Yes, it’s that time of year when everyone goes crazy for trend predictions. We’ve already had Pantone declare its color of the year, we’ve seen the spring/summer make-up trends marched down the runways, with mermaid eyes at Marc Jacobs and ombre lips at Jason Wu; the glossies have declared their must-have products – it’s Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Nourishing Milk over at Glamour and Lumene Valo [Light] Artic Berry Cocktail for Harpers. And now it’s our turn. That’s right – without further ado, here’s GCN’s top trend predictions for the cosmetics industry in 2017…
Environmental: Green and clean
Sustainable cosmetics and personal care products were headline news throughout 2016, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down in the year to come. While health is still a primary concern when it comes to ingredients, according to Euromonitor, we’ll see an increasing focus on the environmental and social credentials of beauty products over the next year – with water efficiency a key concern. Henkel’s Fa and Kao’s Merit are ahead of the pack with their water-saving shower gel and shampoo.
Regulatory: Cruelty-free and vegan
Could 2017 finally be the year that the world bans animal testing? Unlikely, but a US ban is still on the table and China is making slow but steady strides, if not towards banning the practice, then at least to accepting non-animal test methods. Of course, over in Europe, animal testing has been a persona non-grata for approaching half a decade now, so campaigners are taking it to the next level: vegan products. Just don’t use one of the new five-pound notes to buy them.
Ingredients: Halal ahoy
As Indonesia’s deadline for all consumable products sold there to be halal certified by 2019 draws closer, and a new generation of vocal Muslim consumers grows up with disposable income to burn, the halal products industry looks set to snowball and multinationals are busy ensuring their formulations comply while ingredients manufacturers such as Croda, BASF and Evonik have launched a slew of halal-certified ranges. However, with Trump due to be inaugurated any day now, and a number of European countries legislating to ‘protect’ their culture from ‘Muslimification’ (yes, we’re looking at you, France. Shame on you for the Cannes Burkini ban), will we see a few companies back-peddle on their bid to become halal-friendly? We very much hope not.
Products: Put off pollution
So we couldn’t reduce products to just one defining trend – for a start, there’s a lot of categories to cover out there. But, if there’s one product claim to watch for 2017, it’s the anti-pollution camp. Popular in Asia as the haze continues to plague the southeast, anti-pollution products are set to dominate launch activity. Mintel says that while just 1 percent of global launches carried an anti-pollution message in 2016, in Australia, that figure was as high as one in 10. And some 41 percent of French women agree that pollution can negatively impact the skin. Watch this space, albeit through a cloud.
Marketing: All hail the hygge
If hygge passed you by in the last six months of 2016, then you must have been hiding under a particularly large rock. Yes, this Scandanavian lifestyle concept was rivalled only by Kondo-style cleanliness in the headline-grabbing stakes. In 2017, it’s set to enter the beauty arena bigtime. We’ll soon be seeing Scandi brands everywhere from Bjork and Berries and Aevi to &OtherStories, not to mention rituals that are all about nurturing the soul – these won’t be results driven, they’re not about slimming down or getting rid of wrinkles, but touted for their pampering benefits and sociable to boot. This will be the embodiment of Lena Dunham’s Glamour cover in treatment form – and all about loving yourself warts, cellulite and all. We look forward to the ultimate in ironic marketing; using a concept that is all about eschewing the pursuit of money and consumerism to hawk more products.
Want to hear more? Check back next week for the second part of our 2017 cosmetics industry trends report, where we’ll be looking at the top trends you can expect in the packaging, manufacturing, finance, technology and retail categories.
