Nail varnish has become the top-selling fashion accessory, replacing lipstick as an affordable indulgence in austere times and leading to a boom in sales as consumers flock to buy bright-coloured bottles. [...] In France, over the whole of 2010, perfume sales in department stores rose 2 percent. Over the same period nail colour jumped 42 percent, according to global market research company NPD.

— And there are even more nail polish blogs than perfume blogs. Quote is from Beauty industry sees growth at its fingertips at Money Control.

Women’s prestige fragrance sales generated 4 per cent less revenue in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period in 2008, while men’s prestige fragrance sales were down by 2 per cent on the same period comparison.

However, the year-on-year trend remains up compared to the first half of 2010, with sales of men’s prestige fragrances growing by 10 percent in the first half of 2011, while women’s prestige fragrances grew by 14 percent in the same period.

— Read more at ‘Rediscovery’ of prestige make-up pushes sales to pre-recession levels at Cosmetics Design.

In fragrance, the prestige market grew by 6 percent during the first quarter of 2011 versus flat sales in the FDMx [mass] channel. NPD says the increase in prestige fragrance is due to the positive performance in top existing juice brands, as well as strong sales from 2010 fragrance introductions.

— Read more at The only way is up as US beauty industry rises from recession at Cosmetics Design.

Fragrance sales—which last year posted their first gain since 2006—have continued to show momentum in the first two months of this year, according to data released by market researcher NPD Group.

— Read all about it at Fragrance Sales: A Whiff of a Turnaround at CNBC.

Still, a designer fragrance remains a quintessential holiday gift because it’s seen as a way to bestow an affordable whiff of luxury from top-tier brands. Introduced this fall, Bleu de Chanel was not only a top Christmas seller for Bloomingdale’s, but the chain’s biggest men’s fragrance premiere ever, said Howard Kreitzman, its vice president for cosmetics and fragrances.

— From Smells like 2010 at the New York Times.