The beauty industry, cosmetics in particular, has a bright future as women, no matter whether they live in big cities or small villages, will always need a fully loaded make-up pouch in their bag.Research conducted by Nielsen Indonesia, has shown that sales of cosmetics in Indonesia'€™s urban areas for the first half of 2013 increased by 9.4 percent to Rp 606 billion (US$53.8 million) compared to the same period in 2012.Cosmetics sales in rural areas of Java also jumped by 27.5 percent year-on-year to Rp 82 billion in the first half of the year.This survey shows that the rural areas in Java have huge potential and that producers have great opportunities to maximize it,'€ said Nielsen Indonesia home panel services director Hellen Katherina on Tuesday.

The growth in urban cosmetics consumer spending is driven by the increase in spending in terms of brands. Urban residents tended to be more adventurous and sophisticated, so they tried different brands, said Hellen during a press conference on the survey'€™s results.The proportion of people in urban areas who used three brands of cosmetics rose slightly from 12.4 percent in the first six months in 2012 to 15.9 percent in the same period this year, the survey said.

On the other hand, many people in rural areas who had bought three brands last year had now reduced purchases to two brands or fewer because of higher prices compared to those in urban areas.The prices of cosmetics in rural areas rose by 18.2 percent, led by the price of foundation, which jumped 39.4 percent, according to Nielsen Indonesia'€™s data. The data also showed, however, that spending in rural areas had increased alongside the price hike.On the bright side, they [rural buyers] are willing to keep up with the price increases and buy cosmetics, because they perceive them as necessary purchases,'€ Hellen said.

In the survey, Nielsen Indonesia recorded the cosmetics expenditure of 38.2 million households in cities in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi and 11.08 million households in rural areas in Java only. The survey also recorded the items, the quantity and the outlets.The biggest increases in cosmetics sales were in urban rather than rural areas as people in rural areas were somewhat left behind, said Helen.But the trend [in rural areas] follows [urban areas],'€ she added.For rural areas, products like lipstick and eye make-up increased by 41 percent and 25 percent respectively. But in urban areas, lipstick and eye make-up were regarded as basic items, thus the up-and-coming products were '€œbeyond lip products'€, said Hellen.The growth of other decorative cosmetics, apart from eyes, lips, face and nails, jumped by 183 percent in urban areas.

Nielsen also revealed that the consumption of face-care products was higher than cosmetics in both areas, meaning more opportunities to entice customers.If they already use face-care [products], it will be easier for them to also use make-up,'€ she said.In urban areas face-care consumption was 24.7 percent higher, or equal to 9.4 million households. Meanwhile, the consumption of face care in Java'€™s rural areas was 22 percent higher, or up by 2.4 million households.