Nail care growth aids US prestige make-up sales

By Andrew McDougall

- Last updated on GMT

Nail care growth aids US prestige make-up sales
Despite being the smallest segment, prestige nail care has recorded double digit growth in the first half 2012 boosting the sales of the overall US prestige market in department stores.

Prestige makeup sales within US Department Stores, January to June 2012, grew eight percent to $1.8 billion, according to market researcher NPD and unit sales were up four percent to 74 million.

All makeup segments experienced growth but it was the nail category that came out top, experiencing the largest growth of all at 68 percent in first half 2012.

Hardly surprising

“Not a surprise the Nail Segment takes the lead once again,"​ said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Fun shades and colors like neons and metallics, along with funky textures and decals have added to this growing trend."

Elsewhere in the US prestige market, make-up sets brought in $61 million, the lip segment brought in nearly $305 million, and eye care generated more than $512 million in dollar sales; all improving on last year’s figures.

According to NPD, the top sets belonged to Urban Decay and Naked2, whilst the top-three, best-selling prestige lip sticks, according to dollars sold were MAC Lipstick, Lancome L’Absolu Rouge and Lauder Pure Color Lipstick New, respectively.

The largest segment contributing 49 percent of make-up dollar sales is the face care segment, and figures increased 7 percent in dollars from last year.

Almost 30 million face products were sold in department stores in the first half of 2012 for $891 million.

Telling trends

“The trends in prestige make-up for the first half of 2012 are quite telling especially when you take a close look at those categories in Nail, Lip and Eye, they exceed sales in the overall market,”​ added Grant.

“Consumers continue their desire to play with color, and accentuate and define their eyes. Underlying these trends is one consistent element - they have the lowest price points in the prestige market place," ​she said.

According to NPD, the nail and eye categories are all under the average price of prestige make-up. Products like eye pallet sets that offer 12 shades, equate to less than $5 per shade. 

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