“Egyptian pound flotation and the 60 percent increase in customs on cosmetics, which are considered luxury goods, led to prices of all cosmetic products and beauty services doubling,”. Now the opportunities available to local brands in the Egyptian market, suggesting that a decline in cosmetic products imported in 2017 has left local players at an advantage. “The percentage of customers who purchase beauty products decreased this year by 40 percent. Last year, Egypt imported cosmetics worth LE 5 billion ($275 million). Local players who do not import their raw materials, meaning they are not subject to the decision issued by the Ministry of Health on March 22, 2017, stipulating that cosmetic  producing companies should pay LE 50,000 annually for each type of raw material imported. Subsequently, that will have a great advantage over international or multi-national brands to help local players grow.

Egypt’s cosmetics market has actually “maintained steady growth over the past year [2017] despite the downturn in the economy, the depreciation of the Egyptian pound and some serious regulatory challenges.” With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projecting Egypt’s economy to grow 4.5 percent in the fiscal year 2017/18, Cochrane expects that there is much room for the beauty industry to bloom and grow. In fact, research carried out by Euro monitor International suggests that the market actually grew by 18 percent year-on-year, in value terms, in 2016, totaling LE 1.6 billion ($90.5 million at the time). The study suggests that the positive performance of lip products, most notably, lipsticks, and brands growing ability to tailor their products and their adverts to attract more customers, especially those under 15 years of age, whom constitute 31.3 percent of the Egyptian population, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, has significantly increased their sales.