In the past 12 months, 73% of U.S. beauty-buying consumers surveyed say they’ve purchased both eyelash makeup products and tools as well as eyebrow products or tools—up from 66% just five years ago when The Benchmarking Company revealed results from its first nationwide consumer lash and brow makeup survey (2018).
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In the past 12 months, 73% of U.S. beauty-buying consumers surveyed say they’ve purchased both eyelash makeup products and tools as well as eyebrow products or tools—up from 66% just five years ago when The Benchmarking Company revealed results from its first nationwide consumer lash and brow makeup survey (2018).
Between then and now, the pandemic years meant the eyes were often the only form of cosmetic self-expression visible to others, making the windows to our souls an even more vital part of a woman’s daily regimen.
Eye makeup continues to dominate the market today, with 90% of women wearing eye makeup three or more times per week. To uncover the latest lash, lid and brow trends, the Benchmarking Company recently surveyed more than 2,600 U.S. female consumers to share their eye makeup usage and buying behaviors.
Mascara Tops the List
Mascara remains the top lash product purchased in the past 12 months by U.S. women of all age ranges, with 94% saying they’ve done so in the past year. This compares to 98% of all women saying they’d bought mascara in the past 12 months in the 2018 study.
The preferred types of mascara formulas among consumers are volumizing (81%), lengthening (81%), non-clumping (60%), thickening (59%), waterproof (56%), curling (49%) and lash-defining (48%). Mascara color preferences among all consumers are intense black (77%), soft black (49%), black-brown (34%), brown (17%) and vivid (purples, pinks, bright blues, greens, etc.; 16%), among others.
Shifting Lash Trends
False eyelash buying remains highest with Gen-Z-aged females, with 56% of these consumers saying they’ve bought false lashes in the last year compared to 41% of the general female population.
Lash serums and eyelash growth/conditioning products have made the highest gains in the past five years. In 2018, 26% of women surveyed said they bought a lash growth/conditioner product in the past year, compared to 30% of those surveyed in June 2023 (F-1). Lash serums are on the rise as well, with 36% saying they’ve bought a lash serum in the past year compared to 30% five years ago.
Serums and conditioners are growing, especially among the Gen Z population. In 2018, 25% of Gen Z aged buyers said they’d purchased a lash serum, compared to 47% today. In 2018, 23% of Gen Z buyers said they’d bought a lash conditioner/growth product, compared to 36% of this population today.
While gains in false eyelash wearing among Gen Z remains constant or slightly down compared to five years ago (66% of Gen Z in 2018 said they bought false eyelashes compared to 58% now), those buyers may have discovered a more natural means to a fuller, thicker looking lash with serums and growth products.
What’s Important in Lashes
When consumers consider the purchase of an eyelash product or service, ease of use and a beautiful end-result top her list. The fact that a lash product is considered “clean,” eco-friendly or is natural/organic does not factor highly in her buying decision (F-2).
Lash Extensions: Self and Pro Application
Thirty-six percent of consumers say they’ve applied false eyelashes or lash extensions themselves during the past 12 months, with 13% saying they’ve had lash extension services professionally applied. These percentages mirror closely with 2018 responses for self-application and professional application.
The top challenges when self-applying lash extensions or false eyelashes include the difficulty in applying them (57%), that they don’t stay on long enough (40%), they are expensive (28%), there is confusion with selecting the lash look consumers want (28%), and—like flying business class—it is difficult to go without them after having them (22%). Additionally, 18% of those who self-apply lash extension or false lashes find their real lashes are brittle when removing the false ones.
When consumers do apply false lashes, the preferred format is brush on glue/strip lash (62%), magnetic (48%), self-adhesive (40%), eyeliner glue (39%), and brush on glue/individual lash (30%).
Despite a self-application learning curve, consumers appreciate the beauty of lash extensions and false lashes. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being not at all and 10 being very much, consumers were asked if wearing lash extensions or false lashes increases their self-esteem and made them feel more beautiful. The mean score of more than 1,000 consumers to this question was 8.6 out of 10—meaning lash extension products are certainly appreciated.
