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CHICAGO—According a new report by market researcher Circana, dollar sales in the U.S. prestige beauty industry grew by 7% year over year, reaching $33.9 billion in 2024. In contrast, mass-market beauty sales saw a 3% year-over-year dollar increase.
In 2024, fragrance was the fastest-growing category, with dollar sales up 12% and units sold also increasing by double digits in the prestige market. In the mass market, it was the leading category based on dollar sales. In prestige, which includes U.S. department stores and beauty specialty retailers, fragrance now represents 28% of total prestige beauty sales, reinforcing its status as the second-largest category. Higher concentrations, such as parfums and eau de parfums—which typically have higher price points—saw sales grow by 43% and 14%, respectively.
Luxury brands represented 12% of prestige fragrance sales and increased at a faster rate than the overall category.
On the other end of the pricing spectrum, value-based and layering products, such as body sprays, surged by 94%, while hair fragrances rose by 32%.
Skincare closed the year as the slowest-growing category in the prestige market, with dollar sales increasing by 2% and unit sales growing slightly faster. There was also a modest increase in both metrics for the category in the mass market. Skincare has become the category most in sync between mass and prestige, as top-performing masstige brands with distribution across both markets are driving growth. In the prestige sector, segments such as lip treatments and face cleansers stood out as bright spots.
Body care continued to surpass the facial segment, driven by products such as creams, lotions, cleansers, and hand soaps.
Maintaining its position as the largest prestige category, makeup dollar sales increased by 5%. The lip segment was the top performer in 2024, growing by 19%, fueled by the popularity of hybrid products that provide cosmetic coverage along with skincare benefits, such as lip oils and balms. Over the past year, prestige face makeup products offering moisturizing, brightening, and mattifying benefits outperformed skincare products with similar attributes, underscoring the significance of the “skinification” trend.
Mass brands dominate hair category sales, but while close to 70% of consumers say price is important, just 16% say they only buy mass brands, according to a Circana Omnibus survey. In prestige, the hair category grew sales by 9%. Sales increased in all hair segments, with styling and treatment categories seeing double-digit increases. The scalp care trend continued to gain traction, growing at twice the rate of the overall category.
“The beauty industry’s resilience continues to shine as consumers turn to beauty to not only look, but also feel good,” said Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at Circana. “With beauty products intertwined with consumers’ emotional needs and wellness routines, maximizing this opportunity will go a long way to ensure a healthy future for our industry.”
