Here’s what the Halloween makeup data says
Halloween celebrations were restricted in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this year Halloween makeup trends are back with a bang. In fact, there has been much more interest on social media, even when measured against pre-pandemic posts and interactions (e.g. for the years 2017-2019).
Mentions of “Halloween” by U.S. and U.K. beauty consumers on Instagram are up by +208% when compared to the last quarter, and up by +12% compared to the same time period last year. As the big day falls on October 31, this trend is set to peak throughout October, and 36.6% of accounts are currently activating on the topic.
Beauty consumer posts about Halloween are also receiving 335% more likes than the average post and these posts are 65% less likely to be sponsored than the average.
In terms of related topics, mentions of:
- “Scary” – up by 730%
- “Excitement” – up by 410%
- “Creative” – up by 355%
- “Spooky” – up by 50%
Topics whose mentions have fallen include “Glitter” which plummeted by 65%.
All-star brands to watch for this trend right now are:
- Mehron Makeup
- ColourPop Cosmetics
- Kylie Cosmetics
- BPerfect Cosmetics
- NYX Cosmetics
Halloween makeup trends: Looks to try
PCSSO analyzed selfies from U.S. and U.K. beauty consumers that were posted under the Halloween trend and have spotted some notable patterns.
Last year, Skull makeup and costumes were the most in-demand look, but this year it’s all about Witches. Although we’re also seeing lots of hybrid Skeleton-Witches from those who can’t decide on a favorite. Plus, Barbie makeup looks are on the up—thanks to the soon-to-be-released movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Here’s a breakdown of figures for each of the trending makeup looks.
Looks to avoid for Halloween 2022
Meanwhile, it seems that the popularity of Cruella, Clown, and Devil-inspired costumes and makeup have all dropped this year.
- Devil: The number of posts with devil makeup fell by 27% year-over-year; posted by 5.5% of users.
- Clown: Down by 19% year-over-year; posted by 4.1% of users.
- Cruella: Down by 45% year-over-year; posted by 3.7% of users.
Along with this Halloween makeup data, NielsenIQ’s search term data for the past 3 months (up to September 30, 2022) also reveals some key insights into the rainbow of color cosmetics that consumers are hunting for in the lead-up to Halloween.
In Eye Cosmetics, searches for “Glittery Appearance” were up by 168%, searches for “Color: Silver” up by 206%; “Color: Orange” up by 496%; and “Color: Yellow” up by 311%.
In Face Cosmetics, searches for “Color: Gold” were up by 587%; “Color: Yellow” up by 319%; “Color: Orange” up 139%; “Color: Pink” up by 86%; “Color: Blue” up by 42% and “Color: Pale” up by 128%.
PCSSO
PCSSO’s AI technology precisely measures and forecasts beauty and fashion trends by watching the products that consumers are wearing and sharing, to help you better understand your consumers and competitors. Identify catalog gaps and explore popularity for looks, styles, packaging, brand rankings events, ingredients, product types, and more for the USA, European, Korean, and Japanese markets.
Sources
- PCSSO Visual Search https://www.pcsso.com/
Pcsso data about Halloween trend: based on 8,370 Instagram Beauty Users in USA + UK / 18.9 Million Photos + Videos
- Nielsen IQ search terms data: In the 3 months up to 10/5/2022
