Beauty market research has always been an important part of bringing innovations and new products to market. The category has evolved beyond cleansing and moisturizing, with products that promise anti-aging, anti-acne, sun protection, evening out pigmentation, and more. Beyond an expanding choice of products, features, and benefits, more channels are making products available to consumers. Pharmacies, specialty retailers, online marketplaces, and direct channels are competing for attention and spending. If you work in skin care on either the product or retail side, you need to understand what consumers are buying today and why, what they might seek in the future, and what builds trust and drives purchase decisions.

Skin care research in a growing global market

The skin care market, currently worth $122.1 billion, is projected to reach $227.1 billion by 2034. The way the skin care category is defined varies among market research firms and across regions, so market-size estimates are not always directly comparable. The following figures provide a general view of the category by region:

Region Approximate 2025 market size:

  • Asia Pacific: $62.8 billion
  • North America: $24.0 billion
  • Europe: $22 billion to $24 billion
  • Latin America: $10.0 billion
  • Middle East & Africa: $3.7 billion

Recent changes and faster category evolution

Beauty market research and industry professionals know the skin care category is always changing. The last five years, however, have seen rapid foundational changes that signal the end to “business as usual.”

  • Higher interest in skin health: Since the pandemic, skin care has become increasingly connected to broader health and wellness routines.
  • Access to more information: Consumers have unprecedented access to information about products, ingredients, routines, and results through social media, reviews, online communities, and increasingly, AI-powered tools.
  • Credibility matters: Consumers are less willing to rely on marketing claims alone. They increasingly look for clinical evidence and recommendations from dermatologists and other medical professionals.
  • More personalization: Consumers want products and routines that address their individual concerns, supported by assessments, facial imaging, and personalized recommendation tools.
  • Increasingly global: Consumers are discovering products, ingredients, routines, and beauty traditions from around the world, contributing to the continued growth of K-beauty and other international trends.

Generational differences in thinking about skin care

Skin care is increasingly personal and individual, yet beauty market research shows certain age-cohort similarities around habits and attitudes.

Baby boomers

People born before 1964 are concerned about the signs of aging, specifically wrinkles, loss of firmness, dryness and uneven pigmentation. They also want simple routines and want to see evidence that products work.

Gen Xers

This age cohort is balancing midlife aging with the stresses of work, family and other responsibilities. They want skincare that works without complicated routines. That said, skin care is important to them. They represent a quarter of all spending on skin care.

Millennials

Millennials came of age alongside the growth of the internet, social media, and digital commerce. They actively research products and often pay close attention to ingredients, reviews, recommendations, and brand values. Digital channels play an important role in how they discover and evaluate skin care products.

Gen Z

Younger consumers are already an important force in the skin care market. They discover products through social media, influencers, peers, and online communities. They tend to be highly engaged with ingredients, skin health, and emerging brands and are willing to experiment with new products and routines.

Top global skin care brands

Major players in the global skin care market include L’Oréal, Unilever, Estée Lauder Companies, Procter & Gamble, Beiersdorf, and Shiseido. That said, the market remains highly fragmented, with no brand holding a greater than 8% share. That is unlikely to change as new challengers are continually shaking up the status quo.

  • The K-beauty trend has reached $2 billion in sales in the U.S., a gain of 37% year over year. Brands like Medicube, Anua, and Biodance are using TikTok and influencers to find new customers.
  • Celebrity brands, like Hailey Bieber’s Rhode and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty are growing quickly. Related to these are make-up artist brands like Huda Beauty and Saltair, Iskra Lawrence are gaining traction.
  • Brands that focus on skin health and science are attracting consumer interest through scientific credibility. Prequel, BYOMA, and Naturium are examples

Skin care market research methods

Conducting beauty market research requires a mixture of methodologies to understand the what, why, and what’s next in category dynamics.

Focus groups

Gathering consumers to talk about attitudes, routines, concerns, and products is particularly useful for a category that is as experiential and emotional as skin care. They are useful in testing product concepts, capturing reactions to names, packaging, claims and advertising, and exploring what people care about and how they use products.

In-depth interviews

For deeper exploration, one-on-one interviews give you the chance to capture a detailed understanding of consumer behavior and thinking in the skin care category. This methodology is especially helpful in exploring sensitive, personal, and complex issues.

Central location tests

Bringing a large number of consumers to a controlled environment is an effective way to evaluate how people interact with products in consistent conditions. You can get a structured comparison of product texture, fragrance, usage experience, packaging, preference, and, ultimately, interest and intent.

Shop-alongs

Beauty market research professionals can watch customers, noting how they explore products, interact with them, and ultimately make choices, whether they are shopping in a physical store or on a digital shopping trip.

Mystery shopping

For understanding the effectiveness of retail environments, actually shopping stores and digital channels provides insight into what consumers actually experience.

Surveys

Quantitative research can measure the size of an opportunity and provide an understanding of awareness, price sensitivity, claim effectiveness and more. This kind of information can drive messaging, packaging, channels, promotional planning, and advertising.

Skin care research case studies

Shiseido’s sophisticated approach

Research has been core to the Shiseido brand from the beginning, but that research historically concentrated on skin care science and product development. With the goal of moving to a customer-centric orientation, the company invested in customer data to provide more personalized and relevant experiences across channels.

Capturing data from various channels, including individualizes data from across touchpoints, and conducting quantitative surveys, the company now effectively engages with its most loyal consumers for a 360-degree view of their needs, wants, and future expectations. “We are now talking directly to millions of our consumers on a day-to-day basis,” said Welington Fonseca, EVP Global Customer Marketing and eCommerce at Shiseido.

Amorepacific discovers a market for a new format

Research uncovered that consumers wanted a more convenient format for IOPE anti-aging products and foundations, something more portable than the current liquid formats. The company’s research and development teams developed cushion product delivery technology in 2008, using a porous sponge to hold an emulsion and then to evenly apply it. They added consumer observation research to the project to see how well the product performed in the hands of actual consumers and how well consumers liked it.

A subsequent survey found that 75% of Korean women between the ages of 20 and 50 had purchased compacts with cushions or sponges, suggesting the product category could scale. The launch was a success, contributing to the brand’s growth momentum. By 2014, Amorepacific was selling 26 million cushion compacts in 13 countries. The company continues to pursue international growth. In 2025, Amorepacific Group announced a goal of generating 70% of sales overseas and ranking among the world’s top three premium skincare companies.

AI and the skin care industry

As with nearly every other field, AI is changing the skin care industry in multiple ways. Here are some of the key AI innovations already in motion:

  • Facial imaging: Driven by the desire for personalization, companies are adopting AI skin analysis technology. L’Oréal’s ModiFace technology uses images collected via smart phone to assess skin characteristics and recommend products.
  • Product development: AI can analyze large amounts of consumer data to uncover unmet needs and to spot emerging trends that can fuel new products.
  • Virtual consultations: AI-powered tools can interact with consumers, answer questions, assess needs, and help them navigate an increasingly crowded product market.
  • Competitive intelligence: AI can listen at scale, monitoring reviews, social conversations, and consumer reactions in different markets to find out what is succeeding and where open opportunities may exist.

The future of skin care and beauty market research

A fragmented market, increasingly global consumers, greater demand for personalization, and rapidly changing technology are reshaping the skin care industry. Together, these trends make beauty market research more important than ever. The skin care companies that will thrive through these changes and challenges are the ones that develop a keen understanding of their customers and stay close to their evolving habits and attitudes. Combining traditional consumer research with new sources of data and AI-powered analysis can give brands a clearer view of what consumers want today and where the market is headed next.