Personal care innovation: Private label trends in the US

Private labels are reshaping the personal care landscape, offering their own branded products that deliver quality at competitive prices. Innova Market Insights’ Innova360 research explores the key trends shaping the private label personal care landscape in the US. It uncovers the advantages and challenges faced by businesses venturing into this dynamic market and identifies the most promising product categories.

Private label innovation

Current economic pressures have intensified consumer focus on value over luxury in personal care. While price sensitivity remains a key driver, consumers aren’t simply seeking the lowest-cost options — they are demanding smart value, where quality and efficacy meet accessible pricing. 

Private labels are spurring innovation in personal care with accessible premium offerings. They offer affordable luxury and shift the narrative from generic alternatives to precision-targeted innovations. Trend-driven initiatives like inclusivity, wellness, sustainability, and eco-conscious packaging are emerging growth forces in the market. 

Private labels have faced challenges such as stiff competition, high investment needs in R&D, and balancing affordability and quality. They tackle these risks by differentiating through innovation, fostering loyalty and trust with sustainable practices, and offering competitive prices by eliminating intermediaries and sourcing raw materials locally. 

Active formulations 

Nearly 1 in 6 Gen Z consumers in the US prioritize brightening, illuminating, radiance, or glow as important functional skin care features. The need for a healthy, radiant complexion drives the rising interest in glass-like skin. 

Gen Z consumers in the US prioritize brightening in skin care.Private labels are tapping into this demand with glow-boosting active formulations like vitamins C and E, niacinamide, and lemon peel water. 

Targeted solutions 

Consumers are also concerned about dark circles, fine lines, and wrinkles. Brands are helping them achieve a refreshed and youthful look with targeted eye care solutions. 

Laneige Bouncy and Firm Eye Sleeping Mask uses peptides, collagen, and peony to minimize wrinkles and fine lines. This solution reflects the “Precision in Performance” trend, displaying that consumers prioritize performance, whether it is precise formulation of active ingredients or simple packaging.

Private label accessibility 

Most consumers buy facial skin care products from discount stores like Superdrug, Watsons, Sa Sa, or Target. Several factors, like accessible premium skin care, affordable high-quality products, and capturing a wider buyer base, are driving consumer appeal. 

Additionally, microbiome skin care has grown at a 35% CAGR in the US over the past five years. This rise emphasizes the significance of creating microbiome solutions that contain no preservatives and improve skin barrier function. 

Kate Somerville Mega A Skin Transforming Serum and SeneGence Microbiome Defense Sunscreen Daytime Moisturizer help amplify radiance and suppleness in the skin with microbiome-friendly ingredients. 

Private label hair care trends 

Private labels provide a wide range of products to cater to different hair textures, such as straight, wavy, coily, and curly. Modern formulations with innovative ingredients and technologies are being designed to address specific needs, such as enhancing volume for fine hair and nourishing dryness in curly, coily hair. Most beauty consumers buy facial skin care products from discount stores like Superdrug.

Several private label product launches include Goodline Grooming Co.’s Clarifying 2 in 1 Shampoo Plus Conditioner and The Doux Dear Mama Moisture Milk. These offerings help combat dryness and flakiness while supporting the scalp’s natural barrier, strengthening and smoothing the hair strands. These products highlight that hair care store brands prioritize scalp health to achieve strong and healthy hair. 

Bathing routines 

In the US, consumers are seeking bathing and shower products that not only smell good but also help to relax and de-stress. This preference reflects “Redefining Daily Rituals,” a trend highlighting that personal care is evolving as an individual expression of self-care and wellness among users to develop a healthy mindset. 

President’s Choice recently innovated a PC President’s Choice Nighttime Bath for baby bath wash, featuring lavender and chamomile scents to relax the baby. Relaxing ingredients like lavender and plant extracts help to deliver additional efficacy in body, foot, and hand hydration. 

Sustainability trends 

Consumers are aware of the environmental impact their products can have and prefer sustainable beauty and packaging. This interest is reflected in the 27% CAGR rise in personal care launches with ethical packaging over the past five years. Ethical packaging strategies are helping to build consumer trust in private labels. 

What’s next in private label trends? 

Consumers in the US, particularly millennials and Gen Z, actively seek products enriched with innovative and high-performing ingredients that display visible results. On social media, ingredients like probiotics, CBD, matcha, and turmeric, known for their skin and hair benefits, are trending. By integrating these ingredients, private labels not only address the rising consumer desire for functionality, but also redefine perceptions of affordability by delivering luxury-like performance at an accessible price. 

Beauty consumers search for multifunctional solutions.Modern lifestyles demand time-saving solutions, leading to a preference for multifunctional products that simplify routines without compromising quality. Exploring the scope of multifunctional hybrid products like moisturizers with SPF, body wash with relaxing ingredients, and differentiating brands with innovation and quality can cater to this demand. 

As the personal care market matures, private labels can venture into niche categories to stand out and cater to unmet consumer needs like intimate care. They are likely to establish themselves as innovators in the personal care landscape. 

This article is based on the Innova Market Insights report, “Trending in Private Label Personal Care in the US & Canada.”