June 22, 2018

Being healthy revealed by Philips’ Global Beauty Index as the most important attribute for women’s self-confidence

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) a global leader in health technology, today announced the findings of its annual Philips Global Beauty Index, an extensive international study [1] on women’s perceptions on beauty. For the Philips Global Beauty Index 2018, 12,196 women aged 18 and above were surveyed in 12 countries (USA, UK, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, China, Japan, Korea, India and Argentina). The report provides insights into current beauty industry trends, perceptions and needs across continents.

The 2018 study shows a rise in the number of women globally who find themselves beautiful – an 18 percent increase from 2015 (47 to 65 percent), with 72 percent of women agreeing that beauty is something they define for themselves. When it comes to thinking of possible applications of future technology in the beauty industry, over half of the women that participated globally (52 percent) are most excited about the idea of personalized advice tailored to them on how to keep their skin and hair healthy.

Growth in at-home device usage

The index showed encouraging growth in usage of at-home IPL hair removal devices, such as the Philips Lumea, with penetration rising from 3 percent in 2015 to 7 percent in 2018.

Supporting this sentiment around personalized beauty and increasing demand for high tech products, the Lumea device has recently been upgraded to include a SmartSkin sensor that measures skin tone at the push of a button and a coaching app to guide women through a treatment plan tailored to their individual needs.

“Our Global Beauty Index allows for continual engagement with women, helping us to understand women’s individual expectations and needs in order to best meet her future demands.” said Jack van Strien, Business Group Leader Philips Personal Care. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to beauty. Today’s woman expects brands to provide solutions tailored to her and her needs, whether it’s an App to track her health and fitness, or a cleansing tool that senses her specific skin needs. The latest digital technologies allow us to realize a new generation of personalized and adaptive solutions that put the individual woman at the heart, and support women in their quest for healthy living.”

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to beauty. Today’s woman expects brands to provide solutions tailored to her and her needs, whether it’s an App to track her health and fitness, or a cleansing tool that senses her specific skin needs.

Rianne Meijerman

Business Leader Philips Beauty

Beauty, health and wellbeing are increasingly connected

The research shows that beauty and health are increasingly connected and that wellbeing, physically and emotionally, is an important factor to feeling beautiful. Over three quarters (82 percent) of women globally agreed that when they feel healthy, they also feel beautiful. When asked the three most important personal aspects that define beauty, having a positive mind-set (88 percent), feeling emotionally balanced (84 percent), and being physically fit (81 percent) were the top responses. Confidence is also driven by health, with one in three women globally ranking ‘being healthy’ as their most important attribute for feeling confident (33 percent).

Philips Lumea is available in select markets worldwide, for more information visit the website here.

[1] The Global Philips Beauty Index, June 2018 – sample of 12,196 18+ women

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.