Imogen Matthews, Consultant01.26.23
The pandemic drove consumers to seek personal hygiene products that are compatible with a healthy lifestyle. Now, they’re searching for the same attributes in their body care purchases. The trend has led to the emergence of body care products with probiotic claims. And, as in most other beauty and personal care sectors, sustainability is a growing issue, especially for premium and indie brands.
The retail value of the European body care market grew by low single digits in 2022 to about $5.5 billion, according to Euromonitor International. But rising costs and high inflation rates combined to slim down consumer beauty routines. As a result, the segment’s volume declined.
Lia Neophytou, senior analyst, GlobalData, cites the current cost-of-living crisis as a key inhibitor to growth.
“European consumers are most concerned about a product’s impact on their health and finances,” she explained. “Products that are affordable and can communicate their compatibility with a healthy lifestyle have the most potential to engage with consumers today.”
Consumer interest in self-care routines was heightened during the covid-19 pandemic with strong demand for hand sanitizers. By 2021, hand sanitizers became a staple in consumer households, businesses, schools, offices, shopping centers and restaurants. The easing of covid restrictions dampened demand for hand sanitizers, although they are still used regularly by European consumers, suggesting that many will continue clinging to hygiene habits formed during the pandemic years.
“An interest in maintaining pristine personal hygiene and using hand sanitizer persists among risk-averse consumers who are conscious that the pandemic is ongoing,” commented Neophytou, who noted that self-care routines adopted during the height of the pandemic persist, especially among consumers who have adapted to working at home or hybrid models.
According to Euromonitor’s Beauty Survey, 61% of global consumers used hand sanitizers at least twice daily in 2020. Two years later, that percentage dropped to 53%.
“As socialization and travel return and the pandemic becomes more manageable due to the distribution of vaccines, future growth will be characterized by keeping other diseases and illnesses away, by greater product variety and premiumization of ingredients,” observed Kayla Villena, analyst, Euromonitor International.
One of the biggest trends in European body care is for products with microbiome-friendly and probiotic claims.
“Brands continue to develop ‘microbiome-friendly’ products recognizing that consumers now have a greater awareness about what ingredients they are exposing themselves to in their daily beauty routines,” explained Neophytou.
For example, Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion and Dermexa Daily Emollient Cream are both formulated with a prebiotic triple oat complex that is said to help improve the balance of the skin’s natural microbiome to leave skin resilient and healthy-looking.
Beiersdorf recently acquired a majority stake in S-Biomedic, a leader in skin microbiome research and development, indicating that the microbiome will influence future innovation.
While not a priority, more than half (55%) of European consumers are always/often influenced by how enjoyable/unique a product or service is when making a purchase, according to GlobalData’s 2022 Q4 Global Consumer Survey.
“Body care formulations with unique textures, like mousses, for example, are being developed to tap into the desire to experiment,” explained Neophytou.
Yogurt-like formulations, especially those with pre/probiotic properties, strike a chord with health-conscious consumers who want to be healthy both inside and out. Examples include Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Yogurt Body Cream Apricot & Honey and Body Cream Vanilla & Oat. Both contain prebiotic colloidal oatmeal and probiotic Greek yogurt.
Sustainability is a big focus for premium and indie brands. In contrast, there’s been little innovation coming from mass skin care players during the past 12 months. Euromonitor analysts put this down to lower prices and efficacy being a greater priority for consumers than brands’ sustainability criteria.
Cult Beauty was one of the first UK e-commerce retailers to focus on sustainability. The retailer uses blockchain-driven tech platform Provenance to show verified badges and other sustainability data on its pages. Half of the products sold on Cult Beauty have a proof point of some description. It plans to introduce more in-depth integration with Provenance after experiencing successful sales for its Cult Conscious Edit.
Now that the major players are starting to come clean about sustainability claims, we can expect more transparency initiatives to be introduced throughout the year. This, together with a greater focus on health-related claims, will drive growth in the European body care market in 2023.
Imogen Matthews
Headington, Oxford UK
+44 1865 764918
www.imogenmatthews.co.uk
Imogen Matthews is a respected consultant, journalist and researcher who commentates on trends in the beauty industry. She regularly contributes to many of the world’s foremost beauty trade titles, has served on the Board of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW UK) and won the prestigious Cosmetic Executive (UK) Achiever Award. Founded by Imogen in 1993, The Premium Market Report remains the only in-depth report to examine trends in the premium cosmetics, skincare and fragrance industry.
The retail value of the European body care market grew by low single digits in 2022 to about $5.5 billion, according to Euromonitor International. But rising costs and high inflation rates combined to slim down consumer beauty routines. As a result, the segment’s volume declined.
Lia Neophytou, senior analyst, GlobalData, cites the current cost-of-living crisis as a key inhibitor to growth.
“European consumers are most concerned about a product’s impact on their health and finances,” she explained. “Products that are affordable and can communicate their compatibility with a healthy lifestyle have the most potential to engage with consumers today.”
