Global research that ‘gets under the skin’ of skincare

Revealing the latest trends emerging around the world in 2024

• Our latest Future of Beauty Report: Skincare edition highlights the cultural, economic, and societal shifts affecting women’s skincare choices in 2024
• It reflects the views of 7,000 women across seven different markets and how skincare desires differ from country to country
• Skin health is prioritised over ‘anti-ageing’ and sustainability continues to be a driving force behind brand love

The latest beauty buzzword: skin health span

According to our new research, the main reasons for using a skincare regime are health, wellbeing and hydration, with each seen as more important than anti-ageing when it comes to our skincare goals.

Globally, 97% of women use skincare to ensure they have hydrated skin and 97% for ongoing health and wellbeing. Anti-ageing is still a concern at 92% globally, but interestingly it is not the be all and end all for skincare choice.

This trend emerged in our 2022 Power in Ageing report , where half of women agreed that the pandemic had made them realise their health is more important than looks (50%) and nearly three quarters (72%) said they wanted to focus on looking healthy rather than young as a result. [i]

Skincare influence

Despite the rise of influencers pushing out skincare advice and the concern that we’ve had enough of experts, more than a third of women (36%) said that a real-life dermatologist or doctor would be the person they trust most to help them best care for their skin. Broken down by country, the UK are the least trusting of any source, with 22% saying they do not trust anyone when it comes to skincare advice. In Romania, women favour online skin professionals (36%) and South Africa had the highest percentage placing trust in their family skincare secrets with 14% valuing the opinion of their sister, mother and grandmother.

A price on beauty

As the cost of living continues to rise, the quest for value has led to “dupes” — or products that seem to replicate big names and more expensive beauty products at a much more affordable price — becoming more popular.

While nobody is averse to a bargain, Millennials and Gen Z are spearheading the trend, with 64% of UK Gen Zs globally agreeing that using dupes are a good way to save money[i]. In France, 54% of consumers aged 16-34 go as far as saying dupes of premium and luxury products provide the same experience as the original[ii].

Nearly two thirds (62%) of women said they would be prepared to pay more for a skincare product that was more sustainable, with women in the Philippines (77%) and South Africa

(73%) leading the way. When asked for their reasoning, three-quarters of women across the globe (75%) said they believed that by paying more, they were getting a better-quality product, while 37% said that they felt by paying more they were doing something ‘good’ for the planet.

However, there was also a very strong sense that consumers shouldn’t be footing the bill; almost half (49%) of women who said they wouldn’t pay more felt that brands should take on the cost of producing more sustainable products.

Katarzyna Lato-Jablonska, Head of Package Engineering at Avon said: “It’s an essential part of our business strategy to continue trialling sustainable technologies as well as investigating renewable and regenerative ingredients for formula and packaging. One example is a trial of a carbon negative bioplastic. This material is made by taking carbon from the air and using a biotechnology process to turn it into a compostable bio-plastic material. This not only reduces the carbon footprint of the product but actually takes additional carbon from the air – so it is carbon negative. We have also created Lifecycle Assessment, a breakthrough tool for measuring the total environmental impact of a product. This measures the entire lifecycle of a product – from water, carbon, waste, and renewability – and enables us to have the data to ensure every product we design is better than the last.”

Three is the magic number

Globally, across all ages and income brackets, 63% of women prefer a slimmed down skincare regime using a maximum of three products. With more products able to multi-task these days, and serums and creams increasingly designed for usage morning and night, it’s never been easier to downsize your skincare shelf.