The statistic represents the per capita expenditure on cosmetic products in Europe and the emerging markets. In 2010, Europeans spent an average of 90 Euros annually on cosmetic products.
Cosmetics industry
The European cosmetics market, home to Coco Chanel and French-girl chic, is
one of the strongest in the world, but industry experts agree they are running out of room to grow there. European and American cosmetics companies are turning their eyes on emerging economies- China, India, South America, - hoping these markets will take to products that have proven popular back home.
Some see this expansion of the Western cosmetic industry as an unhealthy globalization of Western beauty standards. Skin whitening products, for example, are now deeply criticized as racist in the West, while still maintaining a prominent place on store shelves in countries where a darker skin tone is the norm. The cosmetics companies themselves tend to frame these maneuvers as a way of giving these markets options that formerly weren’t available to them.
It may be asking a lot, still, for these consumers to budget 50 dollars for skin cream when many are living on the equivalent of less than one U.S. dollar a day. But beauty will find a way.
Developing markets like China and India are seeing the rapid expansion of the middle and upper-middle class and with that the desire and possibility to spend more on one’s appearance. Spending trends across the globe are currently quite varied, but spending on personal care products can be expected to equalize as these emerging markets continue to develop.
As usual, the internet has had a strong effect on cosmetic trends around the globe. Whether the east is emulating the west is hard to say, but intercultural communication is certainly at an all-time high. Global consumer-to-consumer communication has been made possible
thanks to platforms such as YouTube and sephora.com, where consumers are posting reviews and tutorials of their most and least loved products and looks. Beauty aficionados around the globe can be part of the same online cosmetic community, inspiring and guiding each other’s routines and, consequently, each other’s beauty investments.