Unabashed Beauty
Hard Candy, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, wins with inventive packaging. The Eye Candy eyeshadow shown here comes in a sliding case with a mirror on the back and mini eyeliner, the Lip Tattoo has breath freshening gloss on one end and the palette of five eye shadows comes with a mini eyeshadow primer.
Whether found in drugstores or upscale shops, premium and exclusive beauty care ines give national brands tough competition.
Premium beauty care lines from upper-end stores like Sephora have proven to be a major success in the past. Presently, many retailers are following suit and adding their own lines with hopes up holding up in the competitive beauty care market and experiencing the same success. Topshop, owned by UK-based Arcadia Group and a relative newcomer to the U.S. market, has recently added two lines of private brand makeup focusing on seasonal colors and core products, while time-tested U.S. staples like C.O. Bigelow Chemists continue to add to a successful portfolio. Walgreens, Deerfiled, IL, and even Wal-Mart, Bentonville, AR, compete with exclusive lines that rival national brands in both price and desirability and nearly every retailer has a website to sell its products on.
Mintel’s recent Beauty Retailing report reveals that the female Baby Boomer population is more web-savvy than ever. One in ten respondents to a recent Mintel survey report using some type of online retailer to purchase cosmetics and skin care aids, and the female Boomer population is expected to increase by 30.9% from 2005-2015. When looking strictly at online sales, 8% of those surveyed visit mass merchandiser sites for beauty products, 8% order from Wal-Mart.com, 8% order from Target.com, 5% patronize drugstore sites like CVS or Walgreens and 8% visit other unnamed online retailers.
What draws consumers to a particular website? Creativity. “Innovations like virtual makeovers, new product tweets and online-only sweepstakes draw in consumers and provide them with benefits and discounts they can’t find in an actual brick-and-mortar store,” says Kat Fay, senior analyst at Mintel.
Sephora Savvy
LVMH Group’s, Paris, France, Sephora is best known for its unique open-sell environment where shoppers can help themselves to testing practically anything in the store before they purchase it. In addition to Sephora’s own store brand, the store sells brand items from a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, bath & body, smilecare, and haircare. It even has its own training facility – Sephora University – in San Francisco, in an effort to help it build a knowledgeable and professional team of product consultants.
Sephora’s in-store sampling of their brand in addition to others might be the key to proving to some consumers its lower-priced products are just as good as the national brands. The Sephora brand makeup line, found in it own section in the store, includes everything from .5 fl-oz. lip gloss tubes starting at $10 to a six shade Sephora Collection Colorful Pro Eyeshadow Palette for green, blue or brown eyes for $26.
Sephora creates a shopping destination with in-store sampling. Its creative accessories like this Mini Heated Lash Curler and upscale beauty bargains like this hot coral lip gloss for $10 make its private brand collection a hit.
Sephora even goes one step beyond typical makeup palates with its innovative kits. Kits for eyes, brows and complexion help shoppers perfect makeup techniques on their own with diagrams and accessories to get the same look as on the package. For example, the Sephora Brand Smoky Eyes Palette retails at $36, (advertising itself as a $50 value) and contains four 0.07-oz eye shadow shades, a black eyeliner pencil, a 0.1 oz Gradual Volume Black Mascara and a double-sided brush/sponge-tip applicator, packed in a palette equipped with explanatory pictures and a mirror. According to the website, the palette “gives you the tools and instructions you need to achieve the classic smoky eye in six easy steps. It’s the ultimate sexy look made beautifully mistake proof!”
In addition to a full line of makeup, the store also sells an array of innovative beauty accessories. While most drugstore beauty accessory offerings seemed to be the same from store to store, Private Label found unique items at Sephora, including a Mini Heated Lash Curler. The tiny contraption has instructions on the packaging in eight different languages and exclaims: “Maximize the natural curl of your lashes with or without mascara! AAA battery included.”
