Colour Cosmetics in the United Arab Emirates

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

The preference for heavily made up looks supports category growth

Colour cosmetics continued to register positive sales growth in 2019 despite the various headwinds on the category. One of the major reasons for the category’s ongoing positive performance is that it is popular for women living in the country to use considerable amounts of colour cosmetics.

Premium brands account for the bulk of sales, mass brands register stronger growth

At the end of the review period, premium brands continue to account for the majority of sales in colour cosmetics. However, there is considerable pressure coming on premium sales as the rising cost of living is forcing significant numbers of consumers to rationalise their spending, with the rising popularity of mass brands presenting stronger challenges.

Brands and retailers respond to more intense competition

With competition in colour cosmetics becoming increasingly intense as demand remains under pressure, many of the leading brands and retailers present in the category have developed new promotional strategies in an effort to remain relevant to consumers. Multinational beauty specialist retailers have tended to focus their efforts on sponsoring local and regional influencers as this represents an easy and effective way to focus on diversity while promoting their brands and products in Arabic language on social media, which is rapidly becoming a crucial channel for the promotion of colour cosmetics.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of colour cosmetics are now expected to decline by 11% in 2020 in 2019 constant value terms in light of the impact of COVID-19. This represents a far worse performance than the marginally negative growth forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within colour cosmetics

All categories of colour cosmetics are expected to have experienced significant sales declines over the course of 2020. Among the category’s worst affected by COVID-19 are core categories such as polish remover, BB/CC creams, mascara, lip gloss and nail polish.

Recovery and opportunities

It is expected that colour cosmetics will struggle to recover from the sales declines anticipated in all categories over the course of 2020 as a result of COVID-19. Even once life in the United Arab Emirates has returned to normal, it is likely that spending on non-essential products will remain under pressure due to the economic uncertainty that has accompanied the COVID-19 situation.

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