The once vibrant colour cosmetics category is now seemingly muted, tasking beauty giants to come up with a turnaround plan.
Coty reported in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 that sales across its cosmetics brands (Covergirl, Max Factor and Rimmel) fell 4 per cent to $553.8 million. Estée Lauder Companies reported a soft makeup performance, too, as sales in the same quarter decreased 1 per cent, led by Mac Cosmetics and Tom Ford Beauty. Puig’s makeup category (including Charlotte Tilbury, Byredo and Christian Louboutin Beauty) was down 1.3 per cent 2024.
“Makeup was one of the fastest-growing categories coming out of the pandemic driven by consumers’ return to social interactions and excitement about the category after a period of going makeup-free during quarantine. Social media, and the rise of TikTok at that time, fuelled growth,” says Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at market research company Circana. In the US, prestige makeup sales surged 15 per cent between 2021 and 2023, before declining by 7 per cent in 2024. Mass makeup sales in the US grew 6 per cent in 2023, but sales slipped to 3 per cent in 2024. “The slowdown was expected after years of strong performance,” says Jensen.
.png)
Suzanne Scott, global associate beauty director at strategy firm Seen Group, says the multiple factors at play have all hit at once. “There’s still plenty of global financial uncertainty, forcing many consumers to divert spending to the necessities. If you’re worried about the rising cost of eggs, you might push back on that new foundation or lipstick purchase. The makeup market is also bursting with new brands and they are tempting purchases away from the more established brands as consumers are drawn into social media’s hype and product virality,” she says. Meanwhile, the rise of ‘skinification’ (skincare ingredients and benefits infused into makeup, haircare and fragrance) has reshaped traditional colour cosmetics as well as customer expectations, making it difficult for legacy brands to compete.
Granted, experts are bullish that colour cosmetics’ softer performance is aligned with the broader slowdown currently shaping the beauty landscape — with the fragrance category as the only outlier per sales performance. What’s clear is that, thanks to a lag in relevance and product innovation, makeup is in need of a shakeup.
How colour cosmetics lost its cool
Most simply put: trends changed. Following the height of sculpted contour and full coverage in 2016, the pendulum swung in the other direction as the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic — sheer, dewy and minimal, emphasising skincare — took over as the coveted makeup flex. Product demand evolved accordingly: full-coverage foundations gave way to tinted moisturisers with skincare actives, four-step lip routines were traded for sheer balms and oils, and elaborate eyeshadow palettes were swapped for single-shadow crayons.
“[Skinification] has fundamentally altered how consumers approach beauty. This isn’t merely a trend, but a philosophical shift in how people view their beauty routines. The movement emphasises skin health over coverage, leading to a notable surge in demand for hybrid products that blur the line between skincare and makeup,” says Richard McSweeney, co-founder of marketing agency Strike Digital.
Circana reports that 50 per cent of US consumers seek products that combine skincare and makeup, with over 60 per cent of Gen Zs and millennials aligning with this sentiment. Viral brands like Merit Beauty, Saie, Rhode, Rare Beauty, Summer Fridays, Glow Recipe and Refy dominate TikTok and beauty bags with hybrid products spanning face tints, blushes and lip glosses. P Louise, once known for high-pigment artistry products, pivoted to a natural enhancement and skincare-infused line-up, leading to a 269 per cent increase in brand searches from January 2024 to January 2025, per Strike Digital’s SEO intelligence data.
Experts say that this category shift isn’t a death sentence for traditional colour cosmetics brands, but an opportunity for reinvention. “In the long term, skinification is a good thing for cosmetics. It has given formulators new avenues to innovate, create new textures and develop fresh finishes,” says Scott. Suze College, head of makeup buying at Space NK, agrees: “Consumers are paying much closer attention to what is in their products, and it has created the expectation that whatever they are putting on their skin isn’t doing it any harm.”
