Over a third (35%) of British women surveyed by Mintel say they use make-up to subtly enhance their natural features. - Photo: © AlikeYou / shutterstock.com

Britain’s love of makeup products shows no signs of fading, as Mintel predicts the market to grow by 36% and reach £2.5 billion by 2021 (EUR2.85 billion). Today, as many as 83% of UK women wear make-up. The most purchased products within the last 12 months were classic make-up bag staples: mascara (57%), lipstick (49%) and liquid/cream foundation (46%).

According to Mintel, the face and lip colour segments saw the biggest rise in sales in the colour cosmetics category in 2016, driven in part by the ‘no make-up make-up look’ and colour correction trends. While sales of face colour products rose by 10% to reach £580 million in 2016, sales of lip colour grew by 11% to £304 million.

The colour cosmetics category continues to show strong year-on-year growth, particularly driven by the fashion for the ‘no make-up make-up’ look, which requires more products, time and skill than the name might suggest,” said Roshida Khanom, Associate Director, Beauty & Personal Care at Mintel.

Actually, over a third (35%) of British women surveyed by Mintel say they use make-up to subtly enhance their natural features.

When considering at why women turn towards the make-up box, tiredness is the leading motivator.

When considering at why women turn towards the make-up box, tiredness is the leading motivator. As many as 41% of women say they wear make-up to look less tired, followed by 39% who use it to cover blemishes and 25% who use make-up to look more youthful. Meanwhile, Mintel research highlights the emotional ties UK women have when ‘putting on their face’. Over three in five (64%) women who wear make-up say it makes them feel confident and 43% say it makes them feel attractive, compared to just 16% who feel more professional and 15% who feel empowered by wearing make-up.

What’s more, it seems that being selfie-ready is also an important factor for younger make-up users in particular. Almost a quarter (22%) of women aged 16-24 wear make-up to create a camera-ready look, up from an average of 7%.

As far as the prestige beauty market is concerned, makeup remains the main growth driver in the UK. According to The NPD Group, “the most impressive growth both in store and online is from make-up which grew by 7% in store to reach £668 million. Online sales of prestige make-up increased by 45% to £120 million in 2016.