Trial stations are a great set up to break past several barriers of suspicion, which is why although the main store categories (mass retailers, drugstores, and department stores) are still top dog for cosmetic buyers overall, these two retailers are hot on their heels. The biggest gainer: makeup at 13 percent - a jump attributed largely to the generation’s love for the Instagram-driven trends of contouring, strobing, baking, and color-correcting with dollars going to concealer, primers, and contour, highlighting, and sculpting kits as well as eyebrow products. prestige beauty industry reached $16 billion in 2015, a seven percent increase over 2014 sales, according to The NPD Group. Plus, today’s shopper isn’t against a splurge - the U.S. They’re not only the largest generation in America, but according a 2015 study done by TABS Analytics, women ages 18 to 34 are also the biggest portion of the $13 billion dollar cosmetics market, and they’re more likely to be heavy buyers, meaning they purchase more than 10 types of products a year. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.įor an industry that took in $46.2 billion in 2015 and is projected to rise to $51.8 billion in 2020 (according to Mintel) bending to millennial whims isn’t just a good idea - it’s crucial. The archives will remain available here for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years.