Lipstick sales are down, while skin-care products are on the rise.
When the pandemic hit, the beauty and personal care industry experienced a lot of swings in demand. Retail businesses were shut down, and employees were forced to work from home. Date evenings were a thing of the past, and while cosmetic and fragrance industries suffered, skincare remained resilient.
When a consumer is at home, their beauty habits shift. According to Baird (2020), 90% of women say they apply little or no makeup while working from home since they prefer to focus on self-care rather than cosmetic glam. Since there are lockdowns, many people see little or no need to wear cosmetics, which is often linked with socializing and going out. Instead, consumers prioritized cleanliness and hygiene.
L’Oréal Philippines Country Managing Director Supriya Singh said the pandemic had induced the shift in the beauty industry. “In the past, our business has always been make-up heavy, but this new normal has driven some changes,” she noted, citing a boom in skincare, which has extended regimen. Because of the work-from-home set-up, women are less likely to wear make-up. Make-up accounted for 80% of L'Oréal's overall sales locally two years ago, but hair and skincare products have increased quicker to around 50 percent with the pandemic.
With Zoom and other video conferencing platforms, people's perceptions about the importance of looking good began to shift. According to Lycored's research, 54% of respondents claimed that the rise in video calls has made them think about their appearance more.
During the pandemic, most people were facing social isolation, and there was a lot of talk about mental health. Suddenly people wanted products that could give them that positive and emotional boost. Then sensory beauty products that provide mental and emotional comfort became popular among customers, and there were thousands of skincare posts on Instagram dedicated to alleviating stress during the pandemic.
Since people are spending more time online, resulting in a more diversified consumer market that is more educated about skincare, more concerned with the ingredients used in formulations, and more connected to influencers they trust and listen to, which affects the demand for skincare products.
The popularity of k-beauty is another factor that influences the demand for skincare. The Hyun Bin-Son Ye-jin hit series Crash Landing On You influenced Filipinos to explore serums, essences, tone-up creams, and water gels to achieve the almost glass-like skin of K-drama leading ladies.
However, today's most crucial beauty trend is that women are becoming more relaxed in their approach to beauty and open to embracing flaws, especially on stressful days brought by the pandemic. Some call it letting go, but we like to think of it as self-love and accepting our imperfections.
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Written by: Pamela Peñalver
Layout and Design by: Simon Estanislao
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