Top trends takeover: Consumers’ socio-economic and political alignments will shape industry’s future

12 Dec 2022 --- Inclusive beauty, financial trends, technological advances and environmental sustainability stand at the forefront of top factors shaping the personal care and cosmetics industry. Consumers are increasingly seeking to align their socio-political values with the products they buy.

Thus, products are expected to meet their performance and convenience claims while being affordable and environmentally sustainable. PersonalCareInsights speaks to Oleon, CP Kelco, Lignopure and Innova Market Insights to uncover how consumer demands are shaped, how the beauty industry is reacting to them and what the sector’s future entails.

“Beauty trends are a society’s reflection of its political and mediatic environment of a culture or nation mixed with a bit of nostalgia every two decades or so,” says Gabriela Meza Armenta, marketing and business development manager at Lignopure.

“Whether it is caused by the media, celebrities or influencers, consumers are the ones that can crown a product, look or movement as a trend. Hence, companies and formulators are constantly innovating and checking for trends in social media, consumer reports and consumer surveys.”

She advocates for using analytics and consumer surveys and says to pay close attention to political and economic events worldwide because those can cause long-term shifts in consumer behavior.Ma says inclusivity and diversity are keys to unlocking new opportunities and reaching out to broader consumer segments.

Inclusivity and social development
Political factors, climate change, human interaction with nature, seasonality and affordability have always shaped beauty trends. This is according to Rune Daneels, product manager at Oleon Health and Beauty. 

She says that as humans continue to evolve, so has the beauty industry. “Where cosmetics and personal care products were mainly available to the rich and influential, today we have a more level playing field in terms of cost and availability.”

Despite the economic playing field having been leveled, the beauty industry is moving away from being a battle of the sexes. 

According to Xihan Ma, consumer insight analyst at Innova Market Insights, 55% of makeup users worldwide prefer beauty and personal care brands or products that support inclusivity and diversity. She notes that the generations advocating for this inclusivity are Millenials and Gen Z, and they do so significantly more than older generations.

“Male makeup users are more likely to seek inclusive and gender-neutral beauty products than female makeup users. This makes sense since the makeup market is still largely female-oriented. Inclusivity and diversity are keys to unlocking new opportunities and reaching out to broader consumer segments.” 

As gender inclusivity increases, Meza carefully elucidates the racial inclusivity she hopes will improve and the hurtful traditional beauty standards that still pervade. “A product category I hope will lose attention is skin whitening creams. I think I don’t need to elaborate on the reasons. Still, I would say that the beauty inclusivity movement is of great help in educating and spreading the message that every skin color is beautiful and that it is important to take care and maintain your skin as healthy and protected as possible.”

Ma positively shows that the industry is already headed in that direction, claiming that her data shows “matching my skin tone” is the number one influencing factor for consumers to purchase beauty products.

Frugal versus prodigal
Amid a COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic bombshell, companies are seeing their consumers handle their financials with a careful balance between being monetarily savvy and splurging strategically.Meza says companies and consumers were able to examine beauty regimens and create new trends because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Consumers are willing to pay more for quality products that consider their unique lifestyle, are gender fluid and offer an alternative to exhaustive skincare routines,” explains Daneels.

CP Kelco’s director of strategic segment marketing, Sandra Catarino, adds: “In 2023, affordability will shape beauty trends for manufacturers and consumers alike.”

“This global trend is affecting all segments, prioritizing the ability to do more with less and simplify formulations. It places more emphasis on multifunctional ingredients to stabilize or emulsify formulations.”

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies and consumers were able to examine beauty regimens and create new trends that led to an increase in the demand for multifunctional goods, according to Meza.

“I think we will see growth for [multi-functional] products thanks to the bases that COVID-19 left, together with the inflation we are seeing all over the world. People will look for multifunctional products that work with their lifestyle, price range and skin to reduce their product consumption and simplify their beauty routines.”