The Sepora Tonytail Wrap, a ponytail wrap made of synthetic hair and an elastic band, has its unique design is protected by three patents. According to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), Chicago, sales of private label hair accessories in drug and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart, Club stores and Gas/Cstores) rose just over 65% to $30.6 million, according to the last 52 weeks ending February 21, 2010.
Hard Candy
Hard Candy, which used to be sold at Sephora, was introduced to Wal-Mart in 2009 making it the first prestige beauty line to be carried exclusively at this nationwide mass merchandiser.
According to an article by Katherine Rosman on The Wall Street Journal’s website, Wal-Mart secured exclusive rights to the brand name and developed its own creations under the name. “By making Hard Candy into an in-house brand, the retailer avoided the need to convince a prestige brand to be among the first to sell at Wal-Mart,” writes Rosman.
The article continued: “Demand for Hard Candy products has been so strong that Wal-Mart now stocks the brand in 3,000 stores, up from 200 in October,” says Carmen Bauza, Wal-Mart’s vice president of beauty. “Reaction has been so positive,” she says. “Now, prestige brands are now coming to us. That is a shift.”
Wal-Mart’s involvement in social media currently includes a variety of Twitter pages, including WalmartBeauty, where, among beauty news, a tweet about Hard Candy can be found. The tweet links shoppers to an article on Wal-Mart’s webpage by Carissa Passerella, beauty expert for Wal-Mart. Passerella reviews the brand’s Shadow Sticks commenting: “I was so happy to see Hard Candy at Walmart.com- it’s a fun line with an underground feel that in the past was notoriously hard to find. Don’t dismiss the packaging and somewhat glittery offerings as fare for tweens, they have some solid things that would be a welcome addition for most women’s routines.”
Inventive packing and low prices are draws for the line. Private Label found Eye Candy sparkle cream eyeshadow & glitter eyeliner packaged together for $5. The shadow comes in a compact with a sliding lid covering the shadow on top and a mirror on the bottom. For just $7 shoppers can get 5 shadows in a pallet wrapped with a mini tube of eyeshadow primer and for $6 the store sells Hard Candy Lip Tattoo lip stain and breath freshening gloss in a two-in-one tube.
The products exclaim on some packages, “We love our animal friends. We don’t test products on them.”
Topshop Beauty
CVS’s Organic cotton balls and Whole Foods Market’s 365 Organic Everyday Value Organic Quilted Cotton Rounds provide shoppers a way to apply and remove cosmetics without worrying about chemical residues. K-Mart’s Image Essentials eco-friendly salon boards are made of recycled paper.
Clothing retailer Topshop, known across the world for fashion forward clothes and accessories, has now entered the competitive prestige beauty care market with its May launch of its new cosmetics ranges. The ranges include both a core line and a seasonal trend collection.
The Core Collection features products for nails, eyes, skin and lips, such as Eyeshadow Duos for $12.00, Lips (lipstick) for $16.00, Nails (nail polish) for $10.00 and Skin Tint for $20.00. A pamphlet available in store describes the collection: “Every piece you can possibly think of has been produced with incredible formulations and directional color to boot.”
The SS10 Trend Collection provides a “directional, limited edition, color update” every three months. The debuting collection includes Amazon Shadow in Sunstar or Moon Dust for $16.00 (a trio of shades), Amazon Lip and Cheek Tint in Bitten Berry for $12.00, a highlighter, two Metallic Kohls and two Crayons.
The products are stylishly packaged in black and white designs, such as illustrated stripes and polka dots, and the website features video tutorials by make up artist Hannah Murray. A virtual makeover application is coming soon. To promote the new line make up artists were in store during the initial launch and the retailer gave away free Topshop Make Up bags.
What Works
Bath & Body Works, a brand of Limited Brands, Columbus, OH, is known for its prosperous own name line of fragrant personal care products, including shower gels, lotions, candles and accessories. Limited Brands’ portfolio of businesses include C.O. Bigelow as well. Under the Bath and Body Works brand shoppers can find spa like products for treatments they can easily administer at home–a great benefit at a time when shoppers are cutting back on spa visits to save money. Bath & Body Works Signature Collection includes products ranging from $4.00 for Handibac Hand Spray to Eau de Toilette for $29.50. Scents are always being updated and one of the newest options to hit the market is orange sapphire, “a sexy blend of golden honey with white jasmine, exotic blood orange, vibrant mandarin and citrus sangria.”
