Sales of U.S. prestige beauty products fell to $3.6 billion in Q1 2020, a 14 percent decline over 2019, according to The NPD Group.

Breaking that down, makeup declined 22 percent, the skin care category fell by 8 percent, and fragrance is down by 13 percent. Hair care is the only category that grew, rising 13 percent.

Online sales are up by 24 percent in the first three months of the year, with double-digit increases across all categories. With physical stores temporarily closed, online has come to represent nearly all industry sales volume. In terms of dollar share, the online channel accounted for less than one-quarter of total prestige beauty industry sales in January and February; however, in March the online market share soared to 48 percent.

A Tale of Self-Care The Trends Broken Down

  • In creating a comfortable and cozy indoor environment as many spend more time at home, dollar sales of home scents grew 4 percent , driven by candles (+8 percent), which make up nearly 70 percent of the market. Diffusers grew by 5 percent, and home ancillary gift sets increased 4 percent.
  • Makeup sales were down across the board, with the exception of nail products – nail care was up 9 percent and sales of top/base coat nail polish grew 7 percent.
  • Body skincare products saw sales increases, including body serum (+32 percent), body oil (+10 percent), and deodorant (+3 percent).
  • Hand soap sales grew 73 percent.
  • The smallest of the beauty categories—capturing 6 percent of total industry Q1 sales—hair products grew double-digits in the first quarter. Hair color sales grew by 82 percent. Hair care sales including shampoo and conditioner were up 16 percent, with hair masks growing the fastest (+32 percent). The only declines came from hair styling

“Despite a strong start to the year across most categories, the prestige beauty industry was not immune to the steep March losses seen across retail. Self-care and at-home beauty treatments are where the growth is for the beauty market at this moment, as consumers have no choice but to take beauty services into their own hands. In March, consumers began putting an even greater focus on their skin and hair care, as applying makeup and wearing fragrance have lost importance during quarantine,” said Larissa Jensen, beauty industry advisor, The NPD Group.

Source: The NPD Group/ U.S. Prestige Beauty Total Measured Market, January-March 2020 vs. 2019