It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas | Cosmetics & Makeup

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It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas

From chicagotribune Perfume and other fragrance items usually dominate beauty-related purchases during the holidays. But retailers say color cosmetics are coming on unusually strong this season, particularly gorgeously packaged gift sets from M.A.C. Cosmetics, some of which are selling out, according to the trade publication Women's Wear Daily. That's not to say fragrances are in a funk. The standouts so far are Marc Jacobs Daisy and Prada D'Iris. Other fragrances proving to be popular are Diesel, Usher's Masterbrand and Sean "Diddy" Combs' Unforgivable for Women, as well as L, a L.A.M.B. fragrance by Gwen Stefani, YSL's Elle and Tom Ford's Scents.

Karen Grant, senior beauty industry analyst for market research firm the NPD Group, says that 20 percent of total-year fragrance sales come in the two weeks before Christmas, noting a recent trend toward last-minute purchases.

And customers are buying cosmetics as much for themselves as for anyone else, Grant notes.

So if you haven't bought yet, you're hardly behind the curve.

Need a suggestion for gift or self? Check out M.A.C.'s Heirlooms set of five basic brushes in a gilded canister or a woven cream/silver clutch bag, $45 to $48, at the M.A.C. store, 40 E. Oak St., Nordstrom stores and maccosmetics.com.

Gold in a jar

La Prairie broke the $300 barrier when it introduced its Skin Caviar Luxe Cream in 1998, boasting beluga sturgeon caviar extract as a key ingredient and blue cobalt glass from Spain as its packaging.

"We really created the luxury world of skin care," said Holly Parton-Genovese, vice president of retail marketing at La Prairie. "But when you look at the industry today, $300 is nothing."

Whether La Prairie deserves sole credit -- or blame -- it was at the forefront of the popular premium skin-care trend, which is particularly hot for the holidays, said the NPD Group's Karen Grant.

A decade ago when the market research firm began tracking prestige beauty trends, fewer than 40 skin-care items sold for above $100. Now, 420 do, NPD reports, citing La Mer, at about $1,500 for a 500-mL jar, and products from Orlane, Sisley and Chanel.

In just the last two years, the number of items being offered above $300 has grown by more than 50 percent, Grant said, and this year's sales are expected to exceed $52 million.

As if the bar weren't high enough, La Prairie is celebrating its 20th anniversary and the holidays by offering a supersize 150 mL jar of Skin Caviar Luxe Cream for $900. La Prairie also has introduced a limited-edition Swarovski crystal-encrusted jar, along with 50 mL of cream that can be inserted through the bottom of the jar. The price is $2,000 at Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's.

"It's a lot," Genovese allowed. "But you get what you pay for."

Grant knows of no studies that show pricey creams are more effective than less expensive ones. But, she says, that isn't all that matters in the luxury world. People take pleasure in the exotic ingredients, the exclusiveness and the service, among other perks.

La Prairie recognizes that the market for the jumbo jar is particularly limited. So, at an informational breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel earlier this fall, Parton-Genovese pointed to the new, more accessible Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Lift Cream, which promises to moisturize and firm as well as discourage the fat storage that creates eye bags.