John Lewis & Partners Beauty Bets report reveals the ‘Great British Glow Up’ is here to stay as consumer lifestyles continue to shift

Wednesday 8 December 2021

Collagen, lip liner, perfume and beauty miniatures were among the beauty must haves that defined the last 12 months according to this year's John Lewis Beauty Bets report. The report, which takes a look back at beauty in 2021 and outlines our 10 key trend predictions across skincare, make-up, hair, fragrance and wellness for the next 12 months revealed that people are now using their beauty expertise learnt over lockdown in their everyday routines.

While pandemic shopping last year was dominated by scented candles and diffusers, people’s new priority lies in smelling good themselves with the ‘FragranceWardrobe’ top of mind as they re-emerge after months at home and perfume sales increasing 24% compared to the previous year. Customers are looking for personal scents to match their mood and up their routines starting with a scented shower gel through to a woody hair mist. The most popular scents proved to be cult classics like Jo Malone London’s Lime Basil & Mandarin, Pomegranate Noir and Peony & Blush Suede. Fragrance body sprays also made a comeback with sales of Dior J’adore Deodorant Spray shooting up by a huge 275% versus last year.

Lockdown saw many become experts in skincare searching core ingredients more than ever, with retinol, vitamin C and hyaluronic acid at the top of searches. When shoppers had the chance to hit the stores, skincare was still a priority as in the three weeks following stores reopening on 12th April,sales of facial cleansers grew by 82%, moisturisers by 80% and exfoliators by 79%.As we move into party season, customers are seizing the opportunity to showcase their best bold make-up looks - sales of lipstick are up 30%, a trend expected to continue to grow, with bold lips being used as a quick way to take a beauty look from day to night - a must now social calendars fill up again. Now that lips are the centre of every look,sales of lip liners have also enjoyed a massive 386% hike in the weeks following stores reopening on 12th April, with this only expected to remain strong.

Moving into 2022, as people switch WFH for the office, Zoom cocktails for IRL dinners, and balcony sunbathing for destination holidays, downsized beauty products that can be stashed in handbags and travel cases are expected to boom next year. Beauty miniatures are already up 35% since last year,something that is only set to continue as customers are increasingly on-the-go and want to ‘try before they buy’ full size purchases. We can expect two-in-one products to be replaced, as four-in-one products take centre stage; several-step skincare routines will be replaced by a ‘skinimalism’ regime consisting of highly concentrated products that address multiple concerns in one, with Susanne Kaufmann’s Shower/Shampoo product acting as a shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and face wash proving popular.

2021 KEY STATS:

  • Lipstick +30%YOY
  • Cosmetic brushes +19%YOY
  • Perfume +24%YOY
  • Beauty Miniatures +35%YOY
  • Setting Sprays +8%YOY
  • Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector treatment +94%YOY
  • Foreo +361%YOY
  • Evolve +119% vs 2019
  • Kate Somerville +200%YOY
  • Aveda ChakraTM 4 Balancing Mist +350%YOY
  • The Beauty Chef Collagen Inner Boost +230%YOY
  • Triple-digit growth of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 EDP
  • Brands recognise that there isn’t just one ‘nude’ for all and John Lewis now houses 1274 lipsticks that fall in this category
  • Within make-up and fragrance, the average item spend has increased by almost 6% in the last 12 months
  • This year skincare accounted for over a third of all beauty sales
  • This years Beauty Advent Calendar sold 4,200 units in the first 24 hours – 3,000 of which within the first hour
  • We saw a 333% uplift week on week in customer bookings for a HydraFacial in Edinburgh since launching Cavendish Clinic
  • In the weeks following store reopening in April 2021:
    • 3000 brow treatments booked
    • Blusher +181%
    • eyeshadow +145%
    • Lipstick +178%
    • Lipliner +386%
    • Mascara +113% with Charlotte Tilbury Pillowtalk Push Up Lashes Mascara proving the best selling product across all departments - fashion, beauty and home.
    • Sleep sprays and oils +140%
    • Weighted blankets + 250%
    • Silk pillowcases +533%
    • Facial cleansers +82%
    • Moisturisers +80%
    • Exfoliators +79%
  • Over the summer 2021:
    • Blue eyeshadow sales increased with MAC Frost eyeshadow in Tilt +260% and Clinique All About Shadow Eyeshadow in Lagoon +300%YOY
    • Tom Ford Private Blend Fabulous Body Spray +99%YOY
    • Dior J'adore Deodorant Spray +275%YOY
    • This year we've sold enough egg-shaped Chanel hand care products including Creme La Main, Creme Riche, Le Lift Creme and No5. Creme, to fill 274 egg boxes
    • This year we’ve sold enough Jo Malone London Lime Basil & Mandarin, Pomegranate Noir and Peony & Blush Suede to fill 8067 champagne flutes!
    • Since 2019, over 71,000 customers have used our BeautyCycle take-back scheme, diverting over
    • 600,000 hard-to-recycle beauty packaging empties from going to landfill, and turning them into playgrounds.
    • Over the last six months we’ve hosted over 450 appointmentsVirtual Beauty 1-1 appointments

