Dolling up, despite a mask

[Photo by Liu Lunan/China Daily]

Many women can barely remember the last time they wore makeup since the COVID-19 pandemic, especially since they typically put on facemasks when they leave home.

PR officer Yan Lingbo says she used to spend 20 minutes applying powder, blush, eyeliner, mascara and lipstick before heading to the office. But the Beijinger now spends only about five minutes on the exposed parts of her face.

Shanghai resident Pan Haozhen says she has simplified her makeup routine since she isn't meeting clients face to face.

Now, the marketer uses just sunscreen, eyebrow powder and face powder.

She expects to wear a facemask throughout 2020 and has enough cosmetics to last until next year.

"Wearing a mask all day isn't comfortable, especially when it gets hotter," she says.

She plans to spend more on skin care than makeup, she says.

But she will restart her full cosmetics routine if face-to-face business resumes to "show respect … and professionalism".

Reduced social contact amid the epidemic resulted in cosmetics' purchasing frequency decreasing by 40 percent between Jan 24 and Feb 21, data from consultancy Kantar Worldpanel China show. Offline sales' drop was greater.

Although the outbreak is essentially under control in China, people still wear facemasks in public and are cautious about in-person contact, which has reduced consumption, says Kinsey Jin, senior account manager of the company.

"Since Chinese people have become more aware of hygiene and health, the habit of wearing facemasks may last after the epidemic," she says.

This may mean eye makeup and skin-care products will continue to flourish. Their sales in mid-March were similar to the same period last year, Jin adds.

"Essential tips for facemask makeup" had received 110 million views and generated about 50,000 discussions on Sina Weibo as of early April.

About 8.2 million netizens watched livestreams on the topic on Taobao on Feb 19.

The number of articles about "facemask makeup" on Xiaohongshu, a Chinese fashion and lifestyle-sharing platform, surpassed 20,000.

Cosmetics giant L'Oreal Group says its sales saw an obvious rebound in China in March.

Perfect Diary told news portal Jiemian that sales of its star products stayed strong in March. Chinese online group discounter Pinduoduo says in a report in late February that eye-shadow compact ranked third among products purchased by white-collar workers, after facemasks and hand sanitizer.

Taobao says that lipstick sales grew 300 to 700 percent in late February.

"The demand for cosmetics is not reduced," L'Oreal China president and CEO Fabrice Megarbane says.

"On the contrary, many people have regarded beauty as a way to gain comfort and happiness during difficult times."

The company has developed online courses on makeup worn with masks and on skin care.

Shang Tao, a renowned cosmetologist and founder of makeup brand Wusawusa, says the ways masks cover people's faces have the "upsides" of drawing attention to the eyes while reducing other flaws.

He suggests using soft eye shadow, such as earth tones, rather than "aggressive" colors like red to avoid a sense of dissonance since there isn't lipstick to match.