Lip colour takes lead as strongest performing make-up category

Lip colour cosmetics sales are forecasted to grow by 12% year on year, to reach £306 million by the end of 2016, driven by celebs, bloggers and a consumer shift to prestige brands.

The category is outperforming all other make-up sectors, according to new figures from analyst Mintel.

Lip colour sales grew by 8% between 2014 and 2015, but that growth will rise to 12% in 2016, with 40% of all UK women purchasing at least one lipstick in the last year. This rises to 48% of women aged 16-24.

In the six months to June 30, 2016, one in four (25%) of colour cosmetic products launched in the UK was a lip colour product, compared to 11% which were liquid foundations and 10% that were eye shadows. Mintel senior beauty analyst Charlotte Libby said: “Sales of lip make-up are expected to grow significantly this year, thanks to a high number of new product launches in the category. While matte lipsticks have been a popular trend, the fuller lip too has been made fashionable again by celebrities such as Kylie Jenner. As beauty blogger tutorials continue to focus on recreating the full lip look, sales of lip products are expected to increase.”

However, the eye colour market is facing a slowdown. Sales of eye make-up grew 9% to £527 million in 2015, but are expected to slow this year, with growth estimated at 6%.

Similarly, growth is expected to slow in the face make-up market (which includes products such as foundation, blusher and concealer) from 12% in 2015 to 8% this year as last year’s trends for contouring and strobing begin to wane.

While growth may be slowing in some categories, many consumers are trading up from high-street bargains to prestige brands, which could spell good news for salons that stock premium make-up ranges. In fact, prestige make-up sales grew at almost twice the pace of mass market products over the last year, rising 12% to £618m, compared with a 7% rise to £1.1bn in mass.