Skin care is everywhere now; the hashtag #SkincareRoutine has over 23 billion views on TikTok. The skincare industry is just getting larger and larger with more companies marketing skincare to younger generations. The global skincare market was worth $133.90 billion in 2018 and is projected to grow to $200.25 billion by 2026.
But consumers today are not just looking for any standard cleanser or moisturizer; social platforms have made it commonplace to educate consumers about skin care. Men and women are looking for sophisticated skincare products that address their direct needs with elegant ingredients, and brands that stand behind their values in an authentic and ethical way.
Authenticity is the keyword, as a more educated consumer means brands and their ambassadors are held to a higher standard. For example, some brands took a few shortcuts to get on the eco-friendly bandwagon and participated in “greenwashing,” which is when a company’s marketing conveys that they have environmentally friendly practices, but in reality, they do not.
Consumers today, especially Gen Z, will willingly call out false company claims. According to our 2022 Gen Z Report, 59% of Gen Z is willing to pay more for a product that is safe for the environment, and 43% expect the brands they buy to support social causes. In order to attract younger consumers, brands must convey authenticity, be vocal about their values, and be passionate about creating honest products.
The Skin Care Audience
Who is the skin care audience? Discover uses audience intelligence to provide a multitude of demographic, psychographic, and lifestyle data and is weighted, so it is representative of the US population today. Here’s a closer look of the skin care audience:
The Skin Care Audience's Demographics
— Female – 80% || 1.59x
— 18-34 years old – 31% || 1.81x
— Married – 45% || 1.00x
— Make less than $40K a year – 34% || 1.08x
— Asian – 9% || 1.21x
— Hispanic – 19% || 1.04x
Top States
1. New York – 1.30x
2. California – 1.21x
3. New Jersey – 1.18x
4. Massachusetts – 1.15x
5. Nevada – 1.09x
*Affinity (0.00x) is the leading indicator of what is distinctive and unique for your target audience.
*Reach (00%) is the portion of your audience that is interested.
At first glance, this audience appears to be younger, but when you break it down by age group, you find that women of all ages almost equally love skincare and all have their favorite beauty products. Each age group obviously grew up with exposure to different products and therefore has a proclivity to certain brands.
The Age Groups of the Skin Care Audience & their Favorite Products
— 18-24 years old – 15% || eos – 30.86x
— 25-34 years old – 16% || TOPICALS – 20.90x
— 35-44 years old – 15% || Earth Mama – 14.55x
— 45-49 years old – 10% || Perricone MD – 13.57x
— 50-54 years old – 11% || Weleda – 14.45x
— 55-59 years old – 12% || Perricone MD – 13.99x
— 60-64 years old – 11% || ILIA Beauty – 19.46x
— 65-69 years old – 10% || Badger Balm – 20.31x
Skincare Buzzwords — are they just paying lip service?
The most popular buzzwords in skincare marketing are “vegan”, “sustainable”, “organic”, “clean”, “hypoallergenic”, “natural”, cruelty-free”, “dermatologist-tested”, and the list goes on… Sephora even has a “Clean at Sephora” green tag on their website which highlights their products that contain no parabens, sulfites, mineral oils, and harmful chemicals. These buzzwords have been used time and time again.
Sunscreen is one of the top skincare consumer trends this year. The “Dermatologist Darling” and the “Environmental Question Mark” is finally having their moment. According to our data fusion product in partnership with MRI-Simmons, Total Consumer View, 70% of women typically use skincare products that contain sunscreen, and 67% of women follow a strict skin-care routine. Sunscreen is also a skin care product that has direct environmental and cultural implications. From reef-safe formulas to sunscreens for melanin skin tones, many popular brands today are working towards creating products that are safe for the environment and formulated for all skin colors.
Protecting your skin (and the planet)
The skincare market has evolved, and more consumers are evolving with it, caring as much about the health of their skin (i.e. sunscreen) as to what goes into their product and how it impacts the planet. According to Total Consumer View, 17% of the skin care audience buys natural products because they are concerned about their health and the health of their families, and 14% purchase natural products because they are concerned about the environment.
The Skin Care Audience’s Buying Styles
(Agree completely)
— “I buy natural products because I am concerned about me and my family’s health.” – 17% || 1.14x
— “I buy natural products because I am concerned about the environment.” – 14% || 1.12x
Consumers gravitate towards brands that are transparent, produce high-quality products, and support social issues that are relevant to their business. We found that the Health Conscious and Social Activist Audience is 2.5x more likely to engage with skincare.
Many new skincare brands are now entering the market to fulfill consumers’ demand for sustainable products. The Korean beauty brand, Glow Recipe, is one of these entrants. The brand was established in 2015 and by 2021, the company had surpassed $100 million in sales. The brand is huge on social media and is known for its adorable packaging, fruity formulas, and, most importantly, its dedication to sustainability and social responsibility.
(Source: Glow Recipe, 2022)
Glow Recipe delivers the full package. Its products are modern, and leverage quality ingredients at a reasonable price point. Glow Recipe also has a unique ethos where they pledge to “never use the words poreless perfect, ageless or flawless because those aren’t realistic skin goals,” which any generation can identify with. By using our audience intelligence platform, we found that Glow Recipe’s audience actually spans all four generations.
The Generations of Glow Recipe’s Audience
— Gen Z – 23%
— Millennials – 30%
— Gen X – 22%
— Baby Boomers – 25%
Discover your target audiences
The skin care audience is vast and varied, but overall these consumers are looking for brands that are transparent and deliver on their promises, whether it is on a quality ingredient list, environmentally conscious practices, or overall efficacy. Market research can only get you so far; by diving deeper into the nuances of what humans care about with audience intelligence, you can discover detailed and actionable insights to help you better target your future customers.
Discover is different because it is not a social listening platform; it transform signals into insights, enriching data to reflect the many dimensions of consumers. Our Discovery platform goes beyond first-party data or basic demographics and identifies your current audience as well as pathways to growth. In just a few clicks, you can easily understand how your target audience feels, what they care about, and the trends motivating your industry.
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