Brow Serums and Growth Products on the Upswing
Similarly, eyebrow growth products and brow serums are growing in popularity among commonly used brow products (F-3). In 2018, 12% of all respondents said they’d bought a brow serum in the past 12 months compared to 24% today. Brow serums have been bought by 31% of Gen Z buyers in the past year. Brow growth products are up 8% in usage, from 13% in 2018 to 21% today among women of all age ranges. The Gen Z generation of buyers dominates brow conditioner/growth product buying, with 25% saying they’ve done so in the past 12 months of 2023.
Brow Product Preferences
What is most important to consumers when considering the purchase of an eyebrow product or services is color match (75%), ease of application (68%), long-wear (59%), texture (gel, cream, powder, etc.; 55%), ease of removal (44%), does not clump (40%) and waterproof (39%). Brow product attributes at the bottom of her list include specific brand name (19%), natural/organic (17%), and product is “clean” and eco-friendly (17%).
Liner and Shadow Usage
In addition to lash and brow products, consumers say they are regularly buying powder or cream eye shadow in a palette (72%), pencil eyeliner (69%), powder or cream eye shadow in a traditional clam shell (54%), eye primer (53%), liquid eyeliner (50%), eye shadow sticks (44%), gel eyeliner (35%), and liquid eye shadow (25%). Her preferred eye shadow colors and types are listed in T-1.
Gen Z eyeliner users are a bit bolder than their older counterparts. When using eyeliner, these consumers are striving to achieve the looks or use the techniques/tools listed in T-2.
Where Consumers Are Buying Eye Makeup
Five years ago, consumers looked to superstores as their top retailer for eyelash, shadow and eyebrow products, with 71% saying stores like Walmart and Target were her go-tos for all things lash and brow.
While superstores are still a very popular retailer for lash and brow products today (with 60% saying they buy lash and brow products there), Ulta Beauty has edged out superstores to become her primary lash and brow retailer, with 61% of all women saying they buy those makeup products at Ulta, and 66% of Gen Z buyers specifically saying so.
Other top retailers for lash and brow products include Sephora at 54%, Amazon at 49%, drug stores at 42%, discount department stores at 23% and specific brand websites at 20%.
How Much Consumers Are Spending
Consumers are spending more on their lash and brow services in 2023, compared to five years ago (T-3). When asked to estimate her yearly spend on both lash and brow services, 52% of women now say they spend $76-plus annually on eyelash products and services, compared to 39% who said the same in 2018. Today, 40% of women say they spend $76-plus annually on brow products and services compared to 32% spending the same amount in 2018.
The Trends Shoppers Are Following
When it comes to finding out the latest trends as it relates to eyebrows and eyelashes, social media is the predictable hot spot. Among all age groups of female consumers, YouTube and other bloggers/vloggers are where she learns about brow and lash trends most often, with 46% saying it’s their primary resource. Instagram (45%), specialty beauty stores like Sephora and Ulta (42%), TikTok (35%), and beauty magazines (34%) are also strong sources of information.
For Gen Z, the social media outlets are even more pronounced as lash and brow influencers; 70% of Gen Z respondents said TikTok is their top lash and brow trend source, followed by Instagram (65%), YouTube and other bloggers/vloggers (59%), specialty beauty stores (36%), and celebrity looks (31%). Beauty magazines are far down the Gen Z influencer list, with only 21% saying they look for new lash and brow looks in those publications.
Lash & Brow Brand Awareness and Usage
With hundreds of brands offering eyelash and brow products in the United States, vying for consumer attention is paramount. Twenty brands represent the majority of those offering lash and brow products that consumers of all ages have heard of/are aware of (T-4). Predictably, the largest brands—with some of the largest advertising budgets—are most well-known to buyers.
Lash and brow products brand awareness was similar among Gen Z consumers.
