December 02, 2019Skincare routines

Key beauty trends: Mintel report

Mintel has released the latest trend report on men’s and women’s grooming routines. Here are the top 4 trends from the report.

Ease please

The most important factor shared by men and women is their beauty and grooming routines need to be easy. Setting aside a sub-trend to have two-speed routines, where indulgent parts of their routines are saved for weekly rituals, most want quick and easy daily routines. Brushing teeth, doing hair, shaving and washing need to be done as quickly and easily as possible.

Women, in particular, want their routines to have as little maintenance too, especially through the day. A single application, lasting, low-maintenance daily beauty is top of the list. Linked to this is a decline in a female double-day routine, with women less likely to do both a morning and evening beauty routine.

‘Clean’ and natural beauty

Consumers are increasingly turning over to see what’s written on the back of the pack. Ingredients lists, provenance and production methods have risen high up the priority list as consumers move away from ‘added stuff’ and the proliferation of ‘chemicals’ found in many beauty products.

Consumers are reading the labels, learning about all of the ingredients in the product and judging the production methods in pursuit of simpler and more natural routines. What used to be niche, like zero waste shaving routines and shampoo bars is becoming increasingly mainstream as the past revisits the present.

Green cosmetics

The growth in zero waste, plastic-free beauty and shaving products is evidence of what Mintel’s Trend Hungry Planet suggests is a rejection of yesterday’s throwaway culture. Single-use, daily disposable attitudes are increasingly being disposed of themselves, with throwaway culture now seen as a contentious issue. Consumers understand that convenience comes at a cost, and are looking for ways to conserve the planet’s resources.

Indeed, 23% of adults now claim to want routines to have little or no environmental impact. This is forcing a full reappraisal of beauty routines and the pursuit of more environmentally sustainable beauty products.

Holistic health through beauty

A growing number of consumers are treating their bodies like an ecosystem, seeking solutions that complement their health and evolving needs. 23% of adults want routines to promote physical health both through functional product benefits (such as skin nourishment and regeneration or hair strength and conditioning) but 17% also think skincare and beauty routines are important for mental health.