American women, particularly Millennials, are embracing their natural beauty, “flaws and all”, according to new research by marketing intelligence agency Mintel.
Fifty-four percent of Millennials surveyed in the agency’s The Millennial Beauty Consumer Beauty US 2017 report said they prefer the ‘natural look’, and are slightly more likely (71 percent) to actually wear a “natural makeup look” than female consumers overall (68 percent).
Nearly half (46 percent) of the Millennials said they feel more confident when they spend time on their appearance and 20 percent said they feel pressure to always look good – but 40 percent agreed that it was okay to not always look your best.
Mintel beauty and personal care analyst Margie Nanninga said “women of all ages” in America were embracing their natural beauty but the trend was especially evident among the country’s Millennials “who are using colour cosmetics to enhance their features in order to look like the best version of themselves”.
She stressed that the Millennials, currently aged between 23 and 40, prefer “the natural look” rather than “no-makeup”.
“Brands have an opportunity to promote themes of self-expression and embracing natural beauty in product marketing in order to reach this active and engaged consumer market,” she said.
The Millennial Beauty Consumer US 2017 report also found that Millennial beauty consumers are more likely to look for products that have natural ingredients (25 percent vs 23 percent overall), are environmentally-friendly (12 percent vs nine percent) and are ethically-sourced (seven percent vs five percent).
Younger adults also seem to be more adventurous when it comes to nature-based ingredients as the report found that young Millennials (currently aged 18-34) are more likely than female consumers overall to be interested in skincare products containing ingredients such as seaweed (52 percent vs 42 percent), ginseng (48 percent vs 37 percent), sandalwood (29 percent vs 23 percent) and fermented ingredients (28 percent vs 19 percent).
“Today’s trending skincare ingredients are nature-based, further highlighting consumer interest in natural and gentle ingredients,” said Nanninga.
“Beauty and personal care brands would do well to focus on natural offerings as a way to differentiate in a saturated market.
“Products that have clear, straightforward packaging that highlight the natural ingredients will help set the product apart and help push beauty and personal care consumers out of their comfort zones.”