BB creams were the talk of the town in 2012. In Priceline alone, BB creams recorded a 700 per cent increase in sales year on year – rising from 27,000 in 2011 to 250,000 units sold. The beauty retailer now stocks 25 different BB cream products and this trend is set to garner even more strength in 2013, with a host of brands releasing new versions on to the market.
Around 18 months ago we saw the first BB creams launched in the West and the growth of the category has been phenomenal,” reveals Mintel senior analyst Vivienne Rudd. David Jones group administration and planning manager - beauty Sarah Kennedy revealed BB creams are set to explode for them this year with everything from entry level to luxury products on offer. BB creams will launch in a big way for David Jones this season from a range of brands. There really will be one for everybody.”
But while BB creams will continue to be the big news in the beauty market, 2013 is set to see the emergence of the next big thing – CC (Complete Correction or Complexion Correctors) and DD (Daily Defense). To find out more, bd sat down with some prominent brands to talk about the BB/CC/DD cream market in Australia.
What’s the big appeal?
From niche to mass market and affordable to luxury, every brand appears to want a piece of the BB cream pie. BB creams are one of the biggest beauty phenomena right now,” says Natio marketing manager Jens Hohenspein. While planning to develop a BB cream, customers started contacting us asking to make an Australian-made BB cream. This prompted us to accelerate our product development so we could get our BB cream to market as quickly as possible.”
But why all the fuss and why are consumers clamoring for this new product? Consumers are looking for multitasking products to simplify their beauty routine. BB creams are part moisturiser, part foundation - so the perfect hybrid for women who want one product to do it all,” explains product manager Val Zuban. Kennedy adds, The BB cream is almost a re-invention of the tinted moisturiser, but with more benefits including skincare, SPF, make-up primer and colour correction.”
For , the inspiration to launch a BB cream came from the desire to develop a tinted moisturiser that had enough coverage so that women who were time poor had a product they could apply quickly before rushing out the door. They also were looking to launch a product that could replace the convenience of mineral powders but was better for the skin.
The success and impact of BB creams
As Priceline witnessed, customers can’t seem to get enough of BB creams. Our December launch went off with empty shelves everywhere. I think BB creams will be the ‘new’ mineral powders, and I think that they are better for everyday application and skin health. Like everything, consumers will filter out which products work well and perform,” says Chi Chi co-founder George Lambropoulos. Natio’s Pure Mineral Skin Perfecting BB Cream has also been exceptionally well received in the market place, overselling the forecast in both its Australian and New Zealand markets.
Despite its success, BB creams has had relatively little effect on the sale of its main competitors – foundation and tinted moisturisers – as yet. Natio has not noticed any decline in the sale of foundation and tinted moisturisers since launching a BB cream, however, Chi Chi decided to delete its cream-to-powder foundation in the belief the brand’s Super BB will trump it. Having only just launched its BB cream, The Body Shop has not noticed any effects yet but is expecting to see a drop in the sale of tinted moisturisers.
Who’s it for?
With BB creams offering a wide variety of benefits, it manages to slot itself into a number of beauty categories. At David Jones, some brands have them sitting in with skin-care ranges and some in with make-up depending on the hero feature -skincare, SPF, make-up, primer and colour correction,” explains Kennedy.
Initially, the combination of skincare and make-up benefits saw the product being embraced by two specific markets. BB creams which are more sheer tend to be popular with two main markets - time-poor mums who want an easy to use multi-tasking product, and teenage girls who want to even out their complexion but who are not ready to commit to foundation,” says Zuban.
But as the BB cream craze continues, more consumers are beginning to embrace the fad. As it is a relatively new trend, it is most popular with younger women, but we find that BB creams are finding their way into mainstream fast,” reveals Hohenspein.
CC creams and beyond
While they’re yet to launch on the Australian market, this year will see CC creams infiltrate our shores. Because the cosmetics industry has always moved on by means of the novelty factor, we have now seen the emergence of CC creams as a new sub category. We first spotted a CC cream in 2009, but they first started to make a significant impact about a year ago,” says Rudd.
Over the next couple of months, we will see and L'Oréal Paris roll out their CC offerings on to the Australian market. Clinique is very excited to be one of the first brands to launch a CC cream in this market,” says Clinique communications manager Alexis Green. We know that CC creams are the latest buzz in the overseas cosmetics market and the Australian consumer has already been requesting them. CC means complexion correcting, that hydrates, protects and perfects.”
Having not launched their BB creams in Australia, Clinique sees a great potential for the CC cream down under. Customers will love the texture and lightweight radiant finish of the CC creams as well as the instant perfecting results,” says Green.
The Body Shop is not as certain CC creams will be able to rival the success of BB creams, with Zuban pointing out, some of the appeal of the BB creams is that they are the latest fad in skincare. Many consumers buy them to try, but may choose to go back to a heavier coverage foundation.”
While beauty fads come and go, there are brands that aren’t quite ready to give up on further development in the category with products starting to appear on the international beauty scene identified as DD creams. These are emerging as very heavy duty body and foot creams that are being marketed as daily defense products,” says Rudd.
With a few years passing since mineral make-up caused mass hysteria in the beauty industry, the market was crying out for an exciting new trend that people could get their hot little hands on. There’s no arguing that BB, CC and DD creams have well and truly filled that need.
All the BBs on bd:
Biotherm - White Detox Translu-Cell BB Cream
Dior - Diorskin Nude BB CrèmeBB Cream All-In-One Perfector Oil Free SPF 25BB Cream All-In-One Perfector Oil Free SPF 25BB Cream All-In-One Perfector Classic SPF 15BB Cream All-In-One Perfector Classic SPF 15 (Glow Time BB Cream)Nude Magique BB CreamNude Magique BB CreamDream Fresh BB CreamAll-In-One Healthy Glow BB Cream Dream Fresh BB CreamPure Mineral Skin Perfecting BB Cream SPF 15Pure Mineral Skin Perfecting BB Cream SPF 15
All-In-One Healthy Glow BB Cream Palmer's - BB CreamBB Cream
SKIN PHYSICS - All-In-One BB Cream (NZ)Total Hydration BB Cream UVTotal Hydration BB Cream UV