British make-up market hits the

Beauty becomes a thorny issue as the English rose loses her natural charmWhen it comes to a woman’s beauty, it seems that the classic English rose is now not quite as natural as she once was. With ever more women turning to their trusty make-up bag, latest research from MINTEL finds the value of the British cosmetics market blossoming and set to reach the £1 billion (1.5 billion Euros) mark this year. Over the past five years the make-up market has seen vibrant growth of almost 40% and by the end of this year will be worth more than those in Spain (0.6 billion Euros), Germany (1.2 billion Euros) and even France (1.2 billion Euros), home to many of the world’s leading cosmetic houses. When it comes to individual spending on make-up, British women well outpace their female companions in the other three countries. Indeed, this year, each woman (aged 15 and above) in Britain will spend on average around £36 (52 Euros) on make-up alone, some £4 (6 Euros) more than women in France, which has the second highest spend per female.