L’Oréal exec breaks down mass cosmetics’ massive year

With on-trend products at approachable price points, mass cosmetics had a massive year, serving as a particularly glowing highlight within the booming beauty category.

Among those seeing a banner beauty year is L’Oréal, which reported in September that its consumer products division notched its best nine months on record. This success has come in part from buzz around its innovation, Nathalie Gerschtein, president of L’Oréal’s consumer products division, North America, who oversees a portfolio of brands which includes NYX, L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York, and Garnier, told Retail Brew.

That’s true of its holiday strategy, too, as the season is a time to “bring excitement” to its brands, Gerschtein said. The portfolio of brands had a strong performance during the “Turkey Five”—the big shopping days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, she shared. Sales were up 64% compared to the period last year, with its first foray into TikTok Shop contributing to those numbers.

• The consumer division’s standout holiday collection this year is NYX’s Fa La La L.A. Land collection, with products like a lip gloss wreath and a Pull-to-Sleigh surprise makeup box with packaging featuring a Santa hat-clad flamingo.

Gerschtein said L’Oréal’s end-of-year strategy blends introducing limited-edition holiday products, previewing its spring collections—which hit retailers in January and February—and, of course, showcasing the year’s can’t-miss products. As L’Oréal wraps up a strong year, Gerschtein looks back on the year’s major wins (including a few viral moments) and looks ahead to 2024.

Mass quantities: Gerschtein’s portfolio of brands saw several viral moments this year. NYX is currently the No. 1 lip gloss brand in the US, she noted, buoyed by its efforts to bring prestige trends to mass with its TikTok-famous Fat Oil lip oils, which debuted earlier this year. It’s now doubling down on that success with new Duck Plump lip gloss, which it sold exclusively on TikTok Shop for its first two weeks. L’Oréal Paris’s Telescopic Lift mascara also caused a bit of a stir on TikTok this year, both for its lash-lengthening abilities and some influencer controversy.

• The division is also making a deeper push into skincare (it’s on the right track, selling one Garnier micellar water every two seconds in the US), Gerschstein said, rolling out new products from L’Oréal and continuing to grow Thayer’s Naturals, which it acquired in 2020.

Since beauty shopping is largely trend-based, she noted there is a “lot of movement” between mass and prestige consumers, and opportunities to bring in new consumers as they decide whether to buy a prestige product or a mass dupe at a lower price. However, that also means keeping up with the rapid beauty trend cycle, an important way to remain relevant, particularly as several of its portfolio brands are 100+ years old.

“There’s your brand equity that you need to keep nurturing and keep building, but at the same time, you want to really move at the speed of culture to be relevant for consumers,” Gerschtein said.

Hair raising: And while L’Oréal has found success with its wallet-friendly offerings, it’s also been gaining momentum with more premium products as consumers become more “savvy” about what makes a good product, Gerschtein said. This is particularly true within hair care, she noted, with L’Oréal Paris subbrands Ever and Elvive making a more premium hair care play.

“It’s interesting to see that there is a dichotomy between the yes, the accessible products are pretty strong, but at the same time, people are willing to pay a premium for something that’s better and more valorized,” she said.

It’s now pushing hair care brand Garnier into a more premium space, going beyond its bestselling Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine line with a new Hair Filler product line (a play off the trend of consumers getting filler in their lips and face, aimed at plumping and restoring hair, Gerschtien said) on Amazon, with all items priced at $9.99. The second quarter of 2024 will also see the retail debut of the much buzzed-about L’Oréal Paris Colorsonic, a hair coloring device first introduced at CES 2022 and named one of Time’s best inventions of 2022.

Innovation at L’Oréal, Gerschtein said, is ultimately a “push and pull,” between scientific breakthroughs (L’Oréal was founded by a chemist, after all), and decoding what consumers want.

“When you hear what consumers say, you have to read between the lines and bring that magical touch that is going to bring to market something that they’re not really expecting, but is really addressing their needs,” Gerschtein said.