Brands used most often by respondents of all ages include Maybelline (39%), CoverGirl (31%), Revlon (24%), Anastasia Beverly Hills (22%) Urban Decay (21%), IT Cosmetics (20%), and, tied at 19%, Benefit Cosmetics, Too Faced, MAC, Clinique, Tarte, and Lancôme.
For Gen-Z-aged respondents specifically, brands used most often include Maybelline (39%), Anastasia Beverly Hills (33%), CoverGirl (30%), Too Faced (26%), Tarte (24%), Benefit Cosmetics (23%) and Fenty Beauty (22%).
Brow & Lash Looks: In or Out
As always, we look to the youngest generations to define the trends. The lash and brow looks that Gen Z consumers say are hot or not are featured in T-5. To respond whether the look was “in” or “out,” the respondent had to verify that they understood what the look meant/was aware of the trend. Is your brand capitalizing on their popularity?
Getting Real About Measuring Makeup’s Sustainability
Cheekbone Beauty, an Indigenous-owned and -founded cosmetics brand, recently released its first sustainability report, providing a detailed overview of its social and environmental impact. Highlights include the brand’s sustainability performance (scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions) in 2021 and 2022, as well as measurable goals that it will revisit and modify every year.
The brand had initially set a 2023 timeline for achieving zero waste, a goal that was later deemed too ambitious. This honest assessment and willingness to pivot reflects the ongoing journey many brands in color and other beauty sectors face along the sustainability journey.
To learn more, Global Cosmetic Industry reached out to Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone.
“Packaging can be a large source of waste within the cosmetics industry, and we hope to reduce our contribution to this ongoing issue,” says Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone.
Q: How do you go about setting realistic sustainability goals for your brand?
Harper: In order to set realistic sustainability goals for our brand, we take inspiration from the work that other brands within this space are doing in terms of sustainability and look to improve upon and exceed targets. We have established a clear base line with regards to our emissions and consumption and use this data to set goals for the future. This year, we launched our inaugural sustainability report which featured an in-depth analysis of our emissions and efforts and their associated alignment with the pre-established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. By aligning to harmonized sustainability goals, it allows us to not only contribute to a greater good, but also ensure that our goals are well within our reach.
Q: How do you communicate this to your customers, while managing expectations along the journey?
Harper: We actively highlight our goals pertaining to sustainability with our consumers and partners via social media. Our product pages and sustainability page on our website highlight our initiatives and detailed information regarding not only our products but our packaging. We recognize that in the past, we had set a goal for 0 waste in 2023. Upon assessing our current state, we realized that this goal was out of reach. Sustainability is ever-changing and we hope to continue to set realistic targets that we are able to achieve and communicate them with our consumers along the way. We pride ourselves on honesty and encourage an open flow of communication between our brand and our community.
Q: What are the biggest contributors to your brand’s environmental impact?
Harper: At Cheekbone Beauty, we like to consider the entire product life cycle from beginning of the development stages to the product’s end of life. We have established in-house standards for both packaging and ingredients aimed at reducing our environmental impacts. Packaging can be a large source of waste within the cosmetics industry, and we hope to reduce our contribution to this ongoing issue.
Q: What are 2 or 3 examples of initiatives that have gotten you closer to your goals?
Harper: We are so proud of the changes that we’ve made. Here are some of the things we’ve done:
- We launched our Inaugural Sustainability Report in 2023. As part of this, we completed an audit of our emissions at our offices and offset them using Bullfrog Power. A calculator was developed that will be used in the years to come to assess how close we are to reaching our goals in a variety of areas.
- We actively engage with our manufacturers to ensure that they meet not only the required regulatory standards but also our own internal standards. We prioritize ensuring that labor is ethical and good manufacturing practices are being used. As part of our sustainability goals, we are in the process of developing a supplier code of conduct. This will allow us to further ensure that our partners are adhering to strict standards.
- In March of 2023, we began offering our Sustain Lipstick and Harmony Lipgloss in refillable packaging. This initiative has helped us, and our consumers reduce the amount of waste going to landfills and encourages a circular economy. As we continue to develop products, we will always consider the impact, or potential impacts, of our packaging on human health and the environment.