2021 BEST SELLERS:

  • Charlotte Tilbury Pillowtalk Push Up Lashes Mascara
  • The Boost LED Face Mask
  • Beauty Chef Collagen Inner Boost
  • Aesop Resurrection Aromatique hand wash
  • Diptyque Do Son Hair Mist
  • Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 EDP
  • Givenchy L'Interdit EDP Rouge
  • John Lewis Scent Series Discovery Box
  • Hourglass’ Curator Eyeshadow Pan Palette and pigments Air and Fox, are the most popular.
  • Votary Blemish Rescue Oil
  • Benefit Gimme Brow+Volumising Brow Gel
  • Maison Margiela Replica Miniature Fragrance Gift Set
  • John Lewis Beauty Advent Calendar
  • Aveda ChakraTM 4 Balancing Mist
  • Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray Ultra Glow
  • Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector treatment

2022 KEYTREND PREDICTIONS:

1. Make-up Maximalism

Customers are falling back in love with their beauty bags as we return to outside living and socialising, and a mood to experiment with colour and textures takes hold. Since the end of the third national lockdown, sales across every make-up category have seen a considerable uptick. In the three weeks following John Lewis stores reopening on 12th April,sales of blusher increased by 181%, eyeshadow by 145% and lipstick by 178%. Mascara sales rocket by 113% with Charlotte Tilbury Pillowtalk Push Up Lashes Mascara proving the best selling product across all sectors including fashion, beauty and home. We have seen customers enthusiastically return to make-up counters to discover, experiment and utilise our team of in-store Partners to seek expert advice.

This has been particularly prevalent in the foundation category where in-store colour matching has been so popular, it has led to a 14% rise in sales.

2. Healthy Mind, Healthy Skin

Collagen supplements are set to be a key focus in the ingestibles sector.Already our number one bestseller from the brand up 230% on the year, The Beauty Chef Collagen Inner Boost will continue in popularity. And while liquid and powder formats will remain strong, as we return to the daily commute, we will see capsules and tablets rise in popularity, as customers reach for a supplement that can be taken on-the-go. Anatomē will dominate in this space for us next year.

3. The Big Perfume Return

Historically a strong category for John Lewis (perfume is the most searched for category ever on johnlewis.com) 2021 has seen sales of perfume rise by 24% compared to the previous year.

Tapping into the mood for roaring twenties glamour, we expect strong and intense fragrances to be on our customers’ 2022 wish lists, with long-lasting EDP reached for over EDT. We have already seen triple-digit growth of Maison Francis Kurkdijan Baccarat Rouge 540 EDP, a heady floral woody scent with notes of jasmine, saffron and cedar.The idea of fragrance wardrobe will boom next year with customers curating their personal collection of scents to match their moods, or even layer on top of each other to create a bespoke fragrance.

This will span the entire beauty routine starting with a scented shower oil, followed by a body lotion and then a hair mist. With notes of fresh tuberose and enriched with nourishing camellia oil, Diptyque Do Son Hair Mist is currently performing very well.

4. All About Actives

This year skincare accounted for over a third of all beauty sales. In the three weeks following stores reopening on 12th April,sales of facial cleansers grew by 82%, moisturisers by 80% and exfoliators by 79%.We have seen huge growth in brands that lead in this space including Murad, Sunday Riley and Kate Somerville, the latter having seen a 200% growth since it was introduced into our skincare offering last autumn. Moving into 2022, active-based products that target post-pandemic lifestyle-related skin concerns will dominate. Launching early in the new year, Murad’s retinol eye masks are designed to treat fine lines accelerated by increased screen time.

We’re also backing Kate Somerville’s BHA-rich Eradikate skincare set which addresses maskne.

