From hyper-feminine coquette aesthetics to fresh dewy skin and affordable beauty, Boots has revealed the biggest trends that will shape the world of beauty in 2023.
Using data from 15 million active Boots Advantage Card holders and experts, the beauty trends report presents predictions across skincare, cosmetics and haircare.
The report comes after Boots posted a strong start for the year, with double-digit year-on-year growth across premium beauty, skincare, self-selection cosmetics and haircare.
Paul Niezawitowski, beauty director at Boots, said: “Throughout 2022, we continued to transform, innovate and improve our offering to give our customers even more exciting reasons to shop for beauty at Boots.
“In the last year, we have launched more than 20 new brands to our portfolio, helping to make beauty more accessible than ever before.
“We’re seeing the ‘lipstick effect’ take hold but the effect is proving wider than just lipstick with sales of cosmetics, haircare and skincare products at Boots rising year on year… and 2023 is set to be yet another big year.”
The internet said so
From hyper-feminine coquette aesthetics dominated by soft pastel colours, pearlescent highlights and feathered lashes, to pretty-in-pink Barbie-core and edgy grunge looks fuelled by Netflix’s hit series Wednesday, viral internet trends are set to take over the beauty world in 2023.
Y2K nostalgia and experimental dopamine glam are still going strong in the world of beauty.
Grace Vernon, head of global trends and cultural insights at Boots and No7 Beauty Company, said: “Social media platforms are well-known for their revolving door of viral beauty trends.
“Sometimes the effects are short-lived with just a momentary jump in searches or spike in sales, but others are the product of a much bigger cultural shift.”
Under the skin
With skincare seeing its three consecutive biggest sales weeks at Boots in December, maintaining skin health and building skin barriers are predicted to take centre stage this year.
The most popular skincare ingredients at the minute are peptides, ceramides and lipids, with searches for ‘peptides’ increasing by a third on the retailer’s website.
Hyaluronic acid and retinol remained popular choices for skin rejuvenation through 2022 and continue to do well in early 2023.
“Peptides are powerful signalling molecules found throughout the body, including the skin, where they are involved in many different physiological processes to help maintain health,” said Dr Mike Bell, No7 skincare’s scientific adviser.
“They are powerful communicators, which essentially ‘talk’ to skin cells telling them to initiate repair and increase their production of important structural proteins.”
Glow-up is the new glam-up
Glowing skin is back in vogue as more and more consumers focus on products that make you glow from the inside out.
Ingestible beauty is rising in popularity as searches for ‘beauty vitamins’ went up by 2,170% on boots.com with serum concealers set to be the latest make-up bag essentials.
Serum-infused cosmetics saw an 85% increase in sales at Boots last year.
Value takes precedence
Value for money is especially important to consumers. With one product selling every three seconds throughout 2022, Boots’ own-brand skincare range was the bestselling mass skincare brand owing to its affordability.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues, the report predicts customers will continue to look for affordable beauty products and value offers.
“Now more than ever, it’s so important for our customers to be confident that they are spending their beauty budget on choices that really deliver for them. We’re committed to ensuring that beauty at Boots remains accessible for all,” said Alice Rafferty, head of premium beauty and fragrance.
“In 2022, ‘price advantage’ (where Boots Advantage cardholders get access to lower prices) ranked as the top search term on boots.com and we are thrilled to be able to introduce even more deals for 2023 with over 1,300 offers and promotions available each month.”
Omnichannel approach
With in-store beauty sales almost matching pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, the report predicts consumers value a seamless online-offline experience.
Calling it “hybrid high street”, Boots has invested in AI tools to give personalised advice to customers using the retailer’s website at home and partnered with Deliveroo and Uber Eats to deliver over 750 health and beauty lines.
Jenna Whittingham-Ward, head of beauty reinvention, said: “Beauty is an incredibly important part of our business with over 250,000 customers shopping beauty at Boots every single week.
“We are continuing to enhance our in-store beauty experience and now have over 150 new or refreshed beauty halls across the UK with plans to expand our Boots beauty reinvention programme even further this year.”
The hair effect
Searches for ‘haircare’ increased by 1,146% on boots.com over the last year.
With shampoo being the second-most searched term on the retailer’s website in 2022, skincare trends are now taking over the world of haircare. This includes personalised products, haircare routines and advanced styling tools.
“The rise of ‘skintellectuals’ hasn’t just influenced skincare, other categories are experiencing a real shift towards health-centric beauty,” said Vernon.
“People are taking the knowledge they have gained in their skincare regimes and enhancing their approach to haircare too, from ingredients to formats to techniques.”
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