Bad news for nail-polish connoisseurs: The nail art craze, one of the biggest trends to hit the beauty industry in recent years, appears to be over.
Nail product sales grew more than 20 percent in 2011 and 2012, Advertising Age reported, The nail polish category made $814 million during most of 2013. However, many of the most popular nail polish brands reported a decline in sales by October.
L'Oréal's nail polish sales decreased 10 percent, and nail polish sales for Revlon dropped 13 percent, Advertising Age reported.
Michele Scannavini, CEO of Coty, which owns nail polish brands like OPI and Sally Hansen, said its nail polish sales were down 4 percent, compared to a 21 percent increase during the same time period last year, Advertising Age reported.
"The overall nail category can't sustain the accelerated growth it enjoyed in the recent past," Scannavini said.
According to market research company IRI, 2012 nail polish sales were higher than lip products for the first time in yearly sales. But "lipstick" Google searches, which can indicate sale trends, in November passed "nail polish" searches for the first time almost five years, Advertising Age reported.
According to Consumer Edge Research analyst Javier Escalante, the reason is simple. "It was a fad," he told Advertising Age. Escalante said the biggest loss was in sales of "special effects" products like crackle topcoats, as opposed to regular nail polish.
Jean-Paul Agon, L'Oréal's Chairman-CEO, blamed the U.S. nail polish sales decrease on people who are beginning to spend their money on cars instead. But Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive vice president of OPI, told Yahoo! Shine the fashion industry has something to do with it.
"At New York Fashion Week we did a lot of nude nails."
Nail art with neon colors and sequins are moving towards more of a minimalist, upscale look.
"Simplicity and sophistication is what we are looking for," she said.
