• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 11, 2018

From Cover Girl’s recent launch of its widest color range to the soaring success of Rihanna’s Fenty beauty line, it’s no secret that women are wild for cosmetics that work on women of every color.

But a new report from Mintel shows just how big an impact that demand may be having on industry sales. Some two-thirds of Hispanic women, for example, say they like to use complex makeup looks, such a smoky eye, compared to just 51% of all U.S. women. And women with an interest in these routines are bigger consumers of just about everything else: Some 49% are interested in multi-purpose products, compared to 41% overall, 36% are curious about products to use in the shower, compared with 27%, and 36% are interested in online tools, such as augmented-reality beauty apps, compared with 16%.

And natural beauty products, also a significant growth driver in recent years, are especially sought after by Black women, with 64% preferring these products versus 45% of the overall sample.

“Hispanic and Black women, in particular, tend to be more engaged with beauty trends and more experimental with their beauty routines,” writes Toya Mitchell, multicultural analyst at Mintel. “With new launches from brands like Fenty Beauty, Kylie Cosmetics and FORM that offer more options for varying skin tones and hair types, there is opportunity for product usage to grow.”

Mintel singles out custom-blended beauty products as an especially promising area, for women who have been continually frustrated trying to find products that flatter their skin. 

Cover Girl is hoping to make that right, and just introduced new TruBlend Matte Foundation includes 40 shades, 26 more colors than in the initial TruBlend launch. Fenty Beauty, Rihanna’s red-hot beauty line, sold in Sephora, also contains 40 skin shades, at $34 each. But Cover Girl’s inclusive range, priced at $11, is the widest in a mass brand.

Mintel says sales of both color cosmetics, which account for 29% of the market, and hair products, which make up 28%, grew 2.2% in 2017, while sales of skincare products, with a 25% share of the market, gained just 1.4%.