It’s no secret the Latinx consumer is significant for the sweetness business. 

At greater than 60 million people, 18 percent of the overall U.S. population identified as Hispanic or Latinx in 2019, in keeping with the U.S. Census Bureau. And it’s a growing group — by 2060, individuals with origins in Spain and Latin America are expected to make up greater than 27 percent of the population, in keeping with the Census Bureau. Latinx buying power is projected to extend from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to $2.3 trillion by 2024, in keeping with Nielsen.

It’s also a bunch that outspends its peers on the subject of buying beauty by about 30 percent, in keeping with Nielsen. 

WHAT THE LATINX CONSUMER IS BUYING

Latinx shoppers make up roughly 14.1 percent of select beauty consumers, meaning those that buy brands which might be available at drugstores or big-box chains, but account for 18.5 percent of select beauty spending, in keeping with Stacie de Armas, senior vp of diverse insights and initiatives at Nielsen, who noted that Latinx consumers are inclined to spend more on beauty. The group also spends greater than $167 per 12 months, on average, in comparison with the overall population’s $135, and makes more shopping trips where beauty items are purchased, in keeping with Nielsen. 

Based on Mintel, Latinx women alone spent greater than $2 billion on makeup products within the U.S. in 2019, accounting for 18 percent of total spend. The demographic group tends to make use of more products — 60 percent of ladies use nine or more makeup products, Mintel noted. 

“On account of their sheer size and youth, Hispanic women are a critical goal for many brands competing in color cosmetics,” said Juan Ruiz, Mintel’s director of Hispanic Insights. “Hispanic women over-index for using most makeup categories.” 

SPENDING AND THE PANDEMIC

The demographic’s outsized spending in beauty has been well established, however the Latinx consumer’s relationship to beauty is evolving in ways that may require brands and retailers to evolve, too. There are temporary shifts because of this of the coronavirus pandemic to contend with, in addition to long-term generational moves toward self-expression and conscious spending. 

Throughout the pandemic, for instance, makeup spending from Latinx women decreased, according to the broader market. 

“A limited social life has resulted in 40 [percent] of Hispanic women reporting that spending on beauty products is less of a priority,” Mintel said in a recent report. The market research group predicts that makeup usage will return, especially with a concentrate on eye makeup, as people return to work, and that within the COVID-19 recovery period, which Mintel predicts for 2022 to 2025, makeup usage will return to pre-pandemic levels, with price continuing to be a significant factor in purchasing decisions. Within the period through 2021, Mintel expects moderate use of eye makeup and products with long-lasting results.

Based on Nielsen, consumer spending dipped in March, but began ticking back up in May. Latinx shoppers spent 6.5 percent more between March and August on select beauty versus the year-ago period, in comparison with the overall U.S., which spent 0.5 percent less. And while some spending could have dipped on the onset of the pandemic, Latinx beauty shoppers still spent 2.8 percent more on beauty between August 2019 and 2020 than that they had the prior 12 months, Nielsen research shows. 

That rebound comes despite the Latinx community being disproportionately affected by unemployment related to COVID-19. Between March and April, when the pandemic shuttered many nonessential businesses across the U.S., Latinx unemployment went from 6 to 18.9 percent, in comparison with the national unemployment rate, which went from 4.4 to 14.7 percent, in keeping with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate among the many Latinx community is around 10.5 percent, while the national unemployment rate is around 8.4 percent.

The mass-market channels, which have historically been key for Latinx beauty shoppers, are prone to proceed to play an enormous role, said Ruiz. 

“The impact of COVID-19 on the usage of color cosmetics signals that retailers comparable to Walmart and drugstores will remain the undisputed top destinations for Hispanic women for makeup products,” he said. 

FUTURE FOCUS, FUTURE GROWTH

Mintel predicts makeup’s return will focus on the eyes within the near term, as people head back to work. Between May and June, as lockdowns eased, eye makeup growth averaged 6 percent week-over-week, in keeping with The NPD Group. False lashes, mascara, brow products and eyeliner were top sellers.

In the long run, beauty ideals for younger Latinx consumers, especially Gen Z, are shifting. Young Latinx-ers are involved in self expression and self care, and are intentionally deviating away from stereotypical ideals of beauty — straight hair, red lips, gold hoops and curves — experts from Juv, a Gen Z marketing agency that has worked with Unilever, Procter & Gamble and other firms, said.

Gen Z is, and can increasingly be, a very important generation for the sweetness community to listen to. 

