Ghoul or glamour? Halloween-inspired NPD boosted by AI while seasonal scents thrive
29 Oct 2021 --- Halloween is inspiring industry to amplify the drama with spooky seasonal products and autumnal colors and scents. PersonalCareInsights takes a look at Halloween trends and seasonal NPD, which now also employs artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to boost personalization and guide informed product purchasing.
“Halloween is a huge celebration in the US and one that comes with more dramatic makeup looks and styles. We wanted to use AR and AI virtual try-on to offer our users a fun and convenient way to discover, and try-on show-stopping Halloween looks virtually, to help them with costume ideas for their various events,” Alice Chang, CEO at Perfect Corp., tells PersonalCareInsights.
Try-on makeup with AI
Perfect Corp. recently unveiled its 2021 YouCam Makeup app Halloween collection features 12 costume makeup styles.
“Seasonal content is viral in our app as it invites a heightened level of creativity for our users and allows them to get festive in a flash,” notes Chang.
Users can experience expert costume beauty looks for Halloween with a tap of their phone and try the intricate graphic liner and lip art looks they swoon over on social media in seconds thanks to AR and AI virtual try-on.
“These fun, festive styles – especially during the Halloween holiday – continue to be some of the most popular looks of the year.”
The app includes an exclusive “Big Bad Halloween” look created by Revlon in partnership with rapper Megan Thee Stallion, Chang continues.
Perfect Corp’s Halloween-inspired AI tool (Credit: Perfect Corp).
“The look features a bold red lip and dramatic winged eyeliner for the ultimate glam Halloween look, which fans can experience through virtual try-on.”
Trending aromas in NPD
Traditional scents of the season like pumpkin are proliferating in Halloween NPD. Innova Market Insights data shows that pumpkin fragrance has experienced an average annual growth of 17% within personal care and beauty (Global, CAGR Jul 2016 – Jun 2021).
To highlight this seasonal influence: 71% of the products launched with a pumpkin fragrance in personal care and beauty were established in September, October and November (Global, Aug 2020 to Jul 2021).
Examples of the products launched with the pumpkin fragrance are Softsoap Pumpkin Fever Liquid Hand Soap and The Body Shop Vanilla Pumpkin Hand Cream.
“Our Halloween sales grow more and more each year. We see a surge in demand, especially with NPD for the more popular holidays such as Halloween, Valentines Day and Christmas,” Ruby van Hoorn, PR manager at Netherlands & Belgium Lush, tells PersonalCareInsights.
“We are launching a range of 20 Halloween products, including bath bombs, bubble bars, shower gel, shower slime and more.
Ghostie bath bomb (Credit: Lush).
Explaining the demand for NPD, van Hoorn adds that “It is fueled by the newness and exclusiveness of a temporary, seasonal collection, with the creativity in product design that taps into pop culture and with the overall connection to gifting during specific seasons or holidays.”
“All of our products are made of natural ingredients and safe synthetic ingredients. These include black pepper oil, dark Sumatran patchouli oil, vanilla absolute, wheatgerm oil, carrageenan extract, rapeseed oil, extra virgin coconut oil and cinnamon leaf oil.”
Notable Halloween NPD
Tapping into the Halloween “spirit” and appeal, Urban Decay unveiled an Eternal Eyeshadow Palette that features shades that combine well with superhero costumes.
NYX launched a face and body paint palette in metallic shades. These shades are suitable for costume themes such as The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion.
In the same arena, an Ouija board eyeshadow palette was released by HipDot that features buttery mattes, shimmers, glitters and satins to accompany a Halloween costume.
To apply these eyeshadow and makeup shades, Makeup Revolution unveiled four Corpse Bride-themed brushes that will “keep the Halloween spirit alive all year.” The brushes are a set of black-blue bristles with hand brush designs that feature characters from movies.
By Nicole Kerr
