Face Masks May Have Killed The Lipstick Market

Gone are the days that we can actually look forward to showing off that gorgeous hue of nude or pink lipstick that was recently purchased. Days like these are an actual commodity that we all long for again. I can’t you how many of my lipsticks have gone rancid because I haven’t been able to wear 80% of them.

I mean really, as I sit and watch The Zookeepers Wife on Netflix that stars Jessica Chastain, I was in awe of that beautiful Fuschia lipstick that she wore at the beginning of the film. It literally made me want to rush out to buy that specific color, but then I thought, “what’s the use”?  “After all, why wear lipstick when no one can see your smile anyway?”

Due to Covid-19, lipstick sales have taken a hit since the start of the mask mandates and have transcended into 2021. Japanese market research company Intage ranked products that had poor sales in 2020. Lipstick topped the list due to the widespread use of masks.

Lipstick fared the worst in a 2020 study with sales down by more than half at 44% compared to the previous year. Manufacturers have tried to offset the problem by developing new products like lipstick that does not smear on masks.

The so-called “lipstick index” is often used as a barometer of consumer confidence during periods of economic turmoil. The term, which was coined by the former Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder in the early 2000s, refers to the usual resiliency of cosmetics with makeup seen as an affordable indulgence when bigger purchases are out of reach. But of course, Lauder nor anyone else would have ever thought we’d see wearing face coverings in our future.

During the lockdown, demand for products such as foundation and lipstick – was down by more than 70% in the U.K. Now that we are into spring 2021, and with the majority of the U.S. states removing the mask mandates, now is the time to replace the lipsticks you had to throw out or even stock up on the ones you passed up pre-lockdown.

Below are our favorite brands and colors we are obsessing over right now: