NPD Group: Nails, lips will be hot this holiday

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — This holiday season nail and lip color are expected to be hot holiday items, and consumers can expect to see an array of colors and textures in both categories this season, according to The NPD Group.

 

The prestige nail and lip segments posted healthy growth in U.S. department store sales in the first 11 months of the year, according to The NPD Group.

“Makeup was not always the ‘go to’ gift, but with the recent multi-effect trends in the lip and nail segments, it will be one of the hot items this holiday season,” stated Karen Grant, VP and senior global industry analyst of The NPD Group.



The lip segment, consisting of lip color, lip liner, lip gloss and applicators, generated more than $548 million year-to-date, January through November 2012, and increased 9% in dollars versus the same time last year. The big winner in the lip segment was lip color, which posted an 11% growth in dollar sales year-to-date 2012.



A small, but growing category, the nail segment — consisting of color enamel, base/top coasts and nail care — was even more impressive. The segment generated $33 million year-to-date through November 2012 and posted a 49% growth in dollar sales, compared with same time last year. Color enamel alone increased 51% in dollars year-to-date 2012.



“The consumer has found new ways to express herself in beauty through an assortment of nail colors with unique finishes and textures — from gel and caviar to velvet and sequin nails. Innovative textures and ‘hybrids’ are showing up in lips as well, creating a whole new breed of lip colors. We expect these novel canvases to sparkle as a unique gift from a stocking stuffer to a year round ‘gift-to-self,’” added Grant.