Tech transformations
Acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic has also digitized many global industries, Ma asserts the personal care sector was no exception to technological transmogrification. 

“When it comes to purchasing makeup, consumers are increasingly turning to online retailers, while in-store purchases are declining,” she says.

Ma explains that this trend can be attributed mainly to in-store purchases being hindered due to lockdown and inflation but recognizes the convenience, saying, “in the meantime, online purchases enable consumers to compare prices and get the best deal.”Consumers are increasingly turning to online retailers, while in-store purchases are declining.

Oleon’s Daneels addresses the digitalization of the personal care industry by saying, “one of the biggest factors driving modern-day cosmetics and beauty trends is artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. These systems allow the development of a more personalized approach to future beauty products.” 

Technology is also aiding the development of instruments that help researchers understand and produce better cosmetic ingredients and innovations, crafting a horizon for modernized traditionality, according to Meza.

Thanks to new technologies, companies are returning to explore natural ingredients to take the best advantage possible of their properties to put them to work in multiple cosmetic formulations, says Meza. “These technological advances will continue to push better and more sustainable ingredients and products.”

Furthermore, Meza notes that more informed consumers are crucial to these cosmetic advances. 

“For consumers, beauty trend content is everywhere. Across a range of social media platforms – from Instagram to TikTok to YouTube – influencers are driving awareness of the latest formulations, innovations, colors and trends alongside brands,” adds Daneels.

Casting her eye to the future, Daneels’ predicts more personalized beauty and cosmetic trends will increase in 2023 with their foundations in AI, data and multi-functionality products rooted in “skinimalism” – paring down complex beauty regimes.

But what about the planet?
CP Kelco’s Catarino says that while performance is essential, sustainability has also become a defining factor for consumer beauty purchases. She explains this using a “good for me” versus “good for the planet” comparison.

“‘Good for me’ will mean emphasizing the ‘personal’ in personal care with more tailored ingredients to meet diverse consumer needs such as anti-aging or blemishes and using products that are gentle to the skin’s microbiome.”One-third of consumers globally say they care much about the environment when buying personal care products.

“‘Good for the planet’ means emphasizing circularity to consider the entire life cycle of a product, from using nature-based biodegradable and upcycled ingredients to phasing out microplastics and reconsidering format to use much less packaging.”

Catarino notes that consumers are increasingly savvy about sustainability and research ingredients to understand the science behind them. Ingredients and products cannot just sound natural as consumers have become familiar with “greenwashing” and can generally scope it out, “so manufacturers need to be on their game.”

But what do consumers consider sustainable, and how do they define this? According to Ma, when asking global consumers about the meaning of “sustainable beauty,” the top three answers are “preventing environmental damage and protecting biodiversity,” “natural products or avoiding synthetic chemical ingredients,” and “sustainable packaging.”

“Sustainability is one of the most popular trends among consumers,” Ma says. “One-third of consumers globally say that they care a lot about the environment when buying personal care products.”

While many of the personal care industry’s sustainability innovations are preventative – like cutting carbon emissions – Meza shines a light on the cosmetic maneuvers made as a result of already-inflicted environmental harm.

She says that consumers are more aware of the damage humans cause to the ozone layer. Subsequently, SPF formulas have increased in demand as consumers aim to protect themselves against the dangers that UV rays pose to the skin.

With environmental concerns on everyone’s radar, Daneels believes that ingredients that can facilitate the development of waterless cosmetics should not be forgotten. Waterless cosmetics mean less packaging, shorter supply chains, less transport and fewer carbon emissions.

“Formulation of these products is on the rise as the beauty industry faces increasing backlash for its water footprint,” she continues.

Daneels outlines that today’s consumers are well-informed read labels and care about the environment. 

They will continue to seek out brand owners and ingredient suppliers for products that are more environmentally friendly, provide full sourcing and traceability and hold an ethical (often vegan) position, “especially when viewed against ingredient adulteration and the fraud scares of the past,” she concludes.

By Mieke Meintjes