The beauty industry is booming, with 2012 sales of prestige makeup (the fancy stuff you buy at department store counters) up eight percent, to $1.8 billion. According to The NPD Group Inc., 74 million pieces of makeup were sold in the first six months of 2012. That's a lot of lipstick.
So with all that growth in mind, who is the world's biggest beauty company? According to WWD Beauty Inc's Top 100 issue, debuting this Friday, the answer is...
L'Oreal.
L'Oreal topped the industry with the best sales performance in 2011, raking in $28.33 billion. And they're on their way to a strong 2012, reporting sales of $13.76 billion by from January through June 30 this year.
Part of that success may be owed to L'Oreal's expansive reach: the French company, founded over 100 years ago, actually owns a whole slew of beauty brands you know and love, such as Shu Uemura, Kérastase, Garnier, Maybelline, Lancome, Essie and plenty more.
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