According to beauty industry trends highlighted in a newly updated study byThe NPD Group, a market research company, recent shifts in makeup usage point to alternative areas of interest among makeup users. Overall, usage of makeup products among 18-64 year old women is down five percentage points in 2010, relative to 2008. Among women who do wear makeup, a growing number (up 1%, equivalent to about an estimated, additional one million women, based on projected population taken from the U.S. Census) are wearing only one makeup product per given day.

But while overall makeup usage is down, an area of growing interest is makeup products with skincare benefits. An overwhelming majority, almost 9 in ten (86%), of makeup users have used a makeup product that contains a skincare benefit in the past year.

According to the report, moisturizing (54%) and SPF protection (51%) are the most cited skincare benefits that the makeup products women used contained. These were followed by oil-free/won’t clog the pores (32%), reduces wrinkles/fine lines (30%), and natural/mineral-based (27%).

About six in ten women who used makeup with skincare benefits are using these types of makeup products in addition to using skincare products with the same benefits. Nearly two in five of these women are using makeup products with skincare benefits instead of skincare products with the same benefits.

“As consumers seek to simplify their beauty routines, the opportunity is ripe for products that provide the benefits of both the makeup and skincare categories,” says Karen Grant, vice president and global industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Over the past few years a greater number of makeup products are incorporating skincare benefits that consumers would previously seek to get from a skincare product. From protective benefits to increasingly advanced anti-aging ingredients to the more specialized focus of anti-acne and redness reduction benefits, more and more makeup manufacturers are offering consumers a wider variety of skincare options today,” she adds.

“While the beauty industry continues to look for new opportunities, this convergence of makeup and skincare is a burgeoning platform to build upon. Our younger consumers are still learning and experimenting to determine what works for her and our older consumer are facing the ever changing needs of her skin along with the need for a pragmatic, time-saving approach to beauty. Understanding the way consumers are now approaching their beauty regimen and where their needs cross categories will help guide us in re-engaging both the younger consumer and older consumer,”Grant says.