Are Skincare Brands Thriving Amidst The Pandemic?

When the ongoing coronavirus pandemic started taking its grip on various sectors across the global market, it was sure that the beauty industry would also cater to losses and have to bear the brunt of it in its own way. While major personal care brands like Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive continued to do gain profits and offered their support by partnering with charities and organizations to help recover the hardest hits sectors, it is inferred that the makeup industry was the one to take a big dive.

While we know that the post-covid world has changed the face of beauty with masks and shields that have quickly become an essential part of the ‘new’ normal, it is safe to say that some industries have battled the storm better than the others.

For example, high-end cosmetic retailers such as Ulta Beauty and Sephora saw a sharp drop in sales in the early months of this year. Ulta also had to shut down nearly 1200 physical retail stores to mitigate against the outbreak early on in March. But gradually, with the lockdown restrictions getting lifted across different parts of the world, it saw a rise in sales- where customers were increasingly visiting their website and making purchases online that resulted in some form of recovery for these brands.

On the downside, patent make-up brands like L’Oréal Luxe, Nyx Cosmetics and Maybelline New York saw a sharp downfall in sales with a Q1 that’s touching 10.5% and are considered to be some of the most heavily impacted brands in the beauty division.

Skincare and The ‘New’ Normal

The concept of skincare has been around since decades but the very essence of finding new avenues and experimenting with skincare today has been revolutionized only in the past few years. People have always had a keen eye for makeup and beauty products but the skincare industry has seen an immensely high demand and popularity across the world.

In the past we have seen how trends within the makeup industry go viral through campaigns and social media. Today, people have become vastly experimental with taking care of their skin and are willing to try different products and techniques to improve skin health.

Ever since the pandemic, it has been noticed that people have begun to invest more in skincare as opposed to make up products. Since most of the time is spent at home, skin care regimen has become extensive and people now have more time on their hands to truly experiment and take good care of their skin.

Even before the pandemic, beauty tools were extremely popular amongst the masses. With online retail and shopping it has become extremely convenient to get your hands on products. Sculpting tools like Gua Sha, which has its roots in traditional Chinese medicine, has seen a sudden rise in sales by 33.4% this year. This is widely used by women all around the world to reduce face swelling and structure the jaw line.

The sales of Facial steamers also grew by 70% this year. With salons and spas being shut due to the lockdown restrictions, people are looking at products and equipment’s for DIY facials at home. Another product that has seen a steep rise in sales are purple and blue shampoo. This is used in order to help maintain the longevity of your hair color. The sales of at home hair coloring kits have also seen a sharp rise.

Customers are now also looking at adding extra steps to their skin care routine, with all the time on their hands. The demand of serums like vitamin c, repair and restorative, glow serums have shot up by 20 to 30% during this year. People are also looking at investing in organic skincare brands a lot more than before. Products with natural and clean ingredients have seen a boost in sales during the pandemic as well.

Apart from this, with more and more time being spent in front of computer, TV, mobile and laptop screens customers have started to look at and invest in something known as blue light skincare- which are basically hydrating products that help refine your skin and block the harmful blue light from devices. This helps with maintaining elasticity, promotes younger looking radiant skin and helps reduce pigmentation and fine lines. It has observed a 46.2% growth in the past six months of the year.

Purchasing skincare has always been a very personal and interactive experience where customers usually like to walk in to a store, know about a product, try it out to know is suits their skin type and purchase testers to see if they really like a product. With the pandemic and effective lockdown in place, this experience was highly tampered with. Even though products were available to purchase online, people were not really keen on buying things that they could not test.

In order to combat this, many brands started sending out free samples and products in order to attract customers towards buying their products. This strategy was highly effective since people are now looking at investing their money in skincare rather than buying makeup. With the availability of free samples and testers more and more are willing to make online purchases to try out new products and enhance their skin care routine.

Another factor that has resulted in boosted sales for skincare is something known as ‘Maskne’, which is basically a term for acne caused around the area where one wears a mask. Due to inflammation and irritation caused by wearing masks for a prolonged period of time under humid weather conditions, multiple people are experiencing maskne. Therefore skincare products containing anti-acne ingredients such as salicyclic acid, retinol and niacinamide have seen a major boost in sales.

With sanitizers and masks being the need of the hour, many skincare brands have also ventured into creating fragranced sanitizers and designer masks in order to attract customers and increase sales.

While the beauty industry has definitely been hard hit due to the ongoing pandemic, analysts predict that the second quarter looks promising and will surely see a further rise in sales, specifically for skincare brands and businesses.