Euromonitor Sorts Through the Blurred Lines of Facial Makeup and Skin Care

In "Multi-Functional Offerings Drive Growth in Facial Make-Up," an analyst insight blog post by Euromonitor International's beauty and personal care senior analyst Oru Mohiuddin, the survival strategies for facial makeup and skin care—which continue to converge—are discussed.

Mohiuddin writes, "At over 30%, foundation/concealer made the greatest contribution in absolute terms to the growth of color cosmetics in 2012, while other facial makeup, inspired by BB creams, experienced the strongest year-on-year growth in facial makeup of 12%. The facial makeup category has benefited from the growing popularity of multi-functional products. While BB creams combine a multitude of skin care benefits with makeup coverage, foundations are increasingly incorporating anti-aging technology in their formulations, leading to a blurring of the lines between facial makeup and skin care. These multi-functional products now sit alongside tinted moisturizers and standard foundations, adding to consumer confusion. Given the wide variety of products available in the marketplace, the question remains as to which are likely to survive long term in such a competitive environment? Despite the potential confusion multi-functional products can create in the minds of consumers, they do offer value for money, thus clearly indicating that multi-functionality will become increasingly prevalent.

"The use of foundations has been increasing due to breakthrough innovative product developments. Earlier forms of foundations had a heavier texture and lacked a natural finish. A key challenge in foundation formulation has been combining ingredients that provide good coverage but have a lightweight feel and a more natural finish. New developments such as light optimization technology using a new genre of pigments have heralded a breakthrough as foundations can now combine all these features. For example, Clarins Skin Illusion Natural Radiance Foundation SPF15 and Lancôme Teint Miracle use light-reflecting technology, providing the illusion of naturally radiant skin. This new generation of products has helped to drive growth in the foundations/concealer category but it has been BB creams which have generated greater interest more recently. Over 20077ndash;2012, other facial makeup recorded a 12% CAGR thanks to BB creams, compared to 3.4% for foundation/concealer over the same period.

"The introduction of BB creams not only triggered growth in facial makeup but also gave greater momentum to the multi-functionality trend. BB creams were the first of their kind in Western markets, offering multi-functional benefits and aligning skin care with makeup coverage. The popularity of BB creams further inspired foundation brands to combine makeup coverage with skin care benefits and skin care brands with makeup coverage. For example, Lancôme’s Teint Visionnaire is a foundation that offers more lightweight natural-looking coverage with anti-aging benefits. Similarly, Clarins’ Extra-Firming Foundation SPF15 claims to combine skin firming and age-fighting ingredients for a younger-looking complexion to help minimise imperfections, while delivering a smooth, more radiant and even complexion. Added skin care features to foundations have contributed to positive year-on-year growth, steadily increasing from 3.1% in 2010 to 4.1% in 2012.

"Facial makeup is increasingly leaning towards multi-functional products, with existing brands offering some form of additional benefit and thus reinforcing the fact that multi-functionality is here to stay, while at the same time also indicating that tinted moisturisers and standard foundations could become extinct altogether. However, within multi-functionality, there will be increasing segmentation. Clearer lines will be drawn between multi-functional products whose multiple features are combined for symbiotic purposes and those which are combined to provide time and price benefits," Mohiuddin concludes.