The market for cosmetics, personal care, and perfumery experienced a particularly positive February, driven by the celebration of Valentine's Day. According to the latest data published by NielsenIQ (NIQ), this category saw a remarkable surge in spending, reflecting a growing consumer preference for self-care and beauty products.
Among the highlighted subsectors, body care led the growth with a 11.8% increase in sales value, followed by hair products (+9%), colognes and perfumes (+6.8%), and makeup (+6.7%), all compared to February of the previous year. This trend reaffirms the seasonal appeal of the beauty sector, which, in addition to key dates like Epiphany, Black Friday, or Mother's Day, adds Valentine's Day as an important activation moment for brands and distributors.
By channels, e-commerce continues its expansion in this category, already representing 16.7% of total beauty spending in 2024. Of the 780 million euros that the personal care market grew in the last year, 27% corresponded to online sales, positioning the digital channel as the third most important, just behind supermarkets and physical perfumeries.
In this context, the physical perfumeries channel also recorded relevant growth of 3% in February, reflecting a recovery of experiential consumption, while the overall increase in online sales (+14.8%) also directly benefited the beauty category.
Despite the context of price stability, consumers continue to prioritize savings, and promotions remain a powerful driver of purchase decisions in cosmetics and personal care. In February, promotional sales within the drugstore and perfumery segment grew by 2.6% compared to the same month of the previous year.
These data confirm that the Spanish consumer not only continues to care for their image and personal well-being but also chooses more informed, takes advantage of offers, and adapts to the omnichannel environment to make their purchases.