Why we’re spending more on luxury skincare than ever before
We know why they don’t get fat, now the skincare ritual that keeps them fresh is gaining traction here.
In-store facials have come a long way from a little room out the back playing Enya. The latest proof? The addition of Biologique Recherche, the ultimate French IYKYK luxury skincare brand to Mecca’s George Street and Mecca Aesthetica in Melbourne which until now was only available in select salons.
The brand, famous for its astringent (and frankly rather pungent) Lotion P50 exfoliant uses a variety of diagnostic tools - including the same technology as NASA uses for checking humidity- to personalise all of its skincare treatments.
The introduction of the brand into Mecca fits with how the booming skincare industry is positioning itself for growth.
According to the most recent The State of Fashion: Beauty, a new report from The Business of Fashion (BoF) and McKinsey, skincare, beauty’s largest category, is expected to grow from USD$190 billion to USD$260 billion between 2022 and 2027. As the report noted, the growth will be mostly driven by new innovations in a saturated market, and customers seeking out products with science-based efficacy.
Amanda Winchester, associate partner, McKinsey and Company says they’ve observed a global uptick of investment into the luxury beauty category from both brands, and consumers.
“We’ve seen an uptick in investments from beauty or traditional luxury brands looking to expand their product portfolio at higher price points, which is then reinforced by increasing consumer demand for products in that space,” she says.
“The global community of high-earning and luxury clients is growing in both size and spending power. The industry’s attractiveness has not been lost on large, non-beauty businesses, including luxury megabrands that are launching beauty brands of their own, setting up funds and incubators, or acquiring established brands. These expansions offer differentiating products, large fan bases and a finger on the pulse of the next big thing.”
Winchester sees social media, which brings people’s “once private bathroom practices into the public eye” as a driver for some of the growth.
It’s something that Melanie Grant, celebrity facialist and owner of high end salons in Melbourne, Sydney and LA, has observed too.
“We’re so lucky to be entering an era where access to information is available at our fingertips through social media and direct to consumer (DTC) brand engagement. I think this is one of the reasons that purchasing higher value, multifunctional and more results-driven formulas is on the rise,” she says.
“Using a lesser number of products, but being able to trust that the ones you’re incorporating are actually achieving notable changes in the skin is a sound investment - it’s actually more sustainable for our budgets and the environment and helps our complexion stand the test of time.”
Because of this, Grant (who also stocks Biologique Recherche along with other cult brands such as Augustinus Bader) says people expect more from in-salon treatments too.
“Because we can achieve so much with our home care on a day-to-day basis in terms of clarity, brightness, hydration and to some degree, firmness, we’re seeing an increase in demand for more corrective services that take the skin to the next level, but can’t be performed outside of a clinic. Things like deeper peels to address hormonal pigment, lasers for sun damage, redness and fine lines, radiofrequency to restore collagen integrity and skin needling to plump and refine the texture of the skin are all on the rise,” she says.
Maia Bryant, head of skincare at Mecca says there has been a marked rise in luxury beauty and ‘premiumisation.’
“The concepts of stealth wealth and quiet luxury aren’t new, however, in 2024 we have seen skincare take new heights at Mecca within the luxury beauty segment as it is projected to grow at an annual rate of 8 per cent across five years, as consumers trade up and increase their spending on luxury beauty items,” she says.
Bryant says seven in ten shoppers at the skincare destination believe prestigious beauty brands are worth the extra investment. Partly because they’ve already done their research into what she calls ‘sci-fluence’ skincare.
“Customers are only becoming more informed on ingredients and product efficacy, which in turn has brought a new level of credibility and trust to the beauty industry, with luxury, expert-backed brands centre stage,” she says.
“The rise in popularity of sci-fluence brands has given us an opportunity to really extend our offering when providing access to certain products and experiences.”
Meghan Horn, director of Biologique Recherche Australia, says we might be becoming a little more ‘French’ in the way Australians think about looking after their skin too.
“We see modern customers really taking their regular facial treatments seriously. In France, it has always been quite normal to have a monthly facial, it is seen as a necessary part of caring for oneself. I think previously in Australia and other parts of the world, facials were reserved as a special luxury or only for those trying to treat a specific concern like Acne for example. Nowadays, we see that our next generation of consumers seek out their facialist and are loyal to their monthly facials as a consistent and preventative approach,” she says.
