Barrier Repair, French Manicures and Ginger Hair Drive Latest Beauty Searches: Spate

Spring has sprung, and with it an awakening involving great skin, classically-polished finger nails and red hair. 

 

Repairing Damaged Skin Barriers 

 

According to NYC-based beauty trend tracker Spate, there are 8,500 searches on average every month in the US for barrier repair, which is medium volume relative to other face treatment product searches. It’s grown 67.9% in searches since last year with low competition and market leaders Dermalogica, Rovectin, First Aid Beauty, and Zerafite. 

  

The beauty trend tracker surmises consumers’ overuse of exfoliating acids, chemical peels and sheet masks along with pandemic-related stress that drove searches for skin barrier concerns, which increased 39.8% year-over-year. 

 

Spate also found that top skin health concerns are related to damaged and broken skin barriers, as well as concerns for acne as it relates to the skin barrier. Eczema, rashes, rosacea, dermatitis, and sores are also being searched alongside this term.

 

Barrier repair can represent a large, overarching opportunity for brands to create products to treat a variety of skin barrier concerns. Searches for multiple product formats such as creams, which increased 23.4% year-over-year, serums, oils, concentrates, cleansers and masks indicate that consumers are looking for different products to support these concerns. 

 

Consumers are also searching directly for ingredients such as aloe vera, probiotic, jojoba oil, ceramide, coconut oil, and vitamin E to help aid with their skin barrier. The awareness for these ingredients for skin barrier repair is still low, indicating an opportunity for brands to create products driven by these restorative ingredients.

 

French Tip Nails: A Modern Spin on a Timeless Look  

Consumers are searching for a variety of colors and designs within the French tip nail trend for a modern spin on a timeless look. 

 

The classic French manicure that dominated the 1990s makes a comeback with a fun twist, in the form of colorful and unique shapes and styles. With the rise of the “that girl” aesthetic (+60.9% year-over-year growth), consumers are increasingly searching for French tip nails to help them achieve the look, but the search has been trending since 2020.

On average, there are 870,800 searches every month in the US for French tip nails, which is very high volume relative to other searches for nail designs. It’s grown 131.7% in searches since last year with medium competition and three market leaders: Kiss, Color Street, and SNS.

 

Consumers are searching for French tip nails in different lengths (short, medium, long) and with different nail polish product formats (acrylic, dip, gel). Searches for color and glitter alongside French tip nails reveal that consumers want to bring color into the classic style by swapping out the classic white tip for a pastel color (+346.3% year-over-year), silver (+330.4% year-over-year), or chrome (+287.7% year-over-year).

This modern twist on the classic nail style shows that consumers are continuing to find styles that they like and taking it a step further through fun exploration and experimentation. Brands can consider bringing this trend into the makeup, hair and skincare space by experimenting with glitter and pastel colors not only in the styled look, but in packaging and creative as well.

 

A Shift Towards Reddish Shades 
 

Brands should take note of the rise in searches for warm looks like ginger hair and plan for their impact on other beauty categories, Spate says.

 

According to its research, there are 132,400 searches on average every month in the US for ginger hair, which has grown 30.0% in searches since last year. Market leaders are Overtone, Adore Hair Color and Creme of Nature.

 

Searches for ginger hair have continued to grow steadily since 2019, but had a spike in search interest in 2021. Related searches include terms like: color, dye, brown, blonde, red, natural hair, copper and highlight. Some of the top rising hair colors are paprika hair color (+36.2% year-over-year), red and blonde hair (21.0% year-over-year) and red highlights (19.7% year-over0year), revealing an overall aesthetic shift towards the reddish shades.

 

Red and ginger hair present their own set of unique challenges to maintain the vibrant color. Brands can take the opportunity to cater specifically to those needs. Consider highlighting blue color-balancing shampoos and conditioners that fight brassiness along with moisture replenishing hair masks. Makeup looks and colors that complement red hair should also be considered, along with fashion and accessories that complete the look.