Spate 2023 Year in Review report: co-founder's key takeaways

03-Jan-2024 - Last updated on 03-Jan-2024 at 15:41 GMT

'Looking back at the past year and the upcoming months, several key themes have emerged, providing a clearer picture of the current beauty consumer landscape,' said the report. © Delmaine Donson Getty Images

Related tags trend spotting Skin care Hair care Makeup

"Surprising" results in the makeup category, travel trends in hair care, and growth in preventative skin care were just a few of the key takeaways from Spate's review of 2023.

Consumer trend data intelligence platform Spate has released its 2023: Year in Review report outlining its predicted consumer trend performance in the skin care, hair care, and makeup categories. Based on 12-month expected YoY growth from November 2022 data, the report reveals 9 of 10 predictions were accurate in the skin care and hair care categories, and 5 of 10 were accurate in the makeup category.

For deeper insights into the report's conclusions and critical data analysis takeaways, we spoke to Olivier Zimmer, Spate Co-Founder and CEO, for more detailed information.

Skin care trend performance

In the skin care category, Spate's top three predicted consumer search term trends were morpheus8 (+47.3% YoY), sunscreen stick (+35.2% YoY), and diamond glow facial (+31.4% YoY). Upon further analysis, the actual results for the top three trends based on YoY growth were as follows:

Red light therapy (predicted +25.4% YoY; actual +39.3% YoY)
Skin barrier (predicted +23.9% YoY; actual +32.5%)
Diamond glow facial (actual +26.6% YoY)

About these results, Zimmer shared that "across the skincare category, treatment and prevention continue to work hand-in-hand." The data reveals that "consumers are consistently looking for new ways to incorporate sunscreen into their routines, ie, through sticks or powders, or moisturize with a buzzy ingredient, ie, peptides," he explained, adding that "others look to treatments like DiamondGlow and Morpheus8 to undo the damage done in the past."

The YoY growth trends in top consumer searched trends in the skin care category further demonstrate that consistently "across skincare, consumers turned to treatments like red light therapy, DiamondGlow facials, and Morpheus8 to target various concerns, and These trends grew alongside skin barrier and peptide moisturizers, emphasizing consumers' preference for holistic skin health," Zimmer concluded.

Hair care trend performance

In the hair care category, Spate's top three predicted consumer search term trends were hair tinsel (+45.0% YoY), v part wig (+37.1% YoY), and travel hair dryer (+30.0% YoY). Upon further analysis, the actual results for the top three trends in consumer search term data were as follows:

Travel hair dryer (actual +39.5% YoY)
Hair bonding (predicted +22.5% YoY; actual +26.9%)
Grey blending (predicted +25.3% YoY; actual +22.1%)

Regarding the data analysis, Zimmer shared that similar to the skin care category consumer search term trend results, "in the hair category, consumers want solutions that treat every concern from follicle to shaft." Further, he added, "within the hair category, surging interest in travel hair dryers reminded us of something that travel trends reinforced: consumers were on the go, especially in the summer."

Therefore, based on these results, he concluded that "manufacturers and suppliers should consider the importance of synergistic ingredients that tackle multiple concerns without compromising the integrity of holistic skin and hair health."

Makeup trend performance

In the makeup category, Spate's top three predicted consumer search data term trends were cat eye lashes (+36.8% YoY), body glitter spray (+31.1% YoY), and liquid blush (+31.1% YoY). Upon further analysis, the actual results for consumer search term trends were as follows:

Tubing mascara (predicted +27.6% YoY; actual +40.5%)
Blush stick (predicted +21.1% YoY; actual +28.2%)
Liquid blush (+21.7% YoY).

When considering the results in this category, Zimmer explained that "some brands may find the sustained growth of blush in non-powder formats surprising," which is "not to say that powder blush is not doing well." However, he continued, "blush sticks and liquids are the clear winners of 2023, and their outlook for 2024 is still strong."

Therefore, he said, "suppliers and manufacturers should highlight critical ingredients and technologies to play into the growth of this format." For example, he illustrated, "taking some key learnings from the skincare category, perhaps there's an opportunity for peptides or SPF within these formats" as "blush sticks and liquid blush emphasized a preference for rosy cheeks with a blendable finish."

Additionally, he shared key takeaways from the data in this category, demonstrating that "looking across categories, the simultaneous rise of gray blending and mature skin makeup indicates consumers often want to work with their maturing features rather than treating them." Overall, "in makeup, tubing mascara captured consumers' hearts through its non-clumpy, easily removable formula."

Looking ahead to 2024

Regarding the Year in Review report and the ways manufacturers and suppliers to the cosmetics and personal care product industries can leverage its findings in ingredient and product formulation and development processes, the report's conclusions serve "as a reminder of where the year started out versus where it ended up," said Zimmer. Further, he added, "when looking at trends, it's important to consider not only individual trends but to step back and view the full picture."

Therefore, when reviewing 2023 consumer search term trends, "we take away learnings like consumers want holistic, healthy-feeling and looking skin and hair, and that "they no longer will sacrifice their skin barriers in exchange for clarity or even tone," he said. Thus, "manufacturers and suppliers especially should zoom out and consider ways these trends can be applied both in the near and far term," he concluded.