Is Skincare the New Makeup?

As a blogger, and just as someone who loves skincare, makeup and self-care, I’ve seen my fair share of trends and products come and go. The world of beauty moves so fast, sometimes you’ve only just got your hands on the latest product before the world has moved on to the next big thing! I spend a lot of time thinking about and writing about the beauty industry for my blog, and it seems that the recent lockdown has had a big impact on the way we look at makeup, skincare and self-care as a whole. The way things look right now, makeup sales are declining, and we are investing much more in our skincare while at home! After all, if the only people you’re seeing are your boss over Zoom and your cat, there’s really no need to get up half an hour earlier to carry out your daily makeup routine.

This is a collaborative post.

Are We Giving up on Makeup?

Since lockdown began, sales of makeup have declined 22%, while nail care, hair care, body care and skincare are all on the up.

Of course, we can’t blame it all on the lockdown – there have been shifts towards this kind of thing for the last few years! “Glass skin” and the growth of K-beauty and J-beauty here in the west have introduced lots of us to the importance of skincare and brought “no-makeup makeup” into the mainstream. Gone are the days (thank god!) of thick, heavy foundation, extreme powdery contour and chiselled “Instagram brows”, and they’ve been replaced by a much fresher, youthful approach to makeup. Brands like MILK makeup and Glossier have become cult favourites due to their minimalist approach to makeup and beauty, not to mention their skin-loving ingredients, which makes doing your makeup seem like a skin treat!

So, What’s Changed?

It’s interesting to see how lockdown has changed our priorities when it comes to our daily self-care routines, and they have changed! No7 recently carried out a survey and found that 52% of us have changed our beauty priorities since the start of lockdown and that a massive 82% of women are wearing less makeup than before. However, more than half the women in this survey also said that they feel more positive when they do wear makeup in lockdown and that nearly a third believe that doing their makeup like normal helps to boost their mental health.

As a blogger and writer, I spend a lot of time working at home, and I’m not ready to give up my mascara just yet, but it is interesting to see how we are changing our perspective on beauty, confidence and self-love throughout lockdown.