Every day, these young women post hundreds of messages about their beauty practices, products and needs. They interact, share their findings and experiences, exchange opinions, tips and advice. The ones’ favourite products are being tried by the others. These consumers of all product categories are at the cutting-edge of trends, innovation, and new techniques. They are authentic nano-influencers.
Makeup ranks among their top topics of conversation. Therefore, My Beauty Community among its community. Launched in September 2017, the app has attracted 50,000 beauty addicts, called the “Beauties”. A key target for brands. ] dedicated its first survey to this subject, delving into millennial Beauties’ dissatisfactions and expectations. The quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 5,803 women aged 18 to 35, with a core target aged 20 to 24. It was supplemented with a qualitative analysis of the spontaneous conversation between Beauties on the subject, i.e. 3,293 posts from 885 women and related comments. The survey provides brands with insights into this key generation and very concrete data.
Makeup, a multifaceted passion
98% of the community members are interested in makeup! It’s a passion, sometimes described as an addiction: “I can’t resist it, I can’t resist it, I’m going wild over it.” It’s playful and creative. Make-up looks can be shared, then validated by the community. This trait is typical of this generation, focused on image and addicted to social media: “Makeup of the day, I tried a pink and purple eye makeup look with the eyeliner I like. What do you think?”
Their interest in makeup can also be explained by the top physical defects they acknowledge: skin imperfections, under-eye puffiness and dark circles, visible pores. Millennial beauties’ concerns focus first on the face and then the body. Several reasons may be put forward: age effect, but also today’s lifestyles that provoke visible tiredness, selfie culture and less obsession with being thin that shift their attention from the body to the face.
1 young woman out of 2 is dissatisfied by at least 1 makeup product.
50.4 % of the Millennial Beauties express their discontent regarding makeup products. One might think it’s due to their inexperience, but this is only partly true. First, they are heavy users of a variety of products. Second, the 25 to 35 age group is almost as dissatisfied as the 18 to 24 age group. Critical criteria that explain satisfaction or dissatisfaction are the product performances, the achieved effect, the easiness of application and the price.
Foundation and mascara generate most critics with 61.1% and 42.2% mentions from dissatisfied women, followed by concealer, lipstick and powder. Posts tell us more about what women need and expect from products: “I’m looking for the ideal foundation, a full coverage foundation with no ‘plaster effect’, that doesn’t dry out the skin.”
Some resourceful Beauties show ingenuity in finding solutions to their needs and share their tips: “To fix your highlighter, first take a lip balm, draw a line on the targeted area of your face, blur with the finger, and then apply your highlighter as usual.”
Questions about safety, organic make-up and ethics
In addition to concrete dissatisfactions, the survey points out uncertainties and questions on trendy topics, that brands should consider. Product composition is discussed: “Which brand is absolutely clean?” Furthermore, are products cruelty-free? Are products imported from China safe?
Organic and vegan trends have extended to makeup and Beauties talk about the safety of organic products, question a kind of « organic-washing » attitude from some brands or wonder why this product range is so narrow in makeup. Trust is becoming a key issue for brands to ensure that women keep on confidently playing with make-up and choosing them.
My Beauty Community is proposing this non-exclusive marketing study to brands. New surveys will be carried out in the coming months. The next one will be a multi-client survey on skin care with the possibility to include exclusive questions.
