The Past 20 Years in Beauty, By The Numbers
The numbers, as they say, never lie.
Compare beauty business stats of 20 years ago to the stats of today, and a picture of a very dynamic — and equally resilient —global industry emerges.
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In 2001, the first year of Beauty Inc (then “WWD Beauty Biz,” prestige beauty sales totaled $7 billion in the U.S., per numbers from the NPD Group. In today’s terms, that’s less than a quarter of L’Oréal’s global beauty sales in 2020, the number-one beauty manufacturers then and now.
Category-by-category, makeup and skin care sales have almost tripled in the U.S, and the retail scene is also very different. Globally, the rise of China has had a transformational impact on the industry.
The WWD Beauty Inc Top 100 Beauty Manufacturers, 2001:
Combined sales of the top 101* companies: $93 billion
L’Oréal Group, $11.99 billion, 23 brands.
Procter & Gamble, $8.8 billion, 19 brands.
Unilever PLC, $6.39 billion, 22 brands.
Shiseido Co. Ltd., $4.65 billion, 27 brands.
The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., $4.6 billion, 16 brands.
The smallest company on the list:
#101. Escada Beaute: $46 million
Companies By Country
U.S.: 37
France: 17
Italy, Germany: 10
Japan: 9
U.K., Switzerland: 3
The WWD Beauty Inc Top 100 Beauty Manufacturers, 2020:
Combined sales of the top 100 companies: $212.59 billion
L’Oréal, $31.95 billion, 35 brands.
Unilever, $22.17 billion, 31 brands.
The Estée Lauder Cos., $14.2 billion, 34 brands.
Procter & Gamble, $14 billion, 19 brands.
Shiseido Co. Ltd., $8.39 billion, 26 brands.
The smallest company on the list:
#100. Clea Cosmetics Co. Ltd.: $185 million
Companies By Country:
U.S.: 31
France: 14
Japan: 12
German, U.K., Switzerland, China: 4
*Due to a tie there were 101 companies on the list in 2001, rather than the customary 100.
U.S. Prestige Beauty Sales: 2001
All beauty: $7 billion
Makeup: $2.3 billion
Skin care: $1.8 billion
Fragrance: $2.9 billion
U.S. Prestige Beauty Sales: 2019*
All beauty: $18.8 billion
Makeup: $7.6 billion
Skin care: $5.9 billion
Fragrance: $4.5 billion
Source: The NPD Group
*Because of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 numbers aren’t as reflective as the historic growth rates over the last 20 years, so 2019 figures are used for comparison.
Sephora: 2001
50 stores in 19 states
Employees: 1,163
Top brands:
Sephora Collection
Stila Cosmetics
Benefit
Lorac
Urban Decay
Sephora, 2021:
452 stores in 45 states (not including Sephora at Kohl’s or Sephora inside JCPenney)
Employees: 13,011
Sephora Collection
Fenty
Olaplex
Drunk Elephant
Charlotte Tilbury
Happy Birthday to You, Too!
Here, a list of brands launched in 2001:
Kevyn Aucoin
Essence Cosmetics
Oyin Handmade
Lamaur
ghd
Circadia
Industry Titans With Multiple Beauty Inc Covers:
Jean-Paul Agon, former chief executive officer and current chairman, L’Oréal
Bobbi Brown, entrepreneur
Fabrizio Freda, chief executive officer, The Estée Lauder Cos.
Iman, supermodel and entrepreneur
Alex Keith, CEO, P&G Beauty
Lindsay Owen-Jones, former chairman and CEO, L’Oréal
Masahiko Uotani, CEO, Shiseido
For more from WWD.com, see:
Prestige Beauty Grew 11 Percent in Q1, Per NPD Group
L’Oréal USA Receives Intersectional Equity Certification
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