A new era in facial care

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/4

Hyaluronic acid, the miracle ingredient

The category has been affected by inflation and shelf space expansion in stores recently.

Anett Vigh
senior brand & shopper activation manager
Kenvue

“The facial care category produced a 30% increase in value sales compared to the previous year. Normal facial care is the most dominant segment. Drugstores continue to be the number one sales channel, with 80% of our sales concentrated here”,

says Anett Vigh, senior brand and shopper activation manager of Kenvue.

Kenvue has managed to grow in volume in line with the category last year, by roughly 14%. Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost range accounts for nearly 60% of sales. One of their most popular product launches was the concentrated hyaluronic acid serum of the Hydro Boost line.

Brand loyalty vs. economising

Péter Tóth
trade marketing
manager
L’Oréal Magyarország

“If we divide consumers into two groups, it can be said that brand loyalty is more typical of more experienced and conscious consumers, who know which brand is right for them for a given facial care step. Because they are still experimenting, less experienced shoppers are more likely to switch between brands. The recent inflationary environment has also hit the category, so consumers prefer cheaper products in segments that are less important to them”,

points out Péter Tóth, trade marketing manager with L’Oréal Magyarország.

Under L’Oréal Paris, they are launching the new Bright Reveal range, which provides a complete facial care routine to combat dark spots with niacinamide and amino-sulphonic acid. As for the Mixa brand, the company is putting 3 serums on the market, called Mix&Match.

Drugstores remain the top sales channel

A battle of active ingredients

Anna Kintses
brand manager
JimJams Cosmetics
és JimJams Baby

Facial serums represent some of the most popular facial care categories, which contain concentrated active ingredients to focus on various skin problems such as signs of ageing or pigmentation.

“We see diminishing demand for products that are less accessible to a wider consumer base due to their high price, or those that contain potentially harmful ingredients consumers try to avoid”,

says Anna Kintses, brand manager of JimJams Cosmetics and JimJams Baby.

In the second half of 2023, the JimJams Serum Line range was expanded with six new products, including four new facial serums, a sunscreen moisturizer and a face wash gel. The company’s Pure&Clear range, which focuses specifically on the care of problematic, acne-prone skin, offers nine innovative products.

More and more educated consumers are receiving advice from skinfluencers

Consumer trends

Over the past year Hungarian facial care trends have been heavily influenced by the most popular beauty trends of Asia, mainly from Korea, which focus on maintaining and caring for skin health through a multistep, careful skincare routine. Consequently, more and more products from Asian facial care brands can be found on the shelves of drugstores, primarily in the higher price range.

Szűcs Martina
trade marketing
manager
Primőr

Primőr Kozmetikai Kft. has been offering active ingredient-centric products at affordable prices since the launch of the Revox brand in 2020.

“Active ingredients such as vitamin C, caffeine, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid continue to dominate the facial care routines of consumers”,

explains trade marketing manager Martina Szűcs.

The success of Revox’s Daily Sun Shield SPF50 sunscreen for all skin types has been unbroken for years.

High-level care

Innovation trends are currently pointing towards formulas using natural, pure and fragrance-free ingredients and solutions based on the principle of sustainability.

Nóra Fehér, assortment manager of dm kft. cites the strengthening trend of double face cleansing.

Nóra Fehér
assortment manager
dm

Inflation makes consumers prefer cheaper products in less important segments

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Growing demand in the facial care market

Guest writer:
Zsófia Horváth
junior analytic insights associate
NielsenIQ

Rossmann helps with a new facial routine test

Anita Ágnes Varga
marketing manager
Rossmann