New dynamics on the block also caused a setback for big beauty. The explosion of new players on TikTok Shop and Amazon has disrupted traditional retail models. Live shopping, social media trends and in-app purchasing, coupled with accessible price points, are reshaping makeup buying behaviours. “Instead of purchasing an entire makeup routine, today’s consumer is more likely to be loyal to a specific hero product. This shift has made it increasingly difficult for heritage brands to drive repeat revenue as they once did,” explains Marissa Lepor, managing director at investment banking firm The Sage Group.
Checklist: Reviving the ‘It’ factor
Elf Beauty CMO Kory Marchisotto says reinventing colour cosmetics starts with recategorisation. “The challenge is that the industry still applies linear thinking to beauty. There’s a makeup category, a skincare category, haircare and so on. But consumers don’t see it that way,” she says. “If you position a primer only in the makeup category instead of a makeup-skincare hybrid, you miss the nuance of how people are actually using it.”
However, Marchisotto’s aware it takes time for the market to catch up to structural changes in trends. “Leaders need to flip the model and look at consumers on a more granular level with more reactive data sets. Artificial intelligence can help brands stay on the pulse of what people are shopping, buying and thinking in real time — giving them an edge,” she says. Leaning into more reactive data sets will help heritage players stay on top of the competition (and inspire innovation), especially on high-growth platforms like TikTok and Amazon, where shopping behaviour is heightened by consumers chasing the next viral makeup product.
Scott says engagement strategies and out-of-the-box marketing can grab consumer attention, especially on platforms like TikTok where brands have seconds to reel in potential shoppers. “Big brands really need to step up their marketing game,” says Scott. “Consumers enjoy bold and fun marketing and are drawn in by overt gimmicks.”
Don’t count colour out
Experts also believe 2025 will present a renewed enthusiasm for bold colour as the landscape leans into more colour-focused trends — a chance for traditional players to reinvent a product or portfolio to gain a greater market share.
On both Autumn/Winter 2024 and SS25 runways, bold-eye looks heavily influenced the catwalk. Moda Operandi’s home and beauty buyer Jessica Matlin says the trend would spark commercial buzz this year, which College is also banking on. “I’m ready for some exciting innovation within the eye category from catwalks — launches have been relatively lacking and this is certainly a space that will inspire colour’s return,” says College.
Scott highlights viral trends like the ‘unrecognisable makeup look’ (dramatically transforming oneself using makeup) as a renewed consumer interest in makeup artistry. “This trend is a glimpse into colour’s resurgence, reintroducing audiences to techniques [like a cut crease] that have been pushed aside in recent years,” she says.
Meanwhile, launches such as Milk’s Hydro Grip 12-Hour Hydrating Skin Tint and Makeup Forever’s Super Boost Skin Tint hit the market as full-coverage complexion products and a move away from the barely-there tints that have populated the market in recent years. There’s also Huda Beauty’s Ube pressed powder collection, which has gone viral on TikTok as users lean into the range’s bright pink and lilac shades to complete their full-coverage makeup looks. “[The launch] anchors a return to bolder makeup,” says Scott.
Reinventing once beloved products can also drive sales for brands, Michael Appler, marketing VP at Trendalytics, says. Last year, Urban Decay relaunched its iconic Naked palette (a product that’s racked up over $1 billion in sales since its launch in 2010, according to the company) in vegan and cruelty-free shades.
Today’s consumers aren’t just looking for nostalgia, they expect performance and benefits, too. “One way to do this is by developing sheer, buildable formulas that let users layer pigment gradually, making bold shades feel less intimidating,” says Simi Khadra, co-founder of SIMIHAZE Beauty. “Hybrid textures that shift between matte and gloss, temperature-activated pigments, or light-reflective formulas that transform throughout the day can make colour cosmetics feel fresh again.” Brands like Violette_FR, Milk Makeup, SIMIHAZE beauty and Isamaya Ffrench are gaining momentum and are standing out based on a hybrid innovation approach.
For heritage colour cosmetics brands to get their groove back, the message is clear: they need to innovate, rethink hybridisation and meet consumers exactly where they are — mixing, experimenting and demanding more from every product they buy. “There is still a market for colour cosmetics. Brands just need to be willing to innovate and adapt using swifter strategies,” says Appler.
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
