Skincare and prestige brands deliver beauty sales growth for Unilever

Beauty and personal care sales at Unilever grew by 3.3% in the first half of 2021 as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions across many of its markets helped to boost consumer demand for personal care products.

Global skin care sales experienced a double-digit sales rise, while deodorants, use of which had slipped during the pandemic, returned to growth.

In skincare, Unilever’s Vaseline and Ponds brands each grew double digit, while hair grew mid-single digit, driven by products for washing and styling.

The beauty giant, which recently announced the acquisition of digitally native skin care brand Paula’s Choice, also recorded double digit growth for its family of prestige brands, which includes high-profile names such as REN Clean Skincare and Murad.

As a whole, Unilever reported underlying sales growth of 5.4%, with 4% volume and 1.3% price.

However, it reported a lower underlying operating margin of 18.8%, driven by investment and rising costs.

The company now expects full-year underlying operating margins to be flat.