In 2015, retail sales of makeup in the United States soared to $13.2 billion, which is the largest growth for the market since 2011. Our soon-to-be-published published edition of Cosmetics & Toiletries USA pinpoints that such stellar growth of the makeup market is partly attributed to viral trends initiated by celebrities and social media makeup artist influencers.
We recently attended The Makeup Show, a professional makeup artist event in New York City. This event solidified that the makeup industry continues to be shaken by social media makeup artists, as well as the alarming rate that trends go viral on the Internet. With the first half of 2016 quickly coming to an end, we wanted to take a look at the makeup trends we saw at the recent event, as well as well as other trends driving market growth in 2016.
Face makeup – It’s all about color correctors
While professional makeup artists have known about the secret of color correctors for years, 2016 marks the year that the trend goes viral among the masses due to the power of the Internet. Color correctors come in a variety of different shades like purple, blue, green, apricot, yellow, and red and are used to conceal dark circles, as well as yellowness or redness of the skin. Some new product launches in the market in 2016 include Smashbox’s Color Correcting Sticks, Lancôme’s Cushion Compact Color Correctors, and Cover Fx’s Correct Click.
Eye makeup – Will consumers ever be tired of the smoky eye look?
One trend that never seems to go out of style is the smoky eye look. Of course, new ways to wear the smoky eye look and new products are developed to enhance the trend, but smoky eyes remains one of today’s staple trends in eye makeup. In Spring/Summer 2016, the look is all about creating intense eyes with bold eyeliners and pigmented eyeshadows, particularly with blue and glittery hues. Burberry launches its precision Eye Colour Contour Retractable Pen, while NARS launches its glittery and neutral/blue hued NARSissist Toujours L’Amour Eyeshadow Palette.
Lipsticks and lip glosses – Liquid lipsticks have staying power, literally
One of the trends we cover in the 2015 edition of our Cosmetics & Toiletries USA report is liquid lipsticks, which retains its popularity in 2016, as super bold and pigmented lips remain a staple of today’s selfie culture. Liquid lipsticks are fusions between glosses, oils, and stain formulae, which hydrate the lips with oils and are packaged in a typical lipgloss tube. These products are also considered bold and long lasting enough to be a lipstick. Some new product launches of this type of product include MAC’s Versicolour Stain, Maybelline’s Vivid Matte Liquid Lipstick, Lancôme’s Juicy Shakers, and Tarte’s Tarteist Lip Crayon.
Nail polishes – Celebrity and influencer endorsements attempt to revive the category
The nail polishes category, which had a rough year in 2015, experiences new launches supported by collaborations/endorsements with celebrities in an attempt to revive itself in 2016. Sinful Colors collaborates with celebrity Kylie Jenner to launch a 20-piece nail polish collection called King Kylie Collection. Kylie Jenner’s lip kit infamously sells out in minutes every time she releases new batches. The brand’s move to bring millennials on board seems like the perfect recipe for sales growth. In addition, Revlon brings on social media influencer Chelsea King as its first-ever Revlon Nail Expert.
These trends alone have created much hype on social media sites like Instagram and YouTube, foreshadowing that 2016 will be another year for strong growth of makeup sales in the United States. We are looking forward to reporting on the fastest growing categories in 2016; in the meantime, for more insights on 2015 trends in makeup, fragrances, skin care, and hair care, please see our Cosmetics & Toiletries USA report.
New product launches in 2016
By Kelly Alexandre, Analyst Consumer Products
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