5. The 90s Pout Returns

We’ve already seen sales of lipstick rise by 30%YOY, and expect this to continue to grow. Tapping into the trend for nineties nostalgia, power nudes will dominate with a move towards warm sunset tones as seen on the S/S 22 catwalks: burnt oranges, deep peaches, terracotta reds. Brands recognise that there isn’t just one ‘nude’ for all and John Lewis now houses 1274 lipsticks that fall in this category; we predict Charlotte Tilbury’s The Super Nudes collection will lead the way in 2022. Sales of lipliner enjoyed a massive 386% hike in the weeks following stores reopening on 12th April. We expect that category to remain strong as liner is used to compliment a nineties lip look.

6. Beauty with Purpose

Since 2019, over 71,000 customers have used our BeautyCycle take-back scheme, diverting over 600,000 hard-to-recycle beauty packaging empties from going to landfill, and turning them into playgrounds One of the biggest step changes we will see next year are waste-reducing refillable products becoming the norm. Ouai and Rituals are exemplar, and we are excited for Molton Brown to launch refillables next year at John Lewis.

Already offering a refillable format of Magic Cream and Magic Night Cream, Charlotte Tilbury continues to lead the way.We are backing Hourglass’ Curator Eyeshadow Pan Palette – a tin and post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic palette, which uses five plastic bottles worth of recycled materials – to be a customer favourite.

7. Mini Adventure 2022

Miniatures are up 35%YOY, something that is only set to continue as customers’ are increasingly on-the-go. So big is the appetite for bite-sized beauty, we have installed a floor-to-ceiling miniatures wall in our Edinburgh beauty hall,stocking small-scale iterations from hero brands including Dermalogica and Benefit. This will be rolled out to 12 further stores in the coming months as choice, experimentation and ‘try-before-you-buy’ continues to prove popular.We experienced record-breaking sales of our John Lewis Beauty Advent Calendar, with 4,200 units sold in the first 24 hours – 3,000 of which within the first hour.

8. The 24 HourWellness Kit

As the beauty wellness boom continues, it will no longer solely be about ‘Self-Care Sunday’, 24 hour wellness, will be on the rise 7 days a week. Calming essential oils will play a starring role - sales of Aveda ChakraTM 4 Balancing Mist have increased by 350% year on year, and thanks to online education, customers will become increasingly confident to mix their own calming blends using pure form. In the weeks following stores reopening on 12th April,sales of sleepscape components soared with sleep sprays and oils up by 140%, weighted blankets up by 250% and silk pillowcases up by a tremendous 533%.

9. BeautyTechTake Off

2020/21 saw beauty tech products boom as we were left to create our own at-home beauty salons,so much so, that we launched our first ever beauty tech department with LED light masks, facial toning devices and clever cleansers that have proved hugely popular over the last year; Foreo proving the most popular with a whopping 361% uplift on the year.We predict this to accelerate in 2022, with innovations in the space moving from DIY tools to high-tech HydraFacials, Micropeels and Cryotherapy.This year we introduced Cavendish Clinic into our beauty services offering in Edinburgh, Peter Jones, Kingston, Milton Keynes and Southampton stores, the latter hosting theWorld’s first on-the-shop floor HydraFacial bar. Our most popular treatment is the HydraFacial and when we launched the clinic earlier this year in Edinburgh, we saw a 333% uplift week on week in customer bookings.

10. The New 2-in-1

Several-step skincare routines will be replaced by a ‘skinimalism’ regime consisting of highly concentrated products that address multiple concerns in one. A mindset of considered frugality will see customers’ leave behind superfluous products and focus on those that fulfill not just one, but multiple functions excellently.

However, this doesn’t mean spending less.Within make-up and fragrance, the average item spend has increased by almost 6% in the last 12 months, as customers’ invest in hardworking products that deliver results.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain's best-loved retail brands - John Lewis and Waitrose. Started as a radical idea nearly a century ago, the Partnership is the largest employee-owned business in the UK and amongst the largest in the world, with over 80,000 employees who are all Partners in the business. Profits made are reinvested into the business - for customers and Partners. John Lewis operates 42 shops plus one outlet across the UK as well as johnlewis.com. Waitrose has 331 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 59 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations. The retailer's omnichannel business includes the online grocery service, Waitrose.com, as well as specialist online shops including waitrosecellar.com for wine and waitroseflorist.com for plants and flowers.

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John Lewis & Partners


Leah White

Partner & Senior Communications Officer, Brand & Lifestyle
Email: leah.white@johnlewis.co.uk