Beautyque NYC, a virtual shopping, beauty and wellness experience, unveiled its consumer survey results assessing “Beauty Consumer Trends: Has the Pandemic Changed Beauty Routines?” One of the largest results stemming from the survey is that nearly 75% of respondents indicated they have changed their beauty routines since the pandemic started.
Beautyque NYC Founder & Owner Sonia Khemiri explains why these trends have occurred: “For most of us, many aspects of our lives have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as of March 2020. As a result, we’ve had to adapt our routines, habits, and lifestyles to fit the ‘new normal.’” She continues “Interested in seeing how consumers’ beauty habits have changed nowadays, Beautyque NYC developed a survey for consumers. We wanted to know, are they wearing more or less makeup than before? Do they purchase skincare more or less often? What are they looking for in the brands they support?”
Before the Pandemic
Before the pandemic, respondents said they bought their beauty products in retailers such as, Sephora/Ulta and Drug Stores (71.3%), from Amazon (43.9%), or directly from the brand’s website (45.2%). Among the various Beauty categories, skincare, body care, hair care, and makeup were all used daily. Nail care and fragrances were often used. Lastly, tools & devices were reported to be sometimes used. They often purchased skincare, haircare, body care, and makeup, and sometimes bought fragrance, tools & devices, and nail care products.
During the Pandemic
Nearly 40 percent of the respondents indicated that their beauty routines have definitely changed as a result of the pandemic, while 36.8% answered that their routine has only somewhat changed, and 17.3% answered that their beauty routine has not changed.
Their place of preference for making the purchase is Amazon, Sephora/Ulta, and directly on the brand’s website. Skincare and body care products are used daily, hair care is used often, and nail care, fragrance, tools and devices are all used sometimes. Most of the products are purchased sometimes; however, none of them are purchased daily.
On average, 59% of respondents claimed to use makeup less often since the pandemic, and 30% uses makeup the same amount as before the pandemic. In relation to skincare, nearly 50% of survey respondents use the same amount of time as before and just over 40% use skincare more often now. Fragrance and nail care items are used less often than before. Hair care, body care, tools and devices are all used for the same amount of time as before the pandemic.
About Makeup
Makeup consumers tend to buy products for a variety of aesthetic reasons. The most used makeup products used on a daily basis as reported by survey respondents include mascara, eyeshadow, lip gloss, foundation, and concealer. Beautyque found that the largest percentage of survey responders, 72%, answered they wear it since it gives them a confidence boost. The second largest percentage of repsonders, 65.3%, said makeup makes them feel more beautiful. Finally, 55% of responders reported that they wear makeup to hide imperfections.“The vast majority of consumers use makeup as a means of improving their overall self-esteem and perception,” Sonia adds.
About Skincare
The most used makeup products used on a daily basis were reported to be cleanser/face wash, moisturizer, eye cream and serum. “These products are the foundation to a consistent skincare routine,” Sonia says.
About Purchase Criteria
Beautyque’s survey also assessed important factors when deciding whether or not to purchase a beauty product. Respondents reported the criteria most important in making the decision to purchase included the product having clean ingredients, good reviews, and a reasonable price point.
“In terms of the brands our survey respondents support and purchase from: the price has to be reasonable, the product has to be cruelty-free, consist of high-performance formulas, made from clean and natural ingredients, and offer an inclusive shade range,” Sonia says. “Social media platforms, friends and family, and influencers are the top resources the respondents use to gain information on beauty trends along with researching beauty products online before making a purchase.”
Factors that affect their level of trust in a brand are knowing the brand’s founders’ story, hearing influencers mention it, and a well-known brand, Sonia adds. “Trust is derived from the brand’s reputation as a direct reflection of the products.”
These are definitely times of change for the beauty industry. “It is pertinent to keep an open eye on consumers’ behaviors and preferences,” Sonia advises. “Beautyque NYC strives to help indie brands reach their maximum potential and to deliver the best products to consumers.”
Beautyque NYC is a retail marketing platform conceived by French born, US-based female entrepreneur and indie brand founder Sonia Khemiri. In addition to the first ever beauty 3D storefront, Beautyque NYC provides an in-depth and interactive marketing platform for its more than 25 brands and 10,000 consumers.
In addition to taking its own polls with its beauty enthusiasts, Beautyque NCY also spearheads Brand Evaluation Programs for its brand members to provide them direct product feedback from a focus group testing process.
Survey respondents include 231 consumers* ages 18 and older provided insight to how and if their beauty routine has changed during the pandemic.
Sonia Khemiri QxA
Here at 360 Magazine, we spoke with Beautyque NYC Founder & Owner Sonia Khemiri about how Beautyque’s survey was conducted, future beauty industry trend predictions, and her best product recommendations for day and night skin routines:
How did you conduct your consumer survey?
The survey was conducted virtually through a detailed online form that we distributed to our subscriber base of beauty enthusiasts and consumers. We asked them questions regarding beauty trends at various times to see what has changed over the course of the pandemic.
How large of a study did you conduct? How many people were surveyed overall?
The study consisted of 231 responses*.
*From a total of 231 responses, 98.3% of 229 were females. The breakdown of age groups goes as follows: 35 to 44 years old (26.1%), 45 to 54 years old (23%), and 24 to 34 years old (20.8%). The annual income of the groups starts with 47.3% of respondents having an income of $50,000 or less, 34.1% with an income of $50,000 to $99,000, and 15.9% with an income of $100,000 to $249,000. The respondents were primarily from New York, California, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
What do you predict is the largest factor in beauty routine changes during the pandemic?
Based on the survey conducted, the largest factor that changed during the pandemic was how [many] more consumers developed a greater sense of awareness toward beauty and wellness products. Areas that consumers expressed their concern were on clean ingredients, sustainability, ease of application, and effectiveness. Additionally, their preference on where they buy their beauty routine products has changed significantly from retailers to online shopping.
As the pandemic begins to less across the US, do you predict these changes to be long-term or temporary?
We believe that some habits will definitely stick around even after the pandemic, such as at-home routines and buying online. The pandemic forced individuals to color their own hair, do their own nails, and perform their own facials. This change is predicted to be long-term due to convenience and cost-effectiveness. Online shopping allows consumers to perform more research on their products and grant them a greater access to new products that fit their needs, especially with all the digital development explosion during the pandemic such as VR, AR and AI. Even though brick-and-mortar stores are reopening across the U.S, we believe the shopping experience and the beauty routines built during the pandemic will be mixed in a way or another with offline experience and shopping.
What brands would you recommend to someone looking to start a beauty routine with high quality, cruelty-free products?
All the brands we have all carry high-quality products, but we will further elaborate on the cruelty-free brands.
For a night routine: we would always recommend to double cleanse with an oil-based cleanser and a water-based cleanser to remove all unwanted residue. For oil cleansers, the Musaclean Organic Pure Melt Cleansing Oil Gel from Kadalys will get rid of all oil-soluble impurities in the first wash. The second cleanser I would recommend is the Detox Cleanser +3 from Liftlab–this medical grade cleanser will clean and prep your skin for maximum skincare absorption. Next, I would use a Limited 2020 Edition Lotion by Yon-Ka Paris to treat the skin after double cleansing. For serums, the Australian Botanicals Pