Eastern ingredients seeing major growth in UK
As the beauty market continues to grow across Asia, niche Eastern ingredients are increasingly influencing beauty trends in the UK, says analyst Mintel.
Interest in Asian holy basil, said to have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, boosted the UK market for the herb to third place globally, with the UK now representing 14% of all new product development using holy basil.
Similarly mangosteen, which contains a high concentration of polyphenol anti-oxidants, has also grown in popularity. The UK is now the second biggest market for mangosteen, accounting for 16% of global NPD.
This trend also translates to finished beauty products, such as BB cream. Originating in Asia, the product has enjoyed an increasing profile across the West in recent years. From January 2011 to September 2012, new BB cream launches rose by a huge 330%.
Vivienne Rudd, director of insight, beauty and personal care, at Mintel, said: “The arrival of BB cream in Western markets is more recent, but European retailers say sales are encouraging thanks to coverage in the beauty and national press whipping up excitement about the product. As a result, we expect to see many more branded and own label BB creams to hit European shelves in the coming year.”
Despite the international appeal of the creams, different claims are highlighted across different regions. ‘Moisturising’ was the most popular claim in Europe (95%) as opposed to 75% in Asia Pacific, while anti-aging claims were found in 56% of European launches, compared to 23% of those in Asia Pacific.
