Our 2024 Top 20 Global Beauty Companies Report

It's that time of year again—for our annual ranking of the top global beauty companies. We've looked at financial reports, recent launches, brand acquisitions and investments to come up with our top 20 list —read on. Scroll down to see the rankings—and click through to see each detailed company profile.  Looking back, 2023 was a good year for many of our Top 20 companies, while others suffered a slump due to continuing global economic and political pressures. What lies ahead? The beauty industry is strategizing for what they anticipate will be a strong rebound. Product categories, sustainable packaging, consumer trends, shopping preferences, and stiff competition will all play a role. Nearly every one of Beauty Packaging’s annual Top 20 Global Beauty Companies mentioned how they had strategized to succeed in an environment marked by the year’s economic and geopolitical challenges, and uncertainty in general. Some surpassed their goals, while others suffered consequences related to weak travel retail and unsteady conditions in China.

L’Oréal Keeps Its No. 1 Slot

Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer, L’Oréal—which continues to hold its No. 1 slot on our list—reported: “Our continued strong momentum in emerging markets, Europe, and North America allowed us to more than offset the depressed beauty market in mainland China and the unfavorable comparative in travel retail.” Still, he remained cautious, telling JPMorgan investors that the French cosmetics company now “expects the global market to grow 4.5% to 5% this year, down from a prior outlook of above 5%. “The rebound in China isn’t materializing as expected,” he explained. Lauder, Shiseido, LVMH, and others who seemed to take China’s reported $52 billion beauty market for granted, as far as growth—were also affected.

Beauty Bets on Fragrance

The start of 2024 brought a mixed message about global luxury sales in general, with some consumers opting for the most premium brands, while others gravitated to less costly, “dupe,” or local brands, in some cases, prompted by influencers and TikTok, which continue to play a strong role in Beauty. Premium fragrance, dermatological beauty, high-end skincare, and suncare advanced as winning categories in this uncertain environment. In many instances, packaging for fragrance became more extraordinary than ever, as high-end brands introduced new scents bottled in “must-have” containers, and numbers grew in revenues. In the first half of 2024, the U.S. prestige beauty market grew by 8% to $15.3 billion, while sales at mass merchants held flat, according to Circana, which reported that Fragrance is the fastest-growing prestige beauty category so far this year, with dollar sales up 12% in the first half versus the same period in 2023. Fragrance and beauty have always had a strong relationship, and in 2023, the trend grew, with more and more fashion brands adding a new or expanded line of scent to their collections. The Estée Lauder Companies, which had already purchased Tom Ford, made an additional deal with Balmain two years ago, and recently revealed their first joint project—a collection of eight scents called Les Éternels de Balmain, described as “a new fragrance experience comprising eight all-gender eaux de parfum.” Shiseido recently signed a deal for a new fragrance with Italian clothier Max Mara. Many global players have invested in Chinese brands to appeal to local consumers looking to spend on more domestic brands. L’Oréal has invested in niche Chinese fragrance brands, including a minority stake in the Chinese luxe perfume house To Summer, while Estée Lauder unveiled a limited-edition beauty collection with Chinese fashion designer Shuting Qiu, called Estée Lauder x Shuting Qiu. Prada Beauty was a key launch for L’Oréal in 2023 (even though Prada Group has been in the beauty business for over two decades with other large brands). In September, Celine previewed its first beauty range with Harrods pop-up store in a dedicated space for its beauty range, as well as the women’s fall 2024 collection. Luxury fashion brand Rabanne, owned by Puig, also announced its first set of lip products, eye shadow palettes, and pigments.

Will Dolce & Gabbana  Make the Cut Next Year?

Dolce & Gabbana (D&G)—though not yet on our list, but undoubtedly in the running for next year’s—brought its beauty business in-house to produce its own cosmetics, skincare, and fragrances, and says it plans to become the top luxury fashion house operating within the beauty sector, aiming to grow the retail value of its Beauty Division from €1bn to €3bn (US$3.3bn) by 2026. This strategy includes “new female fragrance pillars, a debut into skincare, and the launch of dedicated beauty spaces within existing retail boutiques—plus “a complete overhaul of its makeup offering to seamlessly blend the brand’s fashion identity with the latest cosmetics trends and high-quality Italian ingredients.” CEO Gianluca Toniolo noted that the collection was designed with Gen Z and Gen Alpha—those under age 14—in mind. D&G’s new Boundless Beauty Makeup Collection launched in July, with products in four looks—Fresh, Classic, Flawless, and Bold—and housed in luxe packaging. On the flip side, to maneuver the market’s effects, some brands consolidated and sold off possessions. At press time, it was announced that Unilever is reportedly selling skincare brands Kate Somerville and REN Skincare. Amorepacific and Kao made further strides in the U.S. market, in part by naming brand ambassadors.

L’Occitane & Puig Join the Top 20

While many of our Top 20 Global Beauty Companies are mainstays, two additions have emerged this year: L’Occitane, which has been growing by leaps and bounds, and may soon go public; and Puig, which achieved record 2023 net sales of $4.7 billion, became a public company, and expanded its hold on the U.S. market.

Growth Strategies

Growth measures—and beauty industry trends—that we spotted this year among our Top 20 companies include:

• • Brands are turning to Amazon
• • A rise in beauty-from-within nutricosmetics
• • Regulations regarding recycling
• • Consumers’ acceptance of refills
• • The adaptation of AI
• • Sustainability continues to impact packaging

In addition, with some brands’ fallout in China’s economy, there’s been a move to open more beauty stores in India. Meanwhile, it’s somewhat of a waiting game. L’Oreal’s Hieronimus commented, “In an environment that continues to be marked by economic and geopolitical tensions, we remain optimistic about the outlook for the beauty market and confident that our innovation power and the robustness of our multi-polar model will allow us to keep outperforming it and to achieve another year of growth in sales and profit.”

Photo by Freepik/WayHomeStudio