Industry trends in mineral cosmetics industry
What started out as a small niche market has grown exponentially due to ingredients that claim to be naturally non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic, and every year an increasing number of new and established companies are joining in. But is it worth it to join in now?
Industry trends in mineral cosmetics industry
Special to FashionIndustryToday.com
By Jennifer Mashuga, San Francisco
For the last 30 years, cosmetics giant Bare Escentuals has virtually dominated mineral makeup sales. What started out as a small niche market has grown exponentially due to ingredients that claim to be naturally non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic, and every year an increasing number of new and established companies are joining in. But is it worth it to join in now?
Will mineral makeup become even more desirable to wear, expanding its appeal to more demographics? Or is the market already so saturated with companies selling mineral cosmetics that there is no room left for newcomers? What trends have been foreseen? What does the future look like for mineral cosmetics?
Room to Grow
Many people think there is plenty of room for more companies in the world of mineral cosmetics. Some, such as SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst William Chappell, think the market is still in its infancy. “We expect the mineral-based segment will be the fastest growing in the $8 billion US cosmetics category over the next few years,” Chappell said. Dianne York-Goldman, CEO and founder of DYG Mineral Makeup, agrees. York-Goldman is also co-founder of La Jolla Spa MD, and as a former model she has been involved in the cosmetics and fashion industry for twenty years. “The mineral cosmetics market is just getting started,” she said. “I think that in the next ten years, people who use traditional makeup and have been loyal to certain brands will convert to mineral makeup. Consumers are becoming more aware of what they put on their skin than they were in prior years.”
Considering that the number of mineral-based makeup items on the market more than tripled from 132 to 451 between 2005 and 2007, this outlook isn’t just optimistic, but also realistic. According to a report by Information Resources, stores like Wal-Mart, Target and Walgreens sold $149 million worth of mineral cosmetics in 2007. This total doesn’t even include prestige items, those sold at major department stores or high-end retailers such as Sephora. This number becomes even more staggering when it is taken into account that only two years ago, just $4.5 million worth of mineral-based makeup products were sold.
Makeup Artists and Mineral Makeup
It’s obvious that there is an increased interest in mineral and other kinds of more natural, good-for-you makeup. This interest is why there are so many more products to choose from, and so many more companies appearing on the scene. But how do the makeup artists feel about mineral-based cosmetics? Do they use them on their clients for photo shoots? Crystal Maria, a LA-based makeup artist with Crystal Agency, uses mineral cosmetics on her clients quite often. “People are more cautious about what goes on their face, but they trust what I use,” she said. One of her favorite products to use in photo shoots is a mineral blush by the company Afterglow. Maria believes the mineral cosmetics department has potential that hasn’t even been tapped yet. “As time changes, people change and the earth changes, there are going to be new possibilities,” she said.
Margina Dennis has been a makeup artist for the last 12 years and is also the beauty editor for La’G Magazine. “As a makeup artist, I rarely use mineral based makeup on jobs. There are too many lines claiming to be a mineral line when they really aren’t,” she said. “The reason why I rarely use mineral makeup on jobs is because in my experience, most mineral makeups are too reflective.” The exception to this is Illuminare, which Dennis has found to be less reflective. Dennis’s prediction for the future of mineral cosmetics is that in the next few years many of the lines will disappear, and the ones that will remain are the niche lines that are organic or vegan.
Joseph Reilich is a makeup artist for the California-based company, Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics. “mineral makeup is reliable, they provide lasting results that do not cake or fade,” he said. He only uses mineral makeup on his clients, but he acknowledges that not all mineral makeup is created equally. “Some mineral makeup lines are overdone and appear glittery,” he said. This glitter and reflectiveness that both Reilich and Dennis refer to is often due to the presence of bismuth oxychloride.
Ingredients: The Good and the Bad
Bismuth oxychloride is a non-toxic lead by-product. It also is great at refracting light, and refraction is good for camouflaging lines and wrinkles. The result on your skin is a shimmery, pearlescent shine. While many women have no problems with bismuth oxychloride, others have identified it as the cause of skin irritation and breakouts.
