Nearly Nine in Ten Women Would Try a Hand Held Device Which Guarantees to Find Their Perfect Foundation Match

New York, NY - When it comes to cosmetic and skin care purchases, nearly eight in ten (79%) women have purchased such products in the last 6 months, including 65% who say they purchased cosmetics/ makeup more specifically during this time, according to a recent online survey among women conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Boots Retail, USA Inc. Mascara (75%), eyeliner (62%), foundation (64%) and lipstick (56%) were each purchased by at least half of those who bought cosmetics in the past six months, while another two in five women purchased concealer (41%) or blush (40%).

Women are typically purchasing new cosmetic items/ makeup every 3-4 months, with foundation (average of 11.9 weeks), blush (12.1 weeks) and concealer (12 weeks) bought most frequently. Mascara (12.7) and eyeliner (13) do not fall far behind, bought roughly every 13 weeks by women, while new lipstick purchases are made on average every 14.8 weeks. Women under the age of 25 are significantly more likely to make cosmetic/ makeup purchases more frequently than older women.

When it comes to makeup/ cosmetic use, women typically wear makeup roughly 5 days a week, including using mascara (5 days, average), foundation (4.9), concealer (4.8), and eyeliner (4.8) most days. Blush (4.6) and lipstick (4.4) are not as common, although these continue to be worn by women at least four days a week, on average. Women working full- time and those between the ages of 25-34 are among those wearing makeup most frequently in an average week.

When it comes to satisfaction with current cosmetics, women are most happy with their eyeliner (58%) and mascara (56%), with nearly six in ten rating these items a 9 or 10 on a ten- point scale. Just under half are satisfied with their lipstick (48%), while two in five say the same thing about their foundation (43%), blush (43%), and concealer (35%).

Finding the Perfect Cosmetic/ Makeup

When it comes to wearing the right shade of makeup, confidence is greatest with mascara (93%) and eyeliner (91%), and about eight in ten say that they are very/ somewhat confident that they are wearing the right lipstick color (83%), foundation (79%), or blush (79%). Confidence in having the right concealer drops slightly, though 72% of women who use this product express confidence in the shade they use.

Foundation (69%) and concealer (61%) prove to be the trickiest to buy, with at least six in ten women who use these products saying that they struggle to find the right tone to match their skin tone. Roughly half also say that they struggle to find the perfect lipstick (51%) or blush (48%), compared to only one in five say the same of eyeliner (16%) and mascara (15%).

Not surprisingly, women are most likely to say that they become frustrated when trying to find the right foundation shade (65%) or concealer shade (60%), and a majority also claim to experience frustration when it comes to finding the right lipstick color (50%).

Two in five also express frustrations when it comes to finding the perfect blush (41%), while very few in comparison get flustered trying to find the right eyeliner (17%) or mascara (16%).

Women are most likely to say that they have purchased more than one cosmetic product due to being unsure about the shade when buying lipstick (67%), although more than half have also done this when buying foundation (54%) or concealer (51%). Another two in five (43%) say that they have bought multiple shades of blush at once because they weren't sure which was right for them, while more than a third have done the same for eyeliner (35%) and mascara (35%).

Over the last three months, women who use lipstick bought an average of 3.3 shades of the same product in an attempt to find the right one for them. A similar pattern is seen for those who use blush (2.8), mascara (2.7), eyeliner (2.6), and concealer (2.5) - with women having bought just about three shades of these items in the past three months, on average, in order to find their perfect coverage. Women purchased roughly 2.4 shades of the same foundation to find their perfect match.

Spotlight: Foundation

Nearly all foundation consumers (99%) agree that when shopping for foundation, finding the right color to match your skin tone is important - and eight in ten (81%) believe that they have already found the right foundation color match for their skin. However, one in ten (10%) are still on the lookout for their perfect color match, and another 10% of women are not sure. Despite eight in ten saying that they have found the right color of foundation, similar proportions (83%) of women who use foundation would consider purchasing a different shade if it was a better match to the color of their skin, and 55% of women who do not use foundation would consider wearing this type of makeup if they could be confident in finding the right foundation for them.

Getting Help Finding the Perfect Cosmetic/ Makeup

Among all women surveyed, most are likely to want help finding the right foundation shade (62%), while about half say that they could use help finding the perfect concealer shade (53%) or lipstick color (47%). Finding the right shade of blush is least likely to require assistance (36%) while three in ten women say that they would not want any help finding the right shade for these products (29%).

Nearly nine in ten (86%) would be likely to try a hand held device in-store which guarantees to find their perfect foundation match if it was available in stores they frequently shop at - and this jumps to 94% among women who use cosmetics more specifically. Among those willing to try a foundation match device, 90% say that they would trust these results. Two thirds (64%) say that they would trust these results as much as they would trust the recommendations of a professional makeup artist, and 11% would trust a foundation match device even more than a professional. Roughly a quarter (24%), however, would trust a foundation match device less than a professional makeup artist.

More specifically, roughly three quarters would trust the science behind the research & technology to find their perfect concealer shade (75%), blush color (74%), and lipstick color (73%) that enhances and flatters their skin tones.

Nearly eight in ten (79%) women agree that a foundation match device would save them both time and money by taking out the guess work in finding the right makeup that flatters their skin tone - and another seven in ten feel they would no longer have to buy more than one product to find their perfect shade (73%) or pay someone for professional makeup services or advice (68%) if such a device found their perfect shade.

Additional information including findings and methodology is available for download on the right side of the page.

For more information on this news release please contact:

Julia Clark Senior Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs 312.526.4919 [email protected]

Marie-Pierre Lemay Research Manager Ipsos Public Affairs 613.793.1622 [email protected]

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