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Almost a year and a half of isolating at home has significantly impacted consumer behaviour, and many beauty trends that were upcoming just before the pandemic are now history.
“Covid-19 will define the beauty industry for the next ten years,” stated Oliver Wright, managing director and global lead on consumer goods and services at Accenture, speaking to CosmeticsDesign – Europe April 2020.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when the world was facing nationwide lockdowns, many people suddenly found themselves in a position where they didn’t have to apply makeup or other beauty products they would generally use daily.
“When the first lockdown started my beauty routine completely changed, and I noticed my skin getting worse. After a while, I felt like putting more effort into my beauty routine and started investing in more expensive beauty products. I think this was also a way for me to take care of my mental health,” says Nancy Hughes, 25, who works for Boots beauty.
Constantly wearing masks and not allowing skin to breathe has encouraged people to maintain a lighter and more natural look. Healthy skin has become more important, which has led to many people having focused on taking care of their dry skin and acne while staying at home.
"I had horrible acne, and I tried to hide it by putting on a lot of makeup, knowing fully well that it would just make the situation worse, but during the lockdown, I faced the problem, and now my skin is so much better. I can't even imagine putting that much make up on anymore," Hughes continues.
After hairdressers, salons, and spas closed, many people started learning how to do their beauty routines at home. After successfully keeping their nails, lashes and hair in check for almost a year, it looks like the trend is here to stay as many people continue doing them at home.
“I wanted to keep doing my nails and other beauty stuff at home because I didn't know when I would be able to go to a salon again. At first, it was a big mess, but now that I've learned how to do it, I'm going to keep doing everything myself and saving money and time,” says Nicola Ortis, 26, who works in retail.
Picture by Unsplash
To counter the negative effects of Covid in their life, many people have put self-care at the top of their list. Long baths, luxury skincare and mindfulness, are now popular, but when everyone starts to go back to their (new) normal routines, will the beauty routines stay the same or will the priorities change once more?
“Society expects women to look a certain way, and I'm quite sure that once people go back to their jobs, the old standards will come back after a while. Now that places start to open again, it might even be refreshing for many to go out, dress up and put makeup on and enjoy it," said Hughes.
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