Premium Beauty and Personal Care in the United Kingdom

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Growth in premium skin care and premium fragrances continues to slow

Premium skin care and premium fragrances continued to grow in 2019, although both were growing at a slower rate than in the previous year. In skin care, growth is coming from consumers “buying better”, investing in “hero” products, often with clean or sustainable claims.

New status symbols threaten premium colour cosmetics

Premium colour cosmetics continued to decline in 2019, with this largely due to a continued consumer shift away from the heavy make-up look, towards a natural make-up look in which skin care takes priority. Premium products continue to decline at a slower rate than mass colour cosmetics due to the increasing presence of premium indie players that are able to convey their message and connect to consumers through social media as well as in-store experiences through pop-up shops.

Estée Lauder loses share as L'Oréal continues to close the gap

Estée Lauder Cos Inc remained the biggest player in premium beauty and personal care in 2019, accounting for close to a quarter of value sales. Its share declined in 2019, however, mainly due to the company’s large colour cosmetics portfolio as the category continued to perform poorly.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of premium beauty and personal care are expected to decline by 3% in 2020 in 2019 constant value terms. With the absence of social occasions and consumers being urged to stay home to stop the spread of the virus, the usage of these products was also declining.

Affected products within premium beauty and personal care

Premium adult sun care will see a spectacular turnaround in its performance in terms of value sales at constant 2019 prices between 2019 and 2020, changing from strong growth in 2019 to a sharp decline in 2020. With people unable to travel and generally restricted to spending most of their time at home, the demand for sun care collapsed.

Recovery and opportunities

After the value decline at constant 2019 prices in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown, premium beauty and personal care will return to positive growth in 2021, which will be maintained over the rest of the forecast period, with year-on-year performances improving annually as the forecast period progresses. While any medium- or longer-term economic problems could negatively affect premium beauty and personal care sales in the coming years, with price-sensitive consumers prioritising essential purchases and seeking the lowest available prices, strong rebounds in certain products areas, such as premium adult sun care, will help drive overall growth of premium products.

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