Like your energy direct debit – smelling good just got a whole lot more expensive as cosmetics makers feel the effects of the Ukraine war.

Shortages of some special oils and alcohols, along with paper and glass are causing problems for European perfume and cosmetics manufacturers.

Demand has not fallen back – so inflation is driving prices ever higher as Ukraine adds further disruptions to the supply chains for beauty products.

The $500 billion global cosmetics sector is grappling with the fallout from the actions of Vladimir Putin’s war because producers use alcohol derived from grains and organic beets to make perfumes. Worse, these same manufacturers use sunflower-seed oils to make cosmetics – all key crops from Ukraine, which have been decimated.

To make matters worse, the energy crisis, kicked off primarily by the war has pushed glass and paper prices for cosmetics makers through the roof. Add more recent lockdowns in China and manufacturers’ ability to obtain packaging components for such things as a £75-a-bottle of perfume and £25 lipsticks – and shortages are guaranteed.

Emmanuel Guichard, the secretary-general of the French cosmetics association told Reuters in an interview that – “We’re in crisis management mode.”

Higher prices for packaging, energy and raw materials have driven up production costs in the cosmetics industry on average by 25%-30%.

Reuters reports that for cosmetic makers – “the family-owned maker of Bulgari and Salvatore Ferragamo perfumes is wrestling with a yearly 30% spike in the cost of alcohol, on top of a 10% rise in the cost of glass and paper”, Vice President Ambra Martone said.