Products like body lotion, shower gel, body butter, fragrance mist and body scrub provide shoppers affordable luxuries. Bath & Body Works gets consumers ready for summer with a new scent options in its line of Cooling Mists, which are sprayed on the body to provide fragrance and refresh skin. Orange Sapphire Cooling Mist reads the scent is “inspired by the fiery passion and sunswept beaches of Brazil.”
C.O. Bigelow
C.O. Bigelow Chemists has stood the test of time. For decades the landmark store tucked away in New York City’s West Village has been a destination spot for discerning New Yorkers. So much so that it shows up on fromers.com which said of the store recently: “Who’d think that a 169-year-old apothecary would carry the city’s most eclectic, enjoyable, and international collection of healthy-skin and personal-care products? The goodies run the gamut from Kusco-Murphy hair creams to French Elgydium toothpaste, a bestseller. And now, taking a page from Kiehl’s, Bigelow has beautifully packaged its own house-brand line of soaps, salves, essential oils, and beauty treatments.”
Bigelow believes in using high quality products and, according to the website, they travel the world, “scouring for items that make a difference in the way you look and feel.”
The C.O. Bigelow Face Collection features ingredients that take a cue from nature. Exclusive complexes include Healthy Skin Complex, super-boosted with vitamins and minerals for healthy, strong, youthful-looking skin; Skin-Renewal Complex to combat aging and skin dehydration; and Anti-Pollution Complex to shield skin from environmental aggressors by providing on-demand antioxidant protection activated by sunlight. Under this line shoppers can buy items like Bigelow All-in-One Protective Cream with SPF 25 for $19.50 or Bigelow Multi-Nutrient Repair Serum for $24.00.
The new Village Perfumer Hand Wash, Body Lotion and Body Cleanser come in six current fragrances: wild berry, lime & coriander, grapefruit, coconut, rosemary mint and lavender.
One of the most popular and lasting fragrances under the C.O. Bigelow line is Lemon. Lemon product labels, like on the Lemon Body Lotion, tell shoppers “This recipe has been a favorite in our apothecary since 1870.” According to the website the Lemon Cream Body Wash is a CEW beauty winner.
For shoppers who might want to try a new product there is a wealth of C.O. Products that come in both a large size and a small size, for example the 10-oz. Bigelow Lemon Sugar Body Scrub for $19.50 is also offered in a 2-oz. jar for $7.50.
For nationwide shoppers who can’t get to the New York store, bestselling Bigelow products are available online. The store even ships to Australia, Canada, England and Japan now.
Even men’s care products are available at Bigelow. The number one bestseller in the men’s product category on the website was Bigelow Premium Shave Cream. A 5.1-oz tube of it retails at $10.00.
“I set out to find a shaving cream that gave the closest, coolest shave on earth,” Ian Ginsberg, third generation C.O. Bigelow proprietor and pharmacist writes on the shiny green package. “My search landed me in Italy where I discovered one of the most incredible shaving formulas known to man. Favored by Italian barbers, this creamy, softening lather formula protects all skin types, cools the skin and gives a truly exceptional shave.”
Ulta’s Ultra Chic
Ulta (ULTA), Romeo, IL, was founded in 1990 as a discount beauty retailer at a time when prestige, mass and salon products were sold through distinct channels. Now it provides the “value and convenience of a beauty superstore with the distinctive environment and experience of a specialty retailer” and its innovative Ulta brand product portfolio is ever-growing. Ulta comes in at 18 on this year’s Top 20 Drug Retailers/Wholesalers list. Products under the stores own name cover the areas of make up, skin care, body care, hair care, wellness and accessories.
