Rising living expenses and a more discerning approach to influencer culture are shaping beauty consumer mindsets and spending habits. Avon’s 2023 Future of Beauty report dives into the details of this evolution, showing that individuals are investing more in treatments as acts of self-care and less in bold makeup looks, instead preferring to enhance their natural beauty with minimal makeup routines.
“The pandemic and global cost of living crisis have demonstrably shifted the way we perceive beauty and the products we tend to use. We’ve seen people move towards enhancing their beauty by adopting more of a natural look with fewer products in their makeup bags as purse strings are tightened. People are more aware than ever of the unrealistic beauty expectations set by social media and rejecting the need to look a certain way. We’re entering a new era where we own our natural beauty as an expression of power, which is a really exciting step forward,” Dr. Zoya Diwan, Expert in Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology and Avon’s Partner Dermatology Consultant, tells BeautyMatter.
The company commissioned Censuswide to survey 7,126 women ages 16 and up from the UK, Italy, South Africa, Philippines, Poland, Romania, and Turkey to find out their beauty mindsets and consumption habits.
Considered Beauty Investments
Avon’s 2022 report outlined the drastic spending cuts many had to make to their beauty routines. In its most recent survey, the company explored the additional nuances to changing beauty consumer budgets:
“Filters on social media feed into an unrealistic beauty expectation, which consumers are now rejecting. People don’t want to be forced into a beauty aesthetic that they know is unrealistic for them. Instead, they follow influencers they feel they can trust, who show them realistic and transparent ways of achieving beauty that is possible for them so they can elevate their look, without having to conform to the idea of who social media thinks they should be,” comments Olivia Eskens, Scientist II and Technical Product Design Make Up Lead at Avon.
In regards to treatment type and frequency:
“The under 40s are much more open to cosmetic “tweatments” than generations in the past. The fact that people are now more focused on preventative work and natural-look aesthetics is a huge factor for this,” notes Dr. Diwan. “Younger women are coming in to get ‘baby Botox,’ where they only have a very small amount of Botox put in in what could be a problematic area in the future, for instance, to avoid having to get more obvious work done when they’re older. So they can protect their skin’s healthy, natural look.”
Natural Enhancements and Mood Boosting Buys
When it comes to the aesthetics informing these procedures, less is more. “A lot of people are coming in to reduce, remove, or correct cosmetic enhancements. Sometimes that’s because they have changed their mind, and sometimes because they had too much put in. We’re seeing this more and more as people want to achieve a more natural look, rather than one that’s obviously enhanced,” Dr. Diwan adds.
These insights speak to the reframing of these procedures as acts of self-care rather than strictly maintenance. “Globally people are moving away from using beauty to overcome or cover up their insecurities and instead, discovering how to enhance their natural beauty. People don’t want to feel bad about themselves; they want to look and feel their very best. So, the declines in treatments could be because we’re shifting away from the idea of correcting problems to thinking more about prevention and care driven treatments,” Eskens comments.
Another serotonin-boosting function of beauty can be found in the form of single product purchases.
Simple Makeup with Versatile Products
When it comes to color cosmetics, “more and more women are looking for multibenefit, multiuse products,” comments Emily Howarth, Head of Global Make Up at Avon. Indeed, the industry has seen the release of products that marry lightweight coverage with sun protection and skincare benefits, or lip tints infused with dermatology ingredients like hyaluronic acid.
Product Development Takeaways
How can beauty companies respond to this shift in spending priorities and product expectations? Offering affordable products that replace multiple SKUs in one go is one avenue.
“Brands need to listen hard to their customers and then harness their innovation capabilities to meet the consumers’ changing needs. The cost-of-living crisis is impacting consumers everywhere so creating the very best value is paramount,” Angela Cretu, CEO of Avon, tells BeautyMatter. “Breakthrough innovation has always been at the core of our brand. We’re really proud of creating award-winning, affordable beauty products that exceed our customer’s expectations and that won’t change.”
For treatment providers, marketing with a more natural and self-improvement-led angle could tap into the growing number of individuals who aren’t looking for artificial perfection but rather optimizing to being their best selves.
