Social media has not simply boosted beauty sales; it has redefined what a beauty product is. Once a discretionary treat, lipstick and skincare now sit alongside groceries in consumers' mental category of essentials — Barclays' UK consumer spending research finds health and beauty booming, with demand for affordable "dupes" and the power of social media influencers cited among the defining industry trends. The same platforms that make beauty a source of joy and friendship also expose users, especially young ones, to idealized images linked in studies to low self-esteem, body dysmorphia and eating disorders. Understanding both faces of this transformation is what turns a shopper into an informed consumer.
The Beauty Boom: Redefining Essentials in a Digital Age
The clearest signal that something has changed is economic. Barclays, drawing on its Consumer Spend research for its UK unlocked series, reports that the health and beauty sector is booming — a finding the bank frames explicitly as a redefinition of consumer "essentials" rather than a passing surge in discretionary spending. Beauty is no longer what people cut first when budgets tighten; it has migrated into the category of things people refuse to give up.
The boom spans the entire price spectrum. McKinsey, the management consulting firm, projects that the global market for "true luxury" and "ultraluxury" beauty — spanning names like La Mer, Byredo, Guerlain and La Prairie — could roughly double from around $20 billion in 2023 to about $40 billion by 2027. Yet Barclays' research also shows ever-growing demand for "dupes": affordable products that mirror more expensive versions in quality, formula or appearance. While 18% of surveyed consumers said they preferred to spend on an original premium product, the dupe economy thrives alongside the luxury one — a market simultaneously reaching upward and downward, with social media acting as the connective tissue that exposes consumers to both.
