Expect More Growth for Eco-Beauty Products

2008-12-09 | 10:42

NPD Report sees opportunities for even more expansion.

According to a new report, Natural-Organic Trends in Beauty 2008 from The NPD Group, Inc., a market research company, at least two out of three beauty product users say they are interested in some form of eco-beauty products. Eco-beauty products can be defined as being either natural, organic, green/eco-friendly, or socially conscious/responsible beauty products.*

“Whether the consumer demand is driven by the desire to save the planet, concerns about product safety and potential health risks, or just being ‘on-trend,’ being part of the current environmental movement makes good business sense,” said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global beauty industry analyst.

According to the report, while overall interest is high, it is interesting to take a look at the conversion from interest to actual usage. “This reveals significant opportunities to expand across all eco-beauty product types,” noted Ms. Grant.

NPD defines Eco-beauty products as being either natural, organic, green/eco-friendly or socially conscious/responsible beauty products.  According to the report, beauty product users perceive natural beauty products as “safe” for use on skin. Organic beauty products are manufactured without chemicals. Green/eco-friendly beauty products help with the “environment.” Socially conscious/responsible beauty products are about companies “giving back to communities.”

According to the company,

Natural beauty is the most developed of these categories with about two-thirds (64%) of women who use beauty, saying they have used natural beauty products. That is at least twice as many women who said they have used organic (32%) or green/eco-friendly (26%) products.

Based on stated interest and usage, organic and green/eco-friendly beauty products have the greatest opportunity to expand from interest to usage. In fact, though green/eco-friendly beauty products rank second in interest, they have been used by the least number of beauty product users.

Socially conscious/responsible beauty products are second in popularity in terms of usage, with almost four out-of-ten women stating they have used these products. 

Additionally, beauty product users tell NPD that one of the top voluntary reasons given for not trying eco-beauty products is not knowing much about these types of products and being too expensive.

“Convincing the beauty consumer to try eco-beauty products can be done through education and by giving the beauty consumer the opportunity to try these products as ‘free samples,’ without the monetary risk. Proof that it works and is worth the cost could help beauty consumers give these products a try,” concluded Ms. Grant.