Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: Americans opt for low-maintenance beauty & grooming regimes post-pandemic

Attest, a consumer research platform for the world’s biggest and fastest-growing brands, conducted a survey of 2,000 nationally representative US consumers on their attitudes and behaviors for beauty and grooming regimes.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: Americans opt for low-maintenance beauty & grooming regimes post-pandemic
Photo by Amy Shamblen / Unsplash
  • New research finds that most people are likely to devote no more than 15 minutes a day for pepping up their appearance 
  • The average American consumer spends a relatively low amount ($26-50) per month on beauty/grooming products 
  • The DIY beauty trend appears to be continuing with 8 in 10 (85%) carrying out beauty and grooming treatments at home

As America reopens and returns to some normalcy with the lifting of Covid restrictions and mask mandates, it appears the pandemic’s effect has had a lasting impact on how the public views and maintains personal appearance. 

Attest, a consumer research platform for the world’s biggest and fastest-growing brands, conducted a survey of 2,000 nationally representative US consumers on their attitudes and behaviors for beauty and grooming regimes. The US Beauty & Grooming Report 2022 Report reveals:

A majority choose a low-maintenance approach to their appearance: 

  • Just under half of Americans (45%) spend no more than 15 minutes on beauty and grooming each day, while nearly a third (31%) say they only take up to 30 minutes for their daily personal care regime. The shift to home/hybrid working could help to explain the short amount of time Americans now devote to their appearance. 
  • The majority of women report not needing more than 30 minutes each day, while men are most likely to spend less than 15 minutes on beauty and grooming efforts. 
  • One in 10 (11%) respondents use 45 minutes for personal upkeep and only 5% of people spend more than an hour a day. 

Americans keep spending low & the bathroom cabinet light on products:

  • In keeping with the move to a quicker, more stripped back personal care regime, American consumers are most likely to spend between $26-50 per month on beauty/grooming products. This is followed by nearly a quarter (24%) of thrifty spenders who only allocated $10-25 per month for these types of products. 
  • This drive for simplicity also appears in the number of products that people are using as part of their daily beauty and grooming routine. The majority of men use no more than three products, while women use between 4-6. Only 8.5% of Ameircans use 10 or more products daily. 

DIY beauty is here to stay: 

  • Due to coronavirus restrictions, many consumers had to take beauty and grooming into their own hands, leading to a surge in at-home treatments. Attest’s research shows that 85% of people carry out beauty and grooming treatments at home. 
  • The most popular DIY treatment is a face mask or facial, undertaken by 39% of people. 
  • Hairdressers beware also - around a third of Americans are cutting (33%) and coloring (32%) their hair at home. Nearly half of men (45%) now say they cut their hair at home, versus one in five (21%) of women. 
  • Other popular DIY beauty care activities include manicures or pedicures (31%), and shaping eyebrows (25%). 

Beauty & grooming remains an in-person shopping experience

  • Despite the rise in ecommerce, Americans still primarily prefer shopping in-person for personal care products. The data finds that department stores are for makeup, skincare and fragrance, and supermarkets are for hair care and shaving. 
  • Roughly 10% of consumers shop in a discount store for all their product needs, with women (63%) being more likely to make a purchase here than men (37%) 

Meet The Highly Invested in Beauty and Grooming (HIBAGs) Demographic

  • The research also uncovered one group within this survey Attest is calling HIBAGs (Highly Invested in Beauty and Grooming). It represents around 12% of the overall sample, is 55% male and 45% female, and spends at least $100 per month on beauty and grooming products. 
  • Throwing off worries about higher prices and economic uncertainty, HIBAGS are most likely to be millennials who over-index for shopping weekly across every category, including makeup, haircare, skincare, fragrance and shaving.

Research takeaways for brands

For brands trying to crack, or maintain market share within the hyper-competitive beauty and grooming industry, the research highlights some key consumer trends for marketing and sales:

  • A ‘Clean’ message is more important than green credentials: The data finds that the public are far more likely to be looking out for brands promoting clean beauty rather than sustainable beauty. More than half of Americans (52%) say they take a brand’s use of natural or clean ingredients into consideration when making purchasing decisions. By contrast, only 26% take a brand’s environmental credentials into account.
  • Shoppers say beauty influencers aren’t worth the big bucks, but like brands’ social: Despite many brands investing heavily in high-profile beauty collaborations with influencers, this data finds that Americans believe that seeing/hearing an influencer talk about a product is the least persuasive way to get them to try it. Yet, one thing brands don’t need to worry about is a lack of engagement online. More than half of Americans (54%) say they interact with or follow beauty/grooming brands on social media. The data finds that Instagram is the platform of choice for Gen Z (aged 18-25), but for everyone else, it’s Facebook.  
  • Invest in sampling: According to consumers, product samples are instead the number one way to get them to buy a new beauty/grooming product. Sampling ranks even higher than receiving a recommendation from a friend (ranked 2nd) or special offers and promotions (ranked 3rd). These tactics are deemed to be more effective by consumers than other expensive forms of marketing like TV advertising (ranked 4th)

Jeremy King, CEO and Founder of Attest, said of the research: “The Attest research highlights how the majority of Americans are taking a ‘less is more’ approach to their daily beauty and grooming regimes. Most consumers simply don’t want to take too much time on managing their appearance, or spend that much money on it either. Conversely however, Americans are also increasingly ready to take matters into their own hands when it comes to their appearance, with 85% of people now carrying out some form of DIY treatment at home.” 

“Going against the ecommerce grain, shopping for beauty and grooming products still remains very much an in-store experience for Americans. The data also shows that the public wants focused messaging on the ‘clean’, natural ingredients of products, but also wishes to be able to sample the goods before committing to a purchase. This, along with consumers’ focus on a more stripped back care regime, has implications for brands in the hyper-competitive beauty and grooming industry.”

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