Premium beauty market suffers slowdown

The tough economic climate is having an adverse impact on women’s premium beauty buying, says The Premium Market Report 2013. Until now, says the report, the lipstick effect has meant that women continue to buy products to treat themselves, even when money is tight. However, for the first time in 2012, growth in premium beauty has slowed, growing just 5% compared with 11% the previous year.

According to this year’s report survey, conducted in collaboration with YouGov, 35% of women aged 25-34 and 33% of women aged 35-44 say they are more careful about how much they spend on premium beauty products, while 33% of women aged 35-44 say they buy less than they used to and one in ten 25-34s are trading down to cheaper beauty products as premium brands are now viewed as an indulgence.

"The middle age groups are most affected by the stagnant economic situation and are more careful about how much they spend while buying less than they used to,” said Imogen Matthews, author of The Premium Market Report. “They also represent the core demographic buying group for premium brands, who need to work harder than ever to win them over in the face of stiff competition from masstige and mass brands.”