In fashion: the six biggest trends in beauty

Wearing a vibrant slick of Huda Beauty Demi Matt lipstick, we sashayed into this month’s Beauty Trends and Innovation conference in London. Here are the six big beauty trends to watch:

Community conquers all

“Kylie Jenner achieved in twenty-four months what took Lancôme thirty years.” Sebastian Kraft, global digital transformation director from Molton Brown; a statement that might have been uncomfortable listening for the grande dames of beauty brands, but you couldn’t knock it. Ms Jenner’s secret weapon is not exactly a secret - “The peer-to-peer exchange-based community is really driving the beauty industry,” said Isabella Rogers, head of corporate communication & media for Shiseido.

Unsurprisingly, great swathes of the conference were dedicated to influencer brands and content strategy. Kylie Cosmetics, much like Huda Beauty (baby of make-up artist and mega-influencer Huda Kattan) and Glossier (established by blogger Emily Weiss) established themselves as brands before they’d even created a single product. Industry titans like Vogue and Estee Lauder are now trying to reverse engineer their own communities, with a whopping 51% of their media spend going against earned and influencer promotion.

Rogers cited a report by NOD Group, showing a ‘positive correlation between a brand’s EMV(Earned Media Value) and its revenue’. Brands that generate disproportionately more EMV than their competitors are more likely to see their sales revenues increase. With an even more complex buying funnel and no single point of purchase influence for the consumer, she pointed out, businesses must evolve their brand and influencer strategy constantly if they’ve a hope of remaining ‘on fleek.’

We’re also seeing the role of community and influence shaping the physical space to fit in with shoppers multi-faceted lives. Taking cues from Huda Katan’s behind-the-scenes Youtube content we created a photoshoot in the beauty hall for our latest work on the Huda Beauty concession within Selfridges Oxford Street. Influencer content was used to create a hugely powerful, remotely updatable takeover of the space.

Show me, show me

“YouTube makeup tutorials have driven the beauty market in new ways,” said Julianne Clamens, head of brand content & social media at Birchbox – whose successful subscription service is driven by customer preference. Birchbox’s tailored how-tos have become key to unlocking sales, Clamens explained, with customers six times more likely to buy a product that has an accompanying video.

Tom Bird predicts that we’ll increasingly see the use of RFID chips in products. Once scanned, they’ll instantly link customers’ phones to all sorts of related content, helping bring the online and instore experience even closer together.

Hero products, not brands

Clamens warned that “customers are increasingly product, not brand, loyal” and that brands need to create star items to drive growth. This is nothing new but the newer brands seem to be more ‘on it’. Benefit has invested heavily (and wittily) in ‘owning brows’; Huda Beauty’s aspiring to be the go-to line for foundation and contouring.

Kevin Cureton, chief commercial officer from Solesence believes that, in a crowded market, “you can’t be everything to everyone”. His advice? With values-driven millennials accounting for much of the market, whatever your chosen specialism, “you have to stand for something”.

Non-binary is the new normal

Historically, the beauty industry had operated with strict gender divides. But it seems a non-binary approach could well become the new normal. L’Oréal is using men in makeup adverts and universal product offerings like Non Gender Specific and Jecca are hitting the shelves. Jessica Blackler founded Jecca “to break down stigma, inspire confidence and encourage conversation”.

Anti-aging is old news

The shift towards inclusivity has brought about a re-evaluation of aging and the words and visual language around it.

“70% of over 45s feel like they are not represented in media, which is why we started The Age Well Revolution, a campaign to change the way the way society views ageing,” said Jane Killingsworth, head of brand communication at Neal’s Yard Remedies. They chose six inspirational women, aged from 45 to 80, and have put them front and centre of their website, magazines and advertising.

Squeaky-clean beauty

“Sustainability simply isn’t enough anymore,” was the rallying cry from Jodi Francis, ethical buyer for Lush.

One ongoing problem Francis raised was that, as more and more brands not previously considered ethical claim ‘green’ and ‘clean’ credentials, the lack of global standardisation can confuse the issue. With the credibility of their sustainability ethos not in doubt, Francis explained, Lush now wants to look towards regeneration and afforestation to prevent species extinction. In addition, she shared that they’re developing business practices to promote the survival of cultural heritage in the communities local to every part of the Lush supply chain.

Kate Barker is business development director of Start Design