According to the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA), Europe is the largest cosmetics market in the world – valued at approximately €76.7 billion. With this in mind, we wanted to discover the best cities in Europe for beauty lovers.
To do so, we ranked each European city based on its average rating for beauty and supply services, alongside the number of cosmetic shops in comparison to the population. After analysing the results and scoring each category, we have determined once and for all which is the best city to get glam.
The Best Cities in Europe for Cosmetic Lovers
| City | Total score (/10) | |
| 1 | Düsseldorf, Germany | 9.65 |
| =2 | Paris, France | 9.60 |
| =2 | Zaragoza, Spain | 9.60 |
| =4 | Helsinki, Finland | 9.38 |
| =4 | Berlin, Germany | 9.38 |
| 6 | Stuttgart, Germany | 9.35 |
| 7 | Bremen, Germany | 9.21 |
| 8 | Hannover, Germany | 9.19 |
| 9 | Cologne, Germany | 9.16 |
| 10 | Munich, Germany | 8.99 |
| 11 | Dortmund, Germany | 8.80 |
| 12 | Krakow, Poland | 8.37 |
| 13 | Hamburg, Germany | 8.36 |
| 14 | Nottingham, United Kingdom | 8.34 |
| 15 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 8.25 |
| 16 | Frankfurt am Main, Germany | 8.12 |
| 17 | Vienna, Austria | 7.98 |
| 18 | Leipzig, Germany | 7.65 |
| 19 | Essen, Germany | 7.49 |
| 20 | Goteborg, Sweden | 7.46 |
| 21 | Warsaw, Poland | 7.30 |
| 22 | Wroclaw, Poland | 7.13 |
| 23 | London, United Kingdom | 6.97 |
| =24 | Sevilla, Spain | 6.94 |
| =24 | Barcelona, Spain | 6.64 |
With an impressive score of 9.65/10, in the first place is Düsseldorf, Germany. This city in the west of the country is known for its fashion, but also boasts 48 hairdressers and 17 beauty shops per 100,000 people. Meaning this is one of the most accessible cities for beauty lovers to get their fix.
Tied for second place are Paris (France) and Zaragoza (Spain). Both cities missed out on first place by just 0.5 points. Whilst Zaragoza has higher average ratings for waxing, nails, and hair, Paris has more hairdressers and beauty shops per 100,00 people. Making both great choices for those looking to pamper themselves.
In third place is Helsinki, (Finland) with a score of 9.38. Of all European cities, this may be the place to go if you need an appointment fast; Helsinki has the largest number of hairdressers (76) and beauty shops (34) per 100,00 people.
The Worst Cities in Europe for Cosmetic Lovers
| City | Total score (/10) | |
| 1 | Bristol, United Kingdom | 1.61 |
| 2 | Liverpool, United Kingdom | 1.77 |
| 3 | Brussels, Belgium | 1.99 |
| 4 | Valencia, Spain | 3.05 |
| 5 | Oslo, Norway | 3.08 |
| 6 | Malaga, Spain | 3.33 |
| 7 | Naples, Italy | 3.58 |
| 8 | Milan, Italy | 3.63 |
| =9 | Dublin, Ireland | 3.83 |
| =9 | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 3.83 |
At the very bottom of the rankings is Bristol in the United Kingdom, with a score of just 1.61/10. With only four hairdressers per 100,000 people, those looking to top up their roots may find themselves with an unwanted ombre between appointments.
Just above Bristol with a score of 1.77/10 is Liverpool, United Kingdom. Whilst the city may be well known for its nightlife, those wanting beauty treatments ahead of an outing will have to plan far in advance to secure a spot in the one beauty shop per 100,000 people living in the city.
Third from the bottom is Brussels, Belgium with a score of 1.99/10.
Methodology
1. We wanted to find out which cities in Europe has the most to offer cosmetics lovers by creating a ranking based on average customer reviews and the availability of services.
2. To do so, the OpenStreetMap (OSM) was utilised to find the number of cosmetic and beauty stores in a city. A search was conducted for hairdressers, beauty shops, cosmetics shops, and beauty supply shops.
3. Worldpopulationreview.com was then used to find the population for each city so that the number of shops per 100,000 people could be calculated. This figure was rounded to the nearest whole number for the purpose of clarity.
4. To determine the customer reviews, the average ratings for nail, hair, waxing, tanning services were then scraped from each city using Yelp.
5. The scores for each category were then combined, (with a higher weight given to the number of shops per 100,00 people) to give a score out of ten. The cities were then ranked by this to create the final score.
