US prestige beauty sales rose 6% to $17.7 billion last year, according to global information company The NPD Group. At the forefront was skin care as category sales rose 9% and contributed 45% of the industry’s total gains. Makeup followed with a 6% increase in sales, and fragrance closed the year up 4%. “Change was the theme of the beauty industry in 2017, from the shifts in trends and category performance, to the wave of mergers and acquisitions which show no signs of abating in the near ...