Over 45s confused by skincare?
The over 40s skincare market is expanding year on year with more beauty treatments and products aimed at this age group being launched constantly. It’s a demographic that holistic beauty therapists should keep a very close eye on, if data on current trends is to be believed.
It was revealed last week that more than 20 per cent of women aged 45 and over want skincare to be tailored to their specific needs. Analyst firm Canadean carried out a study which revealed that 22.5 per cent of the volume of skincare consumption among women aged 45+ is driven by ‘individualism of products’ – feeling that the products they purchase have been specially designed with their individual needs in mind.
The study found that mature women can find it a minefield trying to select skincare products which will suit them when they are faced with such a huge choice of different moisturisers, serums and other specialised skincare products. In many cases, older women will have developed their own skincare routines many years ago, and find it difficult to introduce new products after many years of sticking to what they know.
Joanne Hardman, one of the analysts at Canadean, said:
“Women develop their skincare routine in their 20’s and stick with it. However, skin changes over the years, meaning skincare regimes should be adapted along the way. This trend research suggests that therapists and beauty professionals are well placed to provide clients with the customised skincare advice they are seeking when looking for products.”
Holistic beauty therapists are well-placed to be able to adapt to the needs of older clients, as many beauty professionals formulate their own products to suit individual customers, and have more time to be able to advise on homecare products after a beauty treatment than perhaps a high street beauty counter adviser might.
Consumer brands have already started to adapt their skincare offering to embrace the older woman and encourage her to experiment with new products that will suit her. One well-known consumer skincare brand has launched its ‘Face Facts Boutique’, a new campaign designed to target women between 40 and 60, and give them free skin consultations, advice on skincare routines and more. The boutique will be visiting some of the biggest shopping and retail centres across the UK to bring expert advice to where the customers are.
This initiative is very likely to be copied by other skincare companies, and is just one example of how the lines are becoming blurred between professional skincare services and beauty retail.
