Helped along by demand for color cosmetics, third quarter sales of US prestige beauty products rose 5% to $3.9 billion, according to new data from NPD Group. Total face, the largest segment in makeup, grew the fastest in Q3, with sales up 6%. Foundation, which captures the largest share of face makeup dollars, grew 7%. Sales of face primer rose 16% and tinted moisturizer was up 11%.


Lip color sales declined slightly, 1%, but lip gloss grew 7%. Eyebrow makeup sales gains slowed to a 2% increase compared to last year. Though a small portion of the market, sales of false eyelashes grew by more than 50%. In skin care, age specialist products bounced back after a double-digit decline last year, and face mask sales were up 28%.


Sunscreen sales accelerated, surging 37%, as did self-tanning products, with sales up 13% (for more on the rising skin care market, check out our active ingredients feature).


Prestige fragrance experienced 3% growth in sales compared to Q3 of last year, with women’s sales increasing by 2% and men’s by 5%. The prestige home scents market grew an impressive 40%—an increase of 17 percentage points over Q3 2016—driven by candles and home ancillary gift sets.


“Heading into the holiday season, attention will center on makeup and fragrance—two highly giftable beauty categories that are contending for greatest dollar share during this critical time period,” said Larissa Jensen, beauty industry analyst for The NPD Group, Port Washington, NY.


More info: www.npdgroup.com