M&S takes Autograph into beauty

Marks & Spencer will launch a range of Autograph beauty products next month.

Autograph has already been extended from womenswear, which was launched two years ago, into accessories, menswear and perfume.

The Autograph premium make-up collection will be sold in the 81 stores where Marks & Spencer has Beauty Shops. It will be priced approximately 40 per cent higher than the 'classic' mid-market brand, Enhance.

An Autograph eye pencil will cost£8 compared to£4.50 under the Enhance label. The launch makes cosmetics the latest product area to carry a wider range of price points, thereby appealing to a wider cross-section of customers.

M&S has appointed British Make-up Artist of the Year Sharon Dowsett to advise on the collection.

An M&S spokeswoman said she was not aware of plans to extend the Autograph range to any other product areas, but added: 'It's obviously a brand our customers want more of.'

On Tuesday, the retailer reported a like-for-like sales increase for the 52 weeks to March 29 of 6.7 per cent, but in the last 11 weeks of the period the rise was only 1 per cent.

Chief executive Roger Holmes said: 'Our general merchandise sales have been affected by weakening market conditions during the last quarter, but performance for the year overall has been satisfactory.'