Vegan and natural skincare drive sales of UK prestige skincare

The popularity of vegan and natural skincare products among Brits has seen the total market for UK natural prestige beauty products reach £124 million last year.

Research from global information company The NPD Group reports that sales of vegan beauty products have grown 38% in the past 12 months (February 2017 to January 2018) as customers embrace a more wellness-orientated lifestyle.

“There has certainly been a rise in the number of vegan brands in prestige beauty and this coincides with consumers adopting a more conscientious approach when purchasing products, looking closely at the underlying philosophies and actions of the brands,” said Helen Duxbury, senior account manager, NPD UK Beauty.

“They not only investigate ingredients and efficacy, they want to know about traceability, and how animal-friendly they are. Vegan and cruelty-free are two of the big issues for customers in 2018, but still remains a niche segment of the skincare market.”

The prestige beauty market has also been boosted by the boom in natural beauty, with brands in this sector growing at 16%, ahead of the market growth which is at 7% in the same 12-month period. The biggest contribution came from products with anti-ageing properties (18%), as well as cleansers (14%) and masks (39%).

Brands that have a clear stance on these ethical issues has also provided a valuable boost to sales, the report found. Brands with cruelty-free certification now accounts for 20% of women’s face skincare and grew by 18%, compared to the overall category which grew only 7%.

The top cruelty-free brands are: Charlotte Tilbury, Decléor, Elemis, La Prairie and Liz Earle.

“The popularity of vegan is undeniable and brands are now capitalising on the movement. In the past year, we have seen solid growth and a stream of new launches in this sector. While most of these are in limited distribution, we are also seeing an increase in mainstream brands offering a vegan range.”