• March 1, 2012

The NPD Group says sales for prestige beauty and fragrance products totaled $9.5 billion last year, a jump of 11% from the prior year. Not only did the results top pre-recession levels, “in the 15 years that NPD has been tracking the prestige beauty industry, we have never seen growth like this, especially across all categories,” the Port Washington, N.Y.-based research company says in its release. Fragrances sold in department stores gained 11% to $2.8 billion, skincare products rose 14% to $3.1 billion, and makeup sales gained 9% to $3.6 billion.