Inflation forces more and more French people to take less care of themselves

When purchases are always more expensive, when their bank accounts are emptying too quickly, many French people have no choice but to reduce their spending. And one of the budgets that suffers the most from these restrictions is the one that is usually dedicated to the products that are sold in the health and beauty department of supermarkets. This finding is evident both by what consumers say when asked the question and by what they put in their basket when they shop.

This is how we discovered in the results of the recently conducted barometer

by Ifop for the Dons Solidaires association that 37% of the people who responded to this survey say that they have stopped buying makeup due to lack of money. This does not mean that they no longer buy mascara, foundation or lipstick, but that they restrict themselves. Et this drop in the lower levels of makeup products concerns nettement plus de consommateurs qu’en 2021, puisqu’à l’époque, 28% de entre eux disaient avoir, par manque d’argent, renoncé souvent ou de temps en temps à en buy?

More French are giving up moisturizers but also deodorants

The rule also applies to moisturizers (face, hand or body creams). We have gone from 19% to 26% of consumers who are restricted in two years. Obviously, when we look at the responses of people in precarious situations, the proportion of people who can no longer buy these types of products is much higher. It reached 70% for makeup and 63% for moisturizers, compared to 65% and 55% respectively in 2021.

Furthermore, even for the most essential products, there is an increase in the number of consumers who say they have restricted their purchases. This is particularly the case for deodorants (12% vs. 10% in 2021) and sanitary napkins and tampons (8% vs. 4%).

Stripes whose sales fell almost 12%

As expected, the health and beauty departments of hypermarkets and supermarkets are the most neglected by consumers. Since the beginning of the year, the drop in sales in volume reached there, according to the latest data compiled by the company Circana (Ex-Iri), 11.6% compared to the same period in 2022. And that despite the fact that the big brands they are multiplying it. very attractive promotions on all these products.

Less shopping in supermarkets but also fewer trips to the hairdresser. In the absence of precise figures on the drop in the number of salon appointments, it appears from the Dons Solidaires-Ifop barometer that French people struggling to make ends meet are cutting their hairdressing budget considerably: 38% do not color their hair. hair more or less frequently, 36% have reduced their appointments with the hairdresser. One in ten French people, according to this survey, would even decide to wash their hair with something other than shampoo.