2017 was a banner year for beauty tech. From major beauty brands investing in augmented reality to an industry-wide push towards customized beauty products and experiences, technology-backed cosmetics brands will transform the sector in 2018.
13 Trends Shaping
the Face of Beauty
in 2018
1
2017 was a banner year for beauty tech. From
major beauty brands investing in augmented
reality to an industry-wide push towards
customized beauty products and experiences,
technology-backed cosmetics brands will
transform the sector in 2018.
On the product side, Rihanna’s Fenty line changed the conversa-
tion of inclusive beauty across the industry. Meanwhile, clean
beauty products entered the mainstream with beauty becoming
increasingly associated with health and wellness.
Despite a difficult retail environment, beauty is thriving and the
number of brands in the space is exploding.
Direct-to-consumer beauty brands, which saw the largest number
of deals in 2017 across the industry, are chipping away at the
market share of personal care incumbents who are responding
with increased M&A activity, incubator and accelerator programs,
new in-store technologies, and more.
What does 2018 and beyond have in store for the beauty industry?
From beauty devices integrating with the smart homes to
genomics and biotech impacting cosmetics recommendations
and R&D, we identified the most important beauty trends to look
out for this year.
2
1 Product Development
» Mirror, mirror: smart cosmetics devices revolutionize thehome
and beauty on-the-go
» Beauty industry embraces crowd-led innovation
» Big beauty brands try to incubate their own disruptors
» The fast rise of male personal care & gender neutral makeup
» J-Beauty is the next-gen East Asia beauty boom
2 Manufacturing
» Cosmetics à la carte
» Beauty starts at the lab … and the farm
3 Pricing & Distribution
» Beauty pricing becomes transparent
» Beauty incumbents go direct-to-consumer
4 Marketing & Merchandising
» Beauty learns viral merchandising
» Beauty further integrates with fitness & wellness industries
5 Customer Experience
» High-tech: the new makeup aisle
» Unbundling of the spa & salon continues
6 Conclusion
Table of
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