Beauty's ethnic makeup

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NEW YORK

With hundreds of new beauty products introduced each year, one has to wonder if there's a woman left who still has any room left in her cosmetics case. Yet women of all ages and all skin tones still feel they are missing products that are right for them.

"More than anything, what we hear from consumers is that there is a frustration with trying to find products that work for them," says Karen Grant, a senior beauty analyst at the consumer research firm NPD.

According to NPD, in an online study of 5,657 women, 84 percent between the ages of 18 and 64 said they had worn makeup in the past year.

Black women are the least likely to use both makeup and skin care products, Miss Grant reports, and that might be because they probably have the hardest time matching these products to their skin color and treatment needs. They are, however, the biggest users of fragrance.

Overall, Hispanic women are the most likely to use makeup. The number hovers between 86 percent and 87 percent across all age groups. "I think it relates to a cultural point of view about femininity and dressing up," Miss Grant says.

Among younger white women, between ages 18 and 34, 85 percent wear makeup, but that decreases to 77 percent of women 55 and older. Conversely, older Asian women -- 85 percent -- say they wear makeup versus 82 percent of the younger group.

Younger black women, at 61 percent, were the least likely to wear makeup, while 71 percent of black women older than 55 reported wearing it.

There is a similar pattern in skin care, Miss Grant says.

Less than 20 percent of black women say they use anti-aging products for their face.