Advanced skincare and hybrid make-up to continue to fill the professional beauty void post-Covid-19

Months spent in lockdown could have encouraged consumers to try to develop skincare routines that could compensate for the lack of the availability of professional treatments. Credit: fizkes / Shutterstock.

With the lockdown-themed realities of the coronavirus pandemic settling in, many consumers had to reluctantly abandon their current beauty habits and find new ways of maintaining their looks. As a result, increasingly more complex and advanced cosmetic and spa procedures now find their alternatives on store shelves, targeting shoppers seeking the reassurance of professional treatment and the indulgence of a beauty salon session.

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged beauty brands, calling for new product concepts that could suit a dramatically changed lifestyle. The challenges differ from category to category, with skincare and make-up brands facing a different set of issues. According to GlobalData’s COVID-19 Recovery Consumer Survey, published on 9 December 2020, 34% of global shoppers have either stopped buying or are buying less make-up since the COVID-19 outbreak, while only 11% of consumers are reportedly buying more make-up now. The numbers are more optimistic for skincare; although 23% of global shoppers buying less or having stopped buying skincare products altogether, a further 20% are actually buying more.

The figures show that current circumstances are more favourable for skincare brands, with a potentially higher demand for new releases in the category. This may also explain the growth of the “hybrid trend” in make-up that sees a spike of active blend infused products. Products such as lipstick balms and tinted creams attempt to crossover category lines and serve both an instant result typical for make-up and skincare- like long-term effect.

Months spent in lockdown could have encouraged consumers to try to develop skincare routines that could compensate for the lack of the availability of professional treatments. Brands have answered eagerly to those shoppers, developing products mimicking the application and results of salon treatments. A microneedle face patch set from Pacifica uses self-dissolving, pain-free glycerine needles that help transport granactive retinoid and hyaluronic acid, ingredients often associated with cosmetic medicine, into the deeper layer of skin. The at-home treatment launch in the US was inspired by microneedling, a cosmetic procedure involving a professional device that creates multiple small punctures in the skin, in a bid to accelerate skin’s healing and rejuvenating processes.

UK-based Revolution brand offers sets of glass ampoules filled with high potency skincare agents, such as salicylic acid. A box of seven doses yields a week-long intense skin treatment with a strong medicine-inspired feel. Charlotte Tilbury’s Happikiss lip balm showcases how the make-up category redefines its positioning and benefits to align with current consumer needs. Marketed as a hybrid of hyaluronic infused lip mask and glossy plumping lipstick balm, the launch blurs the lines between make-up and skincare while also offering a cosmetic lip-enhancement inspired key ingredient and “plumping” result.

The new wave of cosmetic science and medicine- based releases may temporarily console shoppers longing for professional beauty treatments. However, it is also possible that the trends fueled by the new lifestyle of global consumers are here to stay post-pandemic.

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