Women Embrace Imperfections for a Natural Look

Embracing one's flaws for a more natural look, according Maria Fernandez for Datamonitor Consumer, is an important trend in the beauty, and the cosmetics industry needs to recognize this trend and offer products that enhance natural beauty rather than masking imperfections.

According to Fernandez, women want to move away from “artificial looks” that include hair extensions, false eyelashes and extreme anti-aging treatments. Datamonitor Consumer has shown that 45% of consumers want their looks to reflect their age, and 55% believe that images of beauty showed on advertising are unrealistic. Consumers are tired of unachievable beauty models that are so ideal, they are impossible to reach by regular consumers. Because shoppers feel they are not represented by the current standards of beauty, the logical step is toward something real.

“Real beauty,” is represented by no-makeup looks or those that do not mask imperfections. These looks were embraced by the consumer's grandmothers, who embraced aging and the beauty chances associated with it. To this, it must be noted consumers’ lack of time for time-consuming beauty treatments and the idea of being different from the crowd as a representation of a strong personality play a role in the trend.

Beauty companies can capitalize on this idea, as evidenced by Dove's “real beauty” campaign. The brand's new campaign continues this thought by advocating for the beauty of natural curly hair, which correlates to its launch of the Advanced Hair Series Quench Absolute line of products.

Hair care is one of the segments that can benefit from this natural approach; in regions like Europe, the expected overall growth for the hair care market is only 9% 2014–18, much less than the 14% expected for the skin care market for the same time period. This “natural looks” approach can encourage companies to energize their offer and thus, invigorate the market.

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