Vivienne Rudd, Director of Global Innovation and Insight, Mintel Beauty & Personal Care, explains how this year’s CEW winners illustrate consumer trends.


The CEW Beauty Insider Awards are always a valuable barometer for the US beauty market, but instead of measuring air pressure, the Awards measure the everyday pressures on consumers and the beauty products they use to respond to these pressures.

First and foremost, our increasingly 24-hour society is putting pressure on people’s energy levels. Consumers are finding it hard to switch off, and the almost ubiquitous blue light that flows from their mobile devices is reducing the quality and quantity of sleep. As a result, 36 percent of US consumers say that tiredness/fatigue is an important health concern for them. Mintel’s 2025 trend Power Play examines this need for energy and explores how consumers will seek out beauty products with energizing formulations that go beyond fragrance and help the skin and hair generate and maintain optimum energy levels.

Clarisonic’s Alpha Fit, winner of the Skincare Tools award, shows the way forward for energizing products. In the US, 63 percent of millennial males (22- to 39-year-olds) say they are doing all they can to fight the physical signs of aging, so a cleansing device that works with a cleansing product to offer energizing benefits should fit the bill nicely. The device also claims to help men get a closer shave or deep clean their beard or stubble, appealing to the 33 percent of men who want pre-shave products that reduce irritation and the 34 percent who want a close shave.

Another key 2025 trend is water: the new luxury. This looks at the growing need for water-lite or water-free products and a future where water, or its alternatives, will be positioned as a luxury ingredient. At the same time, the shower will become a beauty device in its own right, working with products to maximize their efficiency through smart devices and water activation.

Nivea’s In-Shower Body Lotion shows how a body lotion can be used in the shower without stickiness, while St. Tropez Gradual Tan in the Shower Lotion is billed as the first water-activated self-tanner. Waterless options such as Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo are aimed at the 12 percent of US consumers who currently use a dry or rinse-less shampoo, up from 9 percent in 2015. The growing popularity of dry shampoo is driven by consumer desire to save time, money and convenience. That’s why 52 percent of US hair care users say dry shampoo is good for on-the-go use, 49 percent say its saves time and 44 percent say it lets them use traditional shampoo less often.

Meanwhile, Don’t Blow It (H)air Styler from Bumble & bumble, Triple Sec 3-in-1 from Drybar and Living Proof Blowout all cater to consumer demand for volume, protection and movement. Almost one third (32 percent) of US users of styling products are looking for volume, 30 percent want healthy-looking hair, 28 percent are seeking moisturization and 24 percent want smoothing benefits.

Last year, when we celebrated the 2015 winners, we said that products with a watery texture would make a splash in the US, and the 2016 skin care winners confirm our prediction. Neutrogena won the mass award with Hydro Boost Water Gel, while Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Crème

is a more water rich evolution of its iconic Dramatically Different Moisturizer. And speaking of icons, Clinique also won the Prestige Iconic Beauty Award for Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief, a light cream-gel that helps improve skin’s moisture retention ability.

We also highlighted the popularity of skin-perfecting, selfie-ready make-up last year, a trend that has continued in 2016. Sonia Kashuk’s Undercover Liquid Concealer which promises luminous and smooth skin, and Laura Mercier’s Silk Crème Moisturizing Photo Edition Foundation, both underline the movement for a flawless but natural finish. Their liquid format is the ideal vehicle for these claims since 59 percent of US women who use a foundation/concealer opt for a liquid, and 23 percent associate liquids with a natural finish, while 20 percent say it offers skin perfecting properties.

As a final note, the CEW awards are a great opportunity to spot future heavyweights at an early stage of development. Last year, Nudestix picked up the Indie award, and the brand has broadened its distribution and portfolio considerably in the 12 months that followed, prompting numerous rumours of acquisition.

This year, it’s the turn of Color Wow, a brand that has totally bought into the concept of hybrid beauty spotlighted by Mintel’s Mixologiste trend of 2013/14. Designed specifically for colored hair, the products promise perfect color between hair appointments, with color-extending shampoos and conditioners and brush-on powders to disguise roots inspired by eyeshadow palettes. The brand’s most recent addition, Coconut, Kale and Carb Cocktails, also illustrates Mintel’s 2025 Gastronomia trend that highlights the link between cosmetics, food and hands-on beauty. Color Wow’s color extending shampoos and conditioners, meanwhile, are suited to the 75 percent of home hair color users who are interested in hair care products that make color last longer, as well as the 69 percent who would be interested in color-refreshing glosses.

For more information about Mintel’s trends, please contact us at bpc.mintel.com.