During its annual Hot off the Press festivities the NPD Group offered a look into the beauty industry’s sales for last year. According to published reports the company revealed that top beauty brands saw a decline of six percent in sales during the period. This coincides with market surveys done by other groups during the course of the year.

Karen Grant a senior global industry at NPD had this to say at the event, “…2009 was a most challenging and difficult year for the prestige beauty industry.” All hope is not lost however, as there seemed to be a slight rebound during the fourth quarter of last year. This was most apparent in anti-aging products and fragrances that came in smaller packages.