In October 2024, Perfumer & Flavorist+ attended The Colors and dsm-firmenich A Multicultural Journey in Cosmetics and Perfumery event in New York City, where Nielsen IQ’s VP of Global Marketing & Communcations, Kymberly Graham shared insight into the Black beauty consumer’s spending power and the opportunity for brands.
Graham explained, "The total beauty is worth over $100 billion, of that, the Black beauty consumer contributes about $14 billion a year to that industry. On average the Black beauty consumer spends $823/per year on average on beauty and personal products."
The full insight is shared in the Instagram video below.
The VP of Global Marketing & Communications also presented a graph of growth patterns for beauty categories, detailing markets of continued growth are directly correlated to categories where the Black consumer is engaged and there is a decline in categories where the Black consumer isn't engaged or interested.
Graham continued, "How do you keep a Black beauty consumer engaged? Relevant products. There's an opportunity to better market to that consumer because they're there, and you have their attention, how do you continue to increase your relevancy with them?"
One of the key categories Black consumers are spending more than other purchasers are Bath & Shower Gel as well as Fragrance.
Graham stated, "There's an opportunity to understand what these consumers are purchasing and how to better serve them because they are there, they're interested and highly engaged so how do you increase growth? The answer lies in African or African-originated ingredients, when we pull apart some of this data and look at specifically what types are growing within those categories [two of the highlighted ingredients] include shea butter and vanilla."
