Skin care: the powerhouse of beauty

In spite of this, it still fails to dominate the beauty-obsessed Latin American and the upcoming Middle East and African markets, where hair care is perceived as more important. With this influential industry far from saturation point, which are the key hot spots to watch and how are the latest trends playing out across its categories?

Asia Pacific continues to be skin deep

With almost half of global skin care sales generated in Asia Pacific and with more than double the level of value sales in Western Europe, there is no denying its continuous and absolute dominance of the category. The region’s pre-disposition towards multi-step skin care regime has helped the category flourish in both men’s and women’s skin care. Japan, the leading market globally for skin care, has been boosted by a positive value performance in 2012, the first time since 2007. China, which displaced the US in 2011 to become the world’s second largest market, continues to mount the pressure on Japan, posting an average of 14% upsurge over the last five years. While the main focus for skin care players remains the golden three of China, Japan and South Korea, Indonesia, India and Thailand are quickly gaining status as the next skin care markets to watch. Over 20% year-on-year increases in size and absolute added value of over US$200 million each in 2012 brought these regions to the forefront of the skin care market. Increasing urbanisation and a vibrant rising middleclass have brought these markets in the forefront on beauty companies, with most of the big players expanding their presence and investing significant sums in these markets despite the presence of powerful local brands.