Market data points to steady growth, with beauty outperforming most other consumer sectors and broader gross domestic product expansion in the United States. According to market research firm Circana, American prestige beauty sales rose 4% to $36 billion in 2025, while mass beauty sales increased 5% to $72.7 billion. Unit sales rose 3% in prestige and 2% in mass, indicating moderate advancements in demand across price tiers. By category, makeup grew 4% in prestige and 2% in mass, hair grew 8% in prestige and 4% in mass, skincare grew 3% in prestige and 4% in mass, and fragrance grew 5% in prestige and 15% in mass.

Data from market research firm NielsenIQ shows beauty and personal care sales up 11.4% to $123.6 billion, with in-store sales rising 2.8% to $63.8 billion and online sales climbing 22.2% to $59.8 billion. Category growth was widespread. Fragrance jumped 25.1%, hand and body lotion rose 14.6%, bath and shower increased 10.9%, facial skincare grew 10.7%, haircare climbed 10.2%, and cosmetics and nail gained 10%.

Yet, founders, operators and investors often describe a far more challenging operating environment than the topline data would suggest. With that context in mind, for this edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked eight founders, executives, consultants and investors the following: Does this disconnect ring true to you? If you had to estimate year-over-year growth for the beauty industry today, where would you put it? What do you think “healthy” growth looks like in the current environment?