Thanks to record-breaking skincare sales, the beauty biz has gotten a makeover: Skincare products have overtaken makeup products as the highest-earning Big Beauty category, Quartz reports.
As consumers gravitate toward premium anti-aging potions, skincare is forecast to outperform all other cosmetics categories this year — propelling skincare supergiants like Estée Lauder and L’Oréal to record revenue.
Since the skincare category grew 16% and the makeup category only grew 3% over the course of the past year, companies that shifted their focus from “dolled up” to “toned down” were the big winners.
Estée Lauder did $4B in sales last quarter, and L’Oréal’s stock hit a record high thanks to better-than-expected sales growth.
Estée Lauder did $1.7B in skincare sales alone, a 16% increase from the previous year. L’Oréal also reported that most of the company’s above-average growth was “driven by its skincare performance.”
Part of the reason that skincare products are so valuable is that they sell at premium prices: Anti-aging products are the most popular skin product but also the most expensive, ranging in price from $50 to $2k.
These premium prices are good and glossy for now, but shifting consumer preferences down the road could cause a serious blemish on beauty’s business model.
Some skincare forecasters predict that consumers won’t be willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for anti-aging serums forever and that the premium skincare bubble will burst once consumers become better educated.