Natural beauty, health and wellness blogger Ailish Lucas reports from the Indie Beauty Expo in LA to bring us some of the key trends coming out of the US which are worth paying attention to
Natural and organic beauty: it has been an established area of the market for the past few years with the industry rapidly growing and only getting more competitive. Needless to say, remaining on top of the game in this market requires looking further afield to review trends and markets that are up and coming.
The US is one of those countries which businesses should be looking towards to learn and develop from. American companies are quick to market, forward-thinking in their approach and open to considering different angles to entice consumers with their products.
The UK market is hugely behind the US in terms of high performance, eco makeup … but this presents itself as an invitation
Some key trends emerging from LA which the UK market could benefit from include:
Supplements
Supplements are gaining more and more popularity with consumers and buyers in the industry who are recognizing them as beauty products themselves. Brands such as HUM Nutrition, Vital Proteins and Moon Juice have been gaining huge popularity as well as ingredients such as collagen, protein powder and turmeric.
Consumers are starting to realise that no matter how many beauty products they use, if they aren’t looking after themselves from a holistic perspective then they aren’t going to be able to achieve the look they desire – which is where supplements have started to come into play.
RMS Beauty, which is known for its natural makeup line, has expanded into holistic beauty by launching its first supplements range in 2018. Rose-Marie Swift, founder, tells me: “I’ve been saying, ever since I can remember, the skin is a mirror to your gut.”
“We can pile on makeup as we please, but if our insides are out of whack, our outsides will reflect it. A healthy gut leads to healthy skin,” she says.
The age of beauty by itself is no longer. UK brands should be thinking about how they can capitalize on this area, whether it be collaborations with other companies or creating content that addresses not only beauty but a lifestyle as well.
High Performance Eco Makeup
The US market has seen brands such as Clove and Hallow, Nude and Noir and Kosas rise in popularity through creating high performance makeup that is clean, long lasting and highly pigmented. The UK market is hugely behind the US in terms of high performance, eco makeup that consumers can find and use, but this presents itself as an invitation for the right company to maximize on this market.
Packaging has never been so important in the creation of a product before
Packaging
Packaging has never been so important in the creation of a product before. Brands are considering the environmental impact of the packaging they use, the amount of it and the materials, as well as the overall look and feel. Brands are also educating consumers in how to reduce, reuse and recycle containers, boxes and fillers, which is proving a real hit.
In the US, brands are focusing on aesthetically pleasing packaging that is environmentally friendly, can educate the consumer and also be seen as part of the brand story. There is a huge opportunity to create content around how a brand is ‘leading the way’ from an environmental perspective as well as being a leader in the products it creates.
Which leads onto the final trend:
Storytelling
A key trend coming out of LA was storytelling and taking consumers on a journey where they can feel connected to a brand, what it stands for beyond it’s products, feel proud to associate themselves with the brand and want to share it with their friends. The story of ‘starting in your kitchen’ is no longer relevant; it’s about your brand’s core values and how you are making a difference in the world that is now becoming important.
A brand doing this extremely well is Au Naturale with their campaign ‘Clean Beauty Revolution’, calling for stricter guidelines in the US to protect the health of consumers and integrity of products.
The UK market would do well to help move forward key campaigns here in the UK as well as thinking about their core values and strategy to help give back to the community, thus feeding into their storytelling, brand identity and their content strategy.