Consumer interest in self-care routines was heightened during the covid-19 pandemic with strong demand for hand sanitizers. By 2021, hand sanitizers became a staple in consumer households, businesses, schools, offices, shopping centers and restaurants. The easing of covid restrictions dampened demand for hand sanitizers, although they are still used regularly by European consumers, suggesting that many will continue clinging to hygiene habits formed during the pandemic years.
“An interest in maintaining pristine personal hygiene and using hand sanitizer persists among risk-averse consumers who are conscious that the pandemic is ongoing,” commented Neophytou, who noted that self-care routines adopted during the height of the pandemic persist, especially among consumers who have adapted to working at home or hybrid models.
According to Euromonitor’s Beauty Survey, 61% of global consumers used hand sanitizers at least twice daily in 2020. Two years later, that percentage dropped to 53%.
“As socialization and travel return and the pandemic becomes more manageable due to the distribution of vaccines, future growth will be characterized by keeping other diseases and illnesses away, by greater product variety and premiumization of ingredients,” observed Kayla Villena, analyst, Euromonitor International.
Self-Care to Health Care
Since the pandemic, consumers are more conscious than ever regarding the impact pollution, UV and artificial light, stress and bad diet can have on the skin. That’s opened up the category for more health-centric body care products. Australian Bodycare addresses this growing trend with new products that treat specific skin issues, including Tea Tree Body Lotion for congested and scaly skin, Barrier Cream for irritated, damaged and red skin, and Body Balm, a nurturing aftershave lotion said to be effective against in-grown hair and red spots. The brand also sells combination kits of products to address body skin issues. There’s a kit for spots on the bottom, acne and blackheads on the back and bottom. There’s a care kit for insect and mosquito bites, which consists of four soothing products to relieve irritation from insect bites. Finally, a three-pack of products treats keratosis pilaris, a condition that results in red spots and small bumps on the skin.One of the biggest trends in European body care is for products with microbiome-friendly and probiotic claims.
“Brands continue to develop ‘microbiome-friendly’ products recognizing that consumers now have a greater awareness about what ingredients they are exposing themselves to in their daily beauty routines,” explained Neophytou.
For example, Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion and Dermexa Daily Emollient Cream are both formulated with a prebiotic triple oat complex that is said to help improve the balance of the skin’s natural microbiome to leave skin resilient and healthy-looking.
Beiersdorf recently acquired a majority stake in S-Biomedic, a leader in skin microbiome research and development, indicating that the microbiome will influence future innovation.
Textures & Formulas
The probiotic skin care trend is not restricted to indie brands. Many of the biggest international players launched products with this claim, notes Euromonitor International. For example, in 2021, probiotic claims were made by Estée Lauder, Clinique, Lancôme, Elizabeth Arden, Bobbi Brown, Biotherm, Revlon, Vichy, Korres, Babor and Dr Barbara Sturm.While not a priority, more than half (55%) of European consumers are always/often influenced by how enjoyable/unique a product or service is when making a purchase, according to GlobalData’s 2022 Q4 Global Consumer Survey.
“Body care formulations with unique textures, like mousses, for example, are being developed to tap into the desire to experiment,” explained Neophytou.
Yogurt-like formulations, especially those with pre/probiotic properties, strike a chord with health-conscious consumers who want to be healthy both inside and out. Examples include Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Yogurt Body Cream Apricot & Honey and Body Cream Vanilla & Oat. Both contain prebiotic colloidal oatmeal and probiotic Greek yogurt.
Sustainability is a big focus for premium and indie brands. In contrast, there’s been little innovation coming from mass skin care players during the past 12 months. Euromonitor analysts put this down to lower prices and efficacy being a greater priority for consumers than brands’ sustainability criteria.
Cult Beauty was one of the first UK e-commerce retailers to focus on sustainability. The retailer uses blockchain-driven tech platform Provenance to show verified badges and other sustainability data on its pages. Half of the products sold on Cult Beauty have a proof point of some description. It plans to introduce more in-depth integration with Provenance after experiencing successful sales for its Cult Conscious Edit.
The benefits of blockchain
In November, Clarins launched a traceability platform based on blockchain technology that’s designed to boost consumer confidence in the brand. T.R.U.S.T. provides information on each step within a product’s manufacturing process, details about plant-based ingredients (origin and harvesting methods), and information on Clarins’ expertise, backed up by testimonials. On the Clarins website, each product has a link to the Clarins T.R.U.S.T. platform. T.R.U.S.T. stands for traceability, responsibility, uniqueness, security and transparency.Now that the major players are starting to come clean about sustainability claims, we can expect more transparency initiatives to be introduced throughout the year. This, together with a greater focus on health-related claims, will drive growth in the European body care market in 2023.
Imogen Matthews
Headington, Oxford UK
+44 1865 764918
www.imogenmatthews.co.uk
Imogen Matthews is a respected consultant, journalist and researcher who commentates on trends in the beauty industry. She regularly contributes to many of the world’s foremost beauty trade titles, has served on the Board of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW UK) and won the prestigious Cosmetic Executive (UK) Achiever Award. Founded by Imogen in 1993, The Premium Market Report remains the only in-depth report to examine trends in the premium cosmetics, skincare and fragrance industry.