Coronavirus: Make-up industry goes into a slump as people focus more on skin care routine during self-isolation
The coronavirus outbreak has made a mess of almost everything imaginable. Daily lives have been disturbed, businesses have been upended, the mad rage for stocking up has exhausted supermarkets and stores, travel bans have pulled the plug on vacation plans, major events have been cancelled and public places have been shut down. Overall, the world is in a muddle, and people have been forced to stay indoors to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
The global tally of confirmed cases has reached 218,585, with 8,943 deaths, as of March 18. Affected countries have been on indefinite lockdown and the government has imposed safety measures, and some imply self-check. 'Don't touch your face', and 'wash your hands for 20 seconds', are two measures that stand out, which may also get us thinking about those that absolutely need to touch their faces and only wash hands when necessary - regular make-up wearers and those employed in the beauty industry.
According to data compiled by the Personal Care Products Council, within the US, the personal care industry contributes over $235 billion to the national income each year and has about 3.6 million employees. Joh Moeller, CFO, P&G, at a conference in February said at least 17,600 products are getting affected by the pandemic, as reported by Andrew Allen of Supply Management News.
The outbreak has forced fashion retailers and the beauty industry to shut down, to control the proliferation of the disease. In the beauty industry, Sephora has closed its doors to the public in the US and Canada. Ulta Beauty has reduced working hours and discontinued other services. Many beauty events have been cancelled or taken to the virtual space. Independent beauty brands are having a tough time. With their office shut down, business is plummeting.
While beauty brands have closed for business, some are turning to contribute to prevention measures. Avon, for example, is donating soaps to various countries to limit the spread of the disease. Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH has repurposed its fragrance making laboratories to produce and manufacture hand sanitizers for 'French authorities' and 'the largest hospital system in Europe', a Forbes report said.
On the contrary, the skincare industry is booming. While in isolation, people are finding comfort in their skin-care products and routines. According to NPD reports, prestige beauty sales in the US grew 3% within the January and February time-frame, and skincare surpassed makeup and fragrance. The end of February recorded a 13% increase in skincare sales as compared to instore beauty at 4%. Beauty bloggers and experts in isolation have also taken to social media to post about and boost skincare, rather than make-up.
"Using this quarantine time to get into a really good skincare routine, apply essential oils, moisturizer and serums daily," a Twitter user asserted.
"The only true constant in my life right now is my elaborate skincare routine. gonna benjamin button my way through quarantine and come out the other side with a face as smooth as a baby’s ass," another humorously quipped.
A third one commented: "Skincare is going to be the clear winner during isolation. A lot of us aren’t wearing any makeup (maybe some lip gloss if the Zoom is worth it), but using a ton of skin products. Good skin is the video chat status symbol."