UK Colour Cosmetics Market Report 2026
UK makeup purchasing remains resilient, despite financial pressure, but consumer behaviour is becoming more value-led.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for colour cosmetics
- Opportunities
- Act now (2026): reduce today’s friction with smarter curation and clearer evidence
- By 2028: defend makeup’s role by competing with adjacent categories
- By 2030: keep pace with evolving purchase journeys
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THE MARKET
- Snapshot – market size and forecast
- Market factors
- Value sensitivity is driving demand for functional, routine-protecting formats
- Graph 1: the financial wellbeing index, 2017-26
- Bridging generations is key to unlocking Gen Alpha spending
- Improved access to Asian brands is driving category growth and can inspire future innovation
- Tighter regulation shifts value from newness to performance
- Market size
- Value-driven purchasing and targeted innovation shape growth
- Graph 2: market size for colour cosmetics, 2021-26
- Steady but constrained growth in UK colour cosmetics is forecast
- Graph 3: market size and forecast for colour cosmetics, 2021-31
- Self-tan brands encroach on base makeup with glow-led positioning
- Offset the risk of a value sales decline caused by an uptick in lash/brow treatments
- Graph 4: eyebrow/eyelash treatments recieved in the last 12 months, 2023-25
- Lip care growth threatens to absorb lip makeup spend
- Make nails relevant again with easy to use and durable formats
- Graph 5: nail treatments recieved in the last 12 months, 2023-25
- The purchase journey is increasingly fragmented
- Graph 6: retail value sales of colour cosmetics, by retail channel, 2024-25
- Accessible innovation and social media hype drove mass value growth
- Online buzz is no longer dominated solely by prestige brands
- Case study: how NYX turned virality into value
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THE CONSUMER
- Increase product repertoires by taking a targeted approach to routine additions
- Frequent makeup wearers are primed for routine upgrades
- Increase product repertoires with simple, easy-to-understand steps
- Graph 7: repertoire of makeup products used in the last 12 months, by generation, 2026
- Remove friction to drive more frequent makeup use
- Help consumers fix patchy makeup with “first aid” style solutions
- Improve makeup selection confidence with undertone education
- Turn undertone education into routine-building opportunities
- Engage in trends, but differentiate through proven performance
- Drive value growth with products that solve consumer pain points
- Improve functional claim clarity to justify higher spend
- Close performance and shade gaps to unlock trading up opportunities
- Make long-lasting claims emotionally resonate
- Solve undertone mismatches to justify higher-value base makeup
- As makeup skinification stagnates, keep pace with skincare to stand out
- Skin changes are a hidden driver of dissatisfaction
- Build trust in-store and online to become a go-to brand
- Align with consumers’ omnichannel approach to makeup shopping
- Reposition digital tools from checkout features to confidence builders
- Graph 8: select makeup purchasing behaviours in the last 12 months, by retail channels used to purchase makeup products in the last 12 months, 2026
- Provide reassurance to create confident consumers willing to spend
- Meaningfully integrate tech into purchase journeys without it becoming another source of noise
- Consumers look for familiarity
- Utilise brand heritage to remove risk, not just signal loyalty
- TikTok Shop can increase frequency of connection with a brand/product
- Unlock experimentation in an increasingly saturated category
- Experimentation becomes more selective in a crowded makeup category
- Drive first usage with sensorial-appeal and continued purchase with visible results
- Everyday, utility-led accessories can strengthen product interest
- Use imperfect imagery to build credibility
- Catch consumers ahead of special occasions, when their spend tolerance is higher
- Shift full experimental looks to modular add-ons
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PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
- Use packaging as an education tool
- As skincare leads, anti-ageing claims will reshape makeup expectations
- Marc Jacobs Beauty relaunch spotlights sensory-driven maximalism in premium makeup
- Use multisensory, cross-category storytelling to enhance launch engagement
- Acknowledge contrasting pop culture trends for future NPD
- Make trends translatable through familiar formats
- Improve the user experience for trending long-lasting lip products
- Long-wear makeup creates new opportunities for cleansing brand extensions
- Simplify routines with makeup designed to blend, not layer
- Primers are best placed to carry SPF, but need clearer guardrails
- Leverage community to build hype and communicate reformulations
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APPENDIX
- Market definition
- The market
- Forecast methodology
- Forecast methodology – fan chart
- Market size and forecast at constant and current prices
- Market size and forecast prediction intervals
- Market size, by price positioning
- Market size, by segment
- Market share
- Channels to market
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Repertoire analysis methodology
- UK generation groups
- Innovation
- Launch activity, by sub-category
- Graph 9: colour cosmetics launches, by sub-category, 2021-26
- Launch activity, by launch type
- Graph 10: colour cosmetics launches, by launch type, 2021-26
- Launch activity, by brand type
- Graph 11: colour cosmetics launches, by launch type, 2021-26
- Demographic data
- Population estimates
- Census 2021: high-level ethnicity
- Other data source methodologies
- Mintel Spark
- Abbreviations
UK Colour Cosmetics Industry – Trends and Insights
- UK makeup purchasing remains resilient, despite financial pressure, but consumer behaviour is becoming more value-led. In the UK, 33% of makeup buyers say the availability of cheaper versions would encourage them to try a new product, signalling interest in price-driven trial over novelty.
- Consumers are prioritising products that justify their place in a routine through performance, longevity and multifunctionality. This is creating a “dupe pressure cycle” where viral launches are quickly replicated at lower price points, accelerating comparison and limiting brands’ ability to sustain premium positioning.
- As a result, dupe pressure limits value sales from frequent and trend-led launches, with targeted, problem-solving innovation that addresses persistent consumer pain points driving growth instead. Products that improve fit (e.g. undertone-first bases), wear (e.g. longer-lasting glow or correction tools) and efficiency (e.g. hybrid formats) are best placed to encourage consumers to trade up and repeat purchase by reducing friction.
- However, competition from adjacent categories is putting pressure on makeup’s role. Lip care is absorbing spend through tinted treatment hybrids, and rises in professional treatments are absorbing key eye and nail usage occasions. Without clear differentiation and credible performance, makeup risks losing ownership of these moments, leading to further value leakage.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- What UK colour cosmetics consumers view as innovative, and how this impacts social media trends and product virality
- The impact of the “dupe pressure cycle” on the category, and how to avoid getting caught in the cycle via performance-led differentiation
- The importance of adapting to new shopper behaviours, such as the rise of omnichannel, value-driven purchasing, and the shift toward online impulse purchasing
- How to win and differentiate in complexion using strategic shade ranges, hybrid formulas, and evidence-led claims, supported by tools that improve shade confidence and drive repeat purchase
- Which colour cosmetics trends are emerging, and which have longevity based on consumer routines, frustrations, and interests
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
- Face makeup: foundation, concealer, face powder, BB/CC cream, tinted moisturiser, blusher, bronzer, primer, highlighter, colour correctors, contouring products
- Eye makeup: mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, eyebrow products, false eyelashes
- Lip makeup: lipstick, lip gloss, lip liner, tinted lip balm
- Nail makeup: nail polish, gel/UV nail polish, false nails
Within this Report, we also discuss base and point colour makeup. Base makeup refers to products for the face that create an even cover for the skin, primarily foundation, concealer, BB/CC creams and face powder. By contrast, point colour refers to makeup products that are designed to draw attention to specific areas, such as eye, lip and nail makeup.
Nail care products (eg cuticle cream, buffers and French manicure) are excluded. Body glitter products and instant tanning products are also outside the scope of this Report.
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