Key Takeaways:Beauty is the fastest-growing luxury category in the Gulf region, with a YoY growth rate of over 12%. Physical retail remains critical, with in-store experiences driving discovery and brand engagement.Consumers are embracing testing new beauty products, leaning towards Asian beauty.Known for its high-spending consumers, rapid economic development, and global influence, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries—has become one of the world’s most resilient luxury markets. The Chalhoub Group just released its GCC 2024 Personal Luxury Report, GCC Personal Luxury 2024: Unstoppable, offering the most comprehensive overview of the macro-economic factors that are taking the market to new heights. Clocking in at $12.8 billion in retail sales and experiencing +6% year-over-year (YoY) growth, the region continues to outperform global markets, underscoring both the strength of consumer appetite and the region’s resilience in the luxury sector.The insights from the report are the result of extensive research by the Chalhoub Group’s intelligence team, which analyzed luxury trends and drew insights from over 1,000 prestige beauty brands and retailers, encompassing data across all six GCC countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.BeautyMatter caught up with Mo Shadman, Director of Insights at the Chalhoub Group, to understand what makes the region so uniquely different from any other, and why, despite a luxury cooldown, the GCC remains largely unscathed.