Roz’s oversubscribed seed round. Tati Westbrook settles lawsuit, leaves Halo Beauty, plans to relaunch beauty brand. Fragrance pop-up at Caruso’s The Grove transports L.A. shoppers to Omani luxury.
Listen in:
Nathalie Gerschtein, president of the consumer products division at L’Oréal North America, joins the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss her career growth and lessons learned, predictions for the future of the mass shopper, and recent challenges.
Need a Glossy recap?
The rise of the Gen-Z-loved Yuka app — and its growing cohort of critics. In Canada, the beauty retail market is up for grabs. Should health and wellness brands require influencer education? Schwarzkopf Professional partners with Olympic gold medalists on new campaign. What the creative director musical chairs means for designer beauty brands.
