Circana’s Q1 2026 US beauty report has one number that stopped me: mass and prestige grew nearly the same rate. Prestige was up 6% to $8.1 billion while mass was up 7% to $18.1 billion. This reflects consumers who have stopped being loyal to a channel and started being strategic about where they spend across categories.
Full-year 2025 saw prestige grow 4% to $36 billion and mass grow 5% to $72.7 billion, also per Circana, so Q1 2026 represents an acceleration on both sides. Units in both channels grew only in low single digits, meaning most of the dollar gain came from price, not volume, a pattern consistent with premiumization at the top and value-seeking at the bottom, happening simultaneously.
In skincare, clinical brands now capture over a third of prestige dollar sales a figure that reflects how completely the “derm-first” consumer has reshaped the category over the past years. Face creams, serums and eye treatments drove the majority of prestige gains, while in mass, virtually every face and body segment grew. E-commerce now accounts for nearly half of prestige skincare dollars and the majority of units. The physical counter is no longer where most skincare transactions happen.
Fragrance was the other standout. In prestige, minis grew double digits, showing that trial-sized formats are a genuine revenue driver. In mass, women’s fragrances also grew double digits. The category has quietly become one of the most reliable growth engines across both channels, fueled partly by TikTok-driven discovery of under-the-radar scents.
Makeup is struggling, and the numbers say so plainly. Dollar growth was modest and units fell, particularly in mass. The exception is lip, treatments and liners outperformed across both channels. The broader makeup weakness likely reflects the “skin first, makeup second” consumer shift that has been building for several years and shows no signs of reversing.
Hair showed the sharpest channel divide of any category. In prestige it was the fastest-growing segment by dollars, driven by treatments. In mass, the growth story was combo packs with consumers buying shampoo and conditioner together for value. Same consumer need, completely different purchase behavior depending on the retail environment.