Based on Nielsen’s de Armas, the U.S. is in the midst of a demographic revolution. It’s just like what the country saw with the Baby Boomers, but now, it’s among the many Latinx community. Within the last 10 years, the group has made up 52 percent of all U.S. population growth, Nielsen data shows. In the subsequent 40 years, the community is anticipated to contribute 68 percent of total population growth. 

Within the last 52 weeks, Latinx consumers under the age of 35 spent $663 million on select beauty, with hair care, color and nail products as key areas of focus, in keeping with Nielsen.

In an effort to reach young Latinx consumers, beauty brands, retailers and marketers must “renovate their tool kit[s],”, in keeping with Juan José Amaya, senior partner at Juv. 

“We’re slowly shifting that concept that Latinas have nice hazel or green eyes or look ‘exotic’ — as a generation we hate the word exotic, that’s an enormous ‘no’ — it’s beginning to grow to be a bit more…inclusive and accepting of natural features, comparable to curly hair,” Amaya said. 

Younger generations are moving on from the concept that curly or coily hair equals “pelo malo” (bad hair) and have to be straightened, or that certain varieties of makeup give off the improper idea, Amaya explained. 

Historically, young women had avoided vivid colours or an excessive amount of makeup “because then ‘you appear like a whore,’ frankly speaking, is what our moms had told us growing up,” Amaya said. “We’re now seeing that makeup doesn’t make you a whore, makeup is more of an act of self-expression, a creative outlet, making you are feeling good, an extension of self-esteem and who you’re.” 

Steadily, that’s beginning to go for men and gender-nonconforming consumers, too. In cultures long dominated by machismo, queer Latinx consumers are more often experimenting with makeup online in TikTok videos. The shift is going on in mainstream music culture, too — Puerto Rican music sensation Bad Bunny wearing full drag in his 2020 music video for ‘Yo Perrero Sola’ — and drag queen Valentina and late astrologer Walter Mercado are looked as much as as boundary-pushing icons, Amaya and Juv colleague Victoria Arguelles said. 

Beauty ideals, especially amongst younger generations, are shifting to grow to be more inclusive and embrace people across the complete range of the Latinx community, which incorporates 26 countries and other people with many shapes, colours and hair textures.

MARKETING WITH THE RIGHT MESSAGE

Juv advises those seeking to market to the group to acknowledge the range inside the Latinx community and avoid approaching the patron cohort like a monolith.

Nielsen research suggests, for instance, that differences in people’s roots can affect purchasing decisions. U.S.-born Latinx people are inclined to outspend on beauty, which Nielsen owes to higher incomes.

Younger generations are more “liberated to feel completely happy with who they’re,” said Kika Rocha, fashion and sweetness editor at People En Español. For years, “you needed to attempt to appear like the model,” Rocha said. “It was a struggle, especially if you happen to weren’t genetically built for it. You’ll do every part from change your hair color — not for fun, but since it was a certain look you needed to have.”

When Rocha first moved to the U.S. from Colombia 20 years ago, she needed to bring her foundation from home. Today, she said shade ranges are more inclusive, and sweetness icons span from Salma Hayek to singers Diana Danelys De Los Santos, known professionally as Amala La Negra, and Celia Cruz.

“It’s wonderful to see how the space has opened, but we’re still not there yet. We’ve come a great distance, but there’s still more to do,” Rocha said. A People en Español Afro-Latina Study from 2018 showed that 77 percent of Afro-Latinas agreed they don’t have adequate representation in beauty ads. 

Along with wanting promoting to feature several types of Latinx models, Gen Z is searching for firms to support the community beyond marketing, with a seat (or several) on the table.

“We don’t want you to go off with these metrics that you just get from Nielsen or that you just got from some data pull and assume that’s going to work to market to us, or that’s what’s going to shine through in your campaign,” said Arguelles. “Data can only get you to this point, the people must be within the room to make those decisions.” 

For brands willing to take the time to know the nuances of the Latinx community, the payoff might be big.

Il Makiage, for instance, recently partnered with Rico Nasty for a watch shadow collection that industry sources said was successful. On TikTok, the collaboration caught the eye of Gen Z. 

“We are going to hype up if something is nice,” Amaya said. “Her latest palette with Il Makiage was raved about due to how well the shimmers shined and the way they lay on darker skin tones — we’ll notice that. We’ll notice those efforts of firms being more inclusive, not only of their promoting but of their products and practices.” 

For more from WWD.com, see: 

Racism at Retail: Beauty Segment Must Revamp, and Fast 

Walmart’s Recent Beauty VP Musab Balbale Desires to Redefine E-commerce

By the Numbers: Fenty Skin’s Meteoric Pre-Launch Rise