Q2 Prestige Beauty Product Sales Rise 66%

In the second quarter of 2021, sales of US prestige beauty products were nearly $4.9 billion, a 66% increase over Q2 2020. When comparing the overall increase in sales to 2019 – a year that was more normalized pre-pandemic – the increase was 6%.
 
Makeup, the hardest-hit segment in the beauty category during the pandemic, is showing steady increases as consumers continue to venture out into the world. Much of the gains in facial makeup were driven by foundation and concealer, with the strongest growth coming from tinted moisturizer. Makeup sales were $1.7 billion, up 71% over Q2 of 2020..
 
As many locales dropped mask mandates, and more consumers felt comfortable leaving their face coverings at home, the lip category benefited, growing almost 100% year-over-year.

Sun care products aimed specifically at protecting the face have increased over 80% compared to both 2020 and 2019, underscoring pent-up demand to get outdoors.
 
In 2020, as most consumers stayed home and tried their own at-home beauty treatments, skin care and hair care benefited. Many of these newly formed habits continued as facial skincare – driven primarily by face serums and exfoliators – is up over both 2020 and 2019. .
 
Likewise, in hair care, consumers may have realized their own coloring and hair care talents during the pandemic, as both categories remain strong.
 
As consumers ventured out, hair styling products experienced a resurgence. After enduring the biggest declines in 2020, they had the strongest performance in 2021, growing nearly 100%, year over year.  
 
Fragrance continues to outperform other segments, rising triple digits year-over-year, and up over 40%, when compared to 2019. Stronger concentrations of fragrance juices were the primary drivers of growth, with fragrance eau de parfums (EDP) and perfumes outpacing industry performance, propelled by Mother's Day and Father's Day in the second quarter.
 
The brick-and-mortar versus online sales pendulum has once again swung to brick-and-mortar sales, as the market begins to right-size after the physical store closures and spike in online sales during the second quarter of last year. As a result of this normalization, in-store purchases rose 284% over the same time a year ago, while online sales declined by 19%.
 
“There are many positive markers emerging in the second quarter of this year that point to an industry in full recovery mode. Among the most important is that makeup, the largest category in beauty, is showing signs of life, with a growth rate and dollar gains more than double skincare. Fragrance continues to blaze a new path forward, with unprecedented performance, not only compared to 2020, but also 2019. Each trend is an acceleration of what we observed at the beginning of the year and indicative of a changing consumer mindset, as restrictions ease and life as we knew it returns. Maintaining this momentum is the industry’s call-to-action, as we head into the back half of the year,” said Larissa Jensen, beauty industry advisor, The NPD Group.