The new Ulta Shower Smoothies line offers shoppers a triple duty cleanser for $14.99 (just $9.99 online) for 24 fl. oz. The products in the line can be used as a bubble bath, shampoo or body wash and come in delicious flavors, such as appletini, buttercream cupcake, key lime kooler and chocolate milkshake.
The Ulta Shower Gel line retails at just $8.00 for 10 fl. oz. and tempts shoppers with an array of scents, such as honey sugar, almond cookie, va va vanillia and passion kiwi.
CVS Savings
More than 38% of shoppers are continuing to focus on their appearance while cutting back on salon and spa visits, according to the IRI report Branding the Beauty Shopper: Changing Attitude & Shopping Behaviors Create New Opportunities and Challenges for Beauty CPG Companies.
The same report says nearly a quarter of consumers surveyed reported trading to lower-priced brands and shopping at different stores to secure the hair care, skin care and cosmetic products they need.
Shoppers stopping in CVS Pharmacy, Woonsocket, RI, for skin care products will be hit with a plethora of store brands as of late. Shelves lined with “new!” products exclaim comparisons to national brands and CVS products containing pro-retinol are among the top trends.
One example is CVS advanced eye lift dual formula. The box says it compares to L’Oreal Advanced RevitaLift Double Eye Lift. A thick red band at the bottom with white text highlights “20% more than the national brand.”
The eye lift contains “Pro-Retinol encapsulated vitamin A.” The name “Pro-Retinol A” is trademarked by L’Oreal, but according to the Retinol Resource Center, retinol is essentially just a fancy name for vitamin A; however, it is perhaps the most important vitamin for the appearance of the skin.
Other “new” products spotted by Private Label recently included products to compare to the RoC national brand in similar gold packing, such as the store brand deep wrinkle moisturizer with retinol and spf 30. Additional new store brands compared to Olay Definity, Aveeno Positively Radiant and Aveeno Skin Brightening.
Walgreens Wow
Walgreens offers shoppers seeking a fountain of youth its exclusive Skin Essentials line. The $25.99 Skin Essentials Instant Deep Wrinkle Filler package says it is a “value alternative to StriVectin-WF, $59 in departments stores.” The wrinkle filling formula features Dynalift, a trademark of Sederma, and claims to give shoppers a more youthful and healthy complexion without doctor visits, needles or surgery, by reducing the appearance of both fine lines and deep wrinkles instantly. Other products in the line include an Age Spot Treatment, ProVectin Plus Advanced Eye Cream or Wrinkle Repair and an Anti-Puff Eye Roller.
Under the W brand there are products to fight aging and compete with Loreal Revitalift or Olay Regenerist products. W Micro-Remodeling Cream retails for $21.99 and has similar packaging and ingredients to a $29.99 Olay product, while W Advanced Firming and Anti-Wrinkle Eye or Anti Wrinkle Face and Neck compare to L’Oreal Revitalift.
Eco-Friendly Savings
Shoppers will find plenty of eco-friendly store brands to apply their cosmetics. Whole Foods Market, Austin, TX, recently had a center aisle display of 365 Organic Everyday Value Quilted Cotton rounds to remove or apply makeup. While this isn’t surprising from Whole Foods, drugstores like CVS and Duane Reade both have featured end cap displays of organic cotton balls in the past.
Last year, Whole Foods unveiled its new premium body care standards for personal care products sold in its Whole Body departments.
“It took our experts more than two years to meticulously examine each and every personal care ingredient in Whole Body. Using the most current safety and efficacy data, research and resources available they evaluated each product ingredient in four key areas, searching for the excellence that we believe makes for a premium product,” says the retailer on its website.
“We identified more than 300 ingredients unacceptable for Premium Body Care. These include parabens, polypropylene and polyethylene glycols, sodium lauryl and laureth sulfates. Our research also yielded crucial information about the effects of ingredients in several categories of public interest.”
Whole Foods created a “Whole Foods Premium Body Care” logo to identify exclusive premium brand products. Store brand 365 Everyday Value Body Lotion sports the logo.
