Millennials' makeup lust is lipstick of retail's pig

Always camera ready, they are buying 25%more cosmetics than 2 yrs ago

Meghan Roark isn’t too proud to admit she has an addiction. Her habit? Makeup.
 
Roark, a 27-year-old who works in retail in Abingdon, Va., estimates that she spends $300 a month on cosmetics and skin care. She watches at least three hours of tutorials each week on YouTube, learning new techniques or keeping up on emerging brands. Her morning makeup routine takes 30 minutes and involves up to 15 products.
 
Young shoppers like Roark are the driving force behind a boom in the cosmetics industry. Always camera ready, they are buying and using almost 25 per cent more cosmetics than they did just two years ago and significantly more than baby boomers, according to the research firm NPD. And millennials who identify themselves as “makeup enthusiasts,” NPD found, are using six products each day.

 

Roark, after setting aside money she had received as a birthday gift, spent $109 during a recent shopping spree at Ulta Beauty, picking up primer, foundation and a new eye shadow palette. “I think every girl likes buying clothes, but for me, I prefer to spend my money on makeup,” she said.
 
The striking expansion in cosmetics is a bright spot in what is otherwise a challenging environment for retailers and packaged goods companies. Big jumps in the sale of shimmery highlights, lush liquid stain lipsticks and dewy foundations have propelled the stocks of cosmetics giants Estée Lauder and L’Oreal to record highs.

 
Revenues at Ulta Beauty, which sells both prestige and drugstore brands and has been opening about 100 new stores annually in recent years, are expected to top $5.9 billion this year, up from $3.9 billion two years ago. Revenues at Sephora, part of the luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, have doubled since 2011.
 
Moreover, the growth in the cosmetics industry is probably understated, since most estimates fail to capture sales at online retailers like Amazon.
 
Kylie Cosmetics, the online retailer where 20-year-old Kylie Jenner sells $27 lip kits and $42 “kyshadow” palettes, racked up more than $420 million in sales in just 18 months. Its advertising efforts are minimal, largely consisting of Jenner’s Instagram account, which has more than 99 million followers.

 
The brand’s success illustrates the way that millennials — who may spend hours on social media platforms watching video bloggers and following so-called influencers — are rewriting the rules. And brands are racing to evolve with the quickly changing market.
 
Cosmetic companies are shifting ad dollars from traditional television and print platforms to Instagram and YouTube. Trips to exotic locations that were once reserved for editors from glossy magazines now go to influential social media personalities from all over the world who have thousands or even millions of subscribers hanging on their every post. And brands that once partnered with actresses or models to create a new shade of lipstick or blush are now collaborating with these influencers.

 
When Ulta held a meet-and-greet in November at a store in Los Angeles with Jaclyn Hill, a YouTube beauty personality, nearly 700 followers stood outside for hours — some even camped overnight — to meet her.
 
“It was stunning,” said Mary Dillon, the chief executive of Ulta, standing inside the retailer’s first store in Manhattan just days before its grand opening in November.
 
Even products that have been around for decades are being “discovered” by millennials through social media. Estée Lauder’s Double Wear foundation, a product that was launched 30 years ago, is experiencing double-digit growth rates, said Jane Hertzmark Hudis, group president at Estée Lauder.

 
“It’s popular among millennials because it looks great in a selfie,” said Ms. Hertzmark Hudis, who also reported big jumps in sales of skin care products — particularly masks, which play well on social media and video blogs, or vlogs. Beauty vlogging isn’t new, but brands have rapidly ramped up their involvement with it after seeing the power it has to influence consumers.  © 2017 The New York Times News Service