What Is Going On With U.S. Makeup Sales?

The prestige makeup world is a murky place right now, particularly in the U.S. market. Industry sources said numbers from the NPD Group in the first quarter showed significant declines in sales across some of the biggest makeup brands, including MAC, Urban Decay, and Anastasia Beverly Hills — which is said to be down more than 20 percent. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other big name brands, including Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Tarte, Stila and Chanel makeup, were also said to have posted dips in the quarter. In all, NPD said makeup sales were down 3 percent through April. Industry sources questioned those numbers, saying that the agency can’t track exclusive or direct-to-consumer brands, and that sales from those companies could have definitely boosted makeup numbers to at least a break-even point. Brands that aren’t tracked include Fenty, Huda Beauty, Kylie Cosmetics, Morphe, Glossier and many others. It’s an issue NPD has recognized — the company has organized meetings around how it should potentially evolve its data sourcing. It’s possible part of the reported sales dips were made up through brand e-commerce operations, which many companies have started to focus on as a means to capture customer data. But

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