Cosmetic products have become a routine part of people to clean and improve their skin's physical characteristics. Within the growing cosmetics industry, luxury cosmetics have become prominent with a wide range of products that are made using ingredients of natural and premium standards. Similar to their equivalent drugstore goods these products are sold at high prices. Luxury cosmetics primarily cover skincare, hair care products, and fragrances.

What are luxury cosmetics?

Luxury cosmetics products have risen as a lucrative industry especially across the American and European countries. This has been observed due to higher consumer purchasing power. Nevertheless, the admiration of luxury cosmetics has reached out to the Asian countries as well due to the high disposable income and the predominant skin and hair care trends in the region.

Luxury products initially targeted a specific class consisting of elite and wealthy customers; nevertheless, over time, this pattern has changed. The urban population of the developing economy and a rise in health concerns has boosted the need for luxury products that are produced with ingredients of premium quality. This product trend has had a major impact on the development of the worldwide luxury cosmetics industry.

How luxury beauty brands can remain relevant in a fast-changing market?

• Change in consumption pattern of luxury products

One thing is certain, younger high-income consumers in Europe, North America, and Asia are behaving very differently from previous generations. Although historically celebrated conspicuous wealth –think of the tacky consumerism shows that the 80's urbanites aspired to –now the opposite is beginning to happen with understatement being more.

Moreover, a growing awareness of the environmental ills to which rampant consumerism can lead also means that many more affluent consumers have either cut back on buying 'bling' or cut it out entirely. Besides, there is also a growing awareness of how much wealth those in the top 1% or 2% earnings bracket have compared to the rest of the population.

It serves to make individuals more reclusive and less likely to make their wealth more visible in the top earnings brackets, for fear of reprisals, which in effect translates into a customer who is more difficult to identify and who is also looking for ways to spend their money. It is well known that millenniums are now more interested in spending their money, rather than on large ticket items like luxury cars, on experiences like travel, culture or outdoor activities.

• So where does this leave luxury beauty?

The two major challenges that must be addressed are the evolving habits of consumption of the richer youngest customer as well as the fact that many are becoming increasingly reclusive and difficult for branding and marketing experts to target. The key to several successful luxury cosmetics brands has always been an understatement, and this is still the case in the category, but luxury beauty brands now also need to keep up with many of the key changes that have pervaded the rest of the market.

Most of the cherished luxury brands have continued to remain very traditional, believing that there are enough consistency and brand identity. But this is increasingly proving not to be the case, just as in the other categories, aspects like environmentally friendly packaging, ethical practices, and enhanced sensorial elements are now also playing out in high-end product development in a particular bid to woo high earners.

• Wealth is growing, but some luxury brands are not

Perhaps the greatest difference is seen in how brands of luxury beauty reach out to customers. Much of this can be attributed to the more pragmatic approach of luxury brands, which has often made them slower to adapt to changes in the market.

This was especially noticeable with the major shift from print, TV and other traditional advertising media to online, with mainstream luxury brands among the last marketers to make the move. Most of the forward-looking luxury brands, especially those in the beauty arena, are now shifting route, with several players, including Calvin Klein, leaving print publishing in 2018 for digital advertising in 2019. The cost of ignoring these new patterns might be high for many luxury brands. Nevertheless, some experts believe that they may face an aging consumer base and the very real possibility of becoming obsolete in the future for certain luxury brands that are not willing to adapt to some degree.

To conclude

Cosmetics products have become a routine part of humans to cleanse and enhance the physical features of their skin. Depending on the position of the viewer and where the light falls, luxury brands are gradually using iridescent surfaces that glow in different colors. Luxury beauty brands have been featuring actresses, singers, and models in their advertising campaigns for years.
Currently, though, the agency and the following stars have to introduce their beauty products, sometimes with the support of more conventional players in the industry. People now buy more make-up products than before, and luxury cosmetics brands seek to capitalize on the phenomenon.