Pamela Cronan-Maddox is the president and founder of the Alchemist’s Apprentice, an online apothecary that sells items from around the world. Everything on the website is chemical and synthetic-free, and Cronan-Maddox is a firm believer in all things natural for your skin. A sign of her seriousness is the fact that she has a list posted on her website of ingredients you won’t find in her products. Cronan-Maddox sees the additives that many companies use in their mineral makeup as one of the biggest changes since mineral cosmetics first began.
To understand why she started a site dedicated to everything pure and natural, you only have to look at the “Why Organic?” page at her website: 125 ingredients found in cosmetics are suspected of causing cancer. Twenty ingredients have been implicated in causing birth defects. Twenty ingredients may cause adverse neurological symptoms, such as headaches and convulsions.
“I have inquiries daily from consumers expressing concern about these unnecessary ingredients,” she said. “It is my opinion that these additives are for marketing purposes only and provide no significant benefit to the skin.” Cronan-Maddox thinks that as more new companies that enter the market, the quality of the product has decreased. “Hence, the addition of ingredients to formulations to differentiate the brand,” she said.
Advice and Predictions for Others
As demand for mineral makeup increases, Cronan-Maddox predicts that larger, mass-marketed brands will enter the market. “I encourage the consumer to read their labels to ensure the ingredients used in the formulations are completely natural, and processed in a way that is safe for daily use,” she said.
Merced Manning is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology. After not being able to find natural products to use on her skin, she decided to create her own company. She is the president and CEO of b.l.a.c. Minerals, a pioneer of mineral makeup that is created to appeal to women of color and diverse ethnic backgrounds. “This is a new concept that has not been addressed by other major brands,” she said. Manning thinks that there is plenty of room for newcomers in the mineral cosmetics department, but the key is to have a focus, not just call themselves a mineral makeup company.
“There are other areas to grab, the tween market is huge and has always been,” she said. “Young girls in their teenage stages love makeup. Mineral makeup allows for items to be customized and created in a fun way. There is room for this market also, which right now is virtually non-existent.”
“The trick is to offer something that other brands do not,” said Manning. “While big names like Bare Minerals are dominating the market, there still is room for other products to develop a niche and be successful.”
Maritza Buelvas, President of Beautygram.com and half of the bride-style.com team, recommends mineral-based cosmetics to all women. “I believe all women can benefit from mineral makeup as it has smoothening ingredients, improves skin and looks natural on everyone,” she said. “It has revolutionized the industry and has created a new category in powder foundation/corrective makeup.”
Buelvas thinks that the reason so many companies have developed their own formulas is “because they see how successful the sale of mineral makeup has been for others and wish to offer continued break-throughs.” Dianne York-Goldman accomplished one of these breakthroughs when her company, La Jolla Spa MD, discovered the anti-aging Vitaphenol, a combination of medical grade mangosteen, pomegranate, and green and white teas, and added it to her DYG Mineral Makeup line.
So what does the future hold for mineral makeup? If the majority is correct, mineral cosmetics aren’t going anywhere, and their presence will get even stronger as they become major players in drugstores and stores like Target and Walgreens. As more people become concerned with the environment, the demand for products that are natural, organic, and beneficial to your skin will increase. While not all makeup artists are jumping ship and swimming to the side of mineral makeup, as more of their clients become interested in them. they will eventually have to work them into their makeup bags more often.
“The recent popularity of mineral makeup illustrates that natural ingredients are resonating with consumers and have broad appeal,” said NPD Group’s Senior Beauty Industry Analyst, Karen Grant.
“We see natural ingredients as being part of a lifestyle, rather than just a trend.” A Trend Report by Information Resources states that the expected annual growth rate of natural and organic care products is 9% through 2012. Mineral cosmetics make up 90% of the entire natural and organic makeup market.
Niche markets will become more important to the survival of new companies and new lines in the mineral cosmetics market. Specific target groups, like women of color, tweens, teenagers, and those over 50, will be coveted. Ingredients will have to be disclosed as more people want to know what they’re putting on their skin. Mineral makeup with Bismuth oxychloride may lose some potential customers as women with sensitive skin - the target audience of mineral cosmetics - discover an intolerance to the by-product.
As more affordable mineral lines like Maybelline and Wet ‘n’ Wild join the market, a new demographic will be targeted - women who haven’t used mineral makeup because they thought it was too expensive. This will also mean more competition for the higher-priced lines as women have more options to choose from.[]
Jennifer Mashuga is a business writer at FashionIndustryToday.com.
