Once again, sales in the prestige beauty segment outpaced those in the mass in the U.S. in 2024, with 7 percent growth, compared to 3 percent, according to market research firm Circana.
The U.S. beauty industry marked its fourth consecutive year of sales growth! According to Circana, the prestige beauty industry sales grew by 7% in value from 2023, to reach USD 33.9 billion. In comparison, mass market beauty sales experienced a year over year dollar increase of 3%.
This growth is significantly lower the exuberant years prior, which saw increases of +14% for prestige and +6% for mass in 2023, and +15% for prestige in 2022. Sales in the prestige segment also decelerated slightly compared to the first half, when Circana estimated growth at 8%.
Fragrance becomes the second largest prestige category
Fragrance was the fastest-growing category in 2024 based on both dollar sales, up 12%, and units sold, also up double digits, in the prestige market. In 2024, it became the second-largest category in the U.S. prestige segment for the first time.
In the mass market it was the fastest-growing category based on dollar sales.
In prestige, which includes U.S. department and beauty specialty retailers, fragrance now accounts for 28% of total prestige beauty sales. Higher concentrations such as parfums and eau de parfums – which also carry higher price points – grew sales by 43% and 14%, respectively. Luxury brands accounted for 12% of prestige fragrance sales and grew faster than the overall category. On the other end of the pricing spectrum, body sprays jumped by 94% and hair fragrances increased 32%.
Slow growth for skincare
Skincare closed the year as the softest-growing category in the prestige market, with dollar sales up 2% and units growing slightly faster – and a modest increase for the category on both metrics in the mass market.
“Skincare has emerged as the category that is most aligned across mass and prestige, as top performing masstige brands with distribution across markets are driving growth in both,” said Circana.
In the prestige market, segments including lip treatment and face cleansers were bright spots. Body care continued to outperform the facial segment, stemming from products including creams, lotions, cleansers, and hand soaps.
Makeup growth driven by hybrid products
Maintaining its position as the largest category in the US prestige beauty market, makeup dollar sales grew by 5%.
Lip was the top-performing makeup segment in 2024, increasing by 19%, driven by the popularity of hybrid products providing cosmetic coverage with skincare benefits – including lip oils and balms. In the past year, prestige face makeup products with moisturizing, brightening, and mattifying benefits outpaced skincare products with the same benefits – highlighting the importance of the “skinification” trend.
Dollar sales of mass makeup fell by around 3% in 2024, according to Circana.
Prestige hair care sales continue to grow
After having posted impressive growth rates in 2023 (+24%) and 2022 (+22%), sales in the prestige hair category grew by a robust 9% in 2024.
Hair care sales are dominated by mass brands, but while close to 70% of consumers say price is important, just 16% say they only buy mass brands, according to a Circana Omnibus survey.
“The beauty industry’s resilience continues to shine as consumers turn to beauty to not only look, but also feel good,” said Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at Circana. “With beauty products intertwined with consumers’ emotional needs and wellness routines, maximizing this opportunity will go a long way to ensure a healthy future for our industry.”
