Beauty Blogs Wield Heavy Influence in the Russian Beauty Market

A new entry in Euromonitor International’s podcast series on global trends in different industries, countries and consumers discusses how the popularity of beauty products in Russia is being more and more influenced by beauty bloggers.

In an interview on the podcast, Euromonitor International senior research analyst Anastasia Goncharova notes that while the Russian beauty market has grown slowly in recently years—just 6% in current value terms for 2012, she notes—the market is still taking on interesting trends. “For example, beauty blogs are rapidly gaining popularity in Russia. The main idea is that bloggers—mainly young girls and women—share their impressions of beauty products with their subscribers on YouTube or LiveJournal. In the case of the most popular Russian blogs, the number of their subscribers reaches hundreds of thousands of people,” Goncharova shares.

Not surprisingly, new products are popular topics on these Russian beauty blogs. However, they also are well-referenced for prestige products. “ Not all girls can afford to spend much money on expensive products [so] they want to receive more reliable, independent information on [the products] in advance,” Goncharova explains. “The blogs about mass market alternatives to famous premium brands also attract a lot of subscribers. Moreover, some bloggers show those products which are not officially available in the Russian market. This stimulates purchases from foreign Internet retailers.”

And popularity of Russia’s beauty bloggers has lead to deals between beauty brands and manufactures and the bloggers, though those that remain independent are most highly prized. Goncharova notes, “Some manufacturers provide free samples of their products to the most popular bloggers. [But it is important to note] beauty blogs have more followers when the information and opinion provided there are independent—positive [product reviews] are not guaranteed. In some cases, the manufacturer and the blogger sign a contract. Then the blogger has to evaluate all the products of the brand. One more example—the company Inglot introduced a palette of color cosmetics composed by bloggers. Those sets have already become popular. Moreover, beauty bloggers are invited to different TV shows, as they’ve managed to become trendsetters, and their evaluation is important for people.”

Whatever the opportunities between bloggers and beauty brands, the influence of these beauty bloggers is strong for the Russian market. Goncharova notes that, while there’s not a direct impact on beauty sales from bloggers, the influence is definitely there. “Women like to buy more and more products that collect positive evaluations from reliable bloggers. [And] this is a good tool for new developments too. Despite shorter-term effects, beauty blogs definitely stimulate the popularity and accelerate the sales of products and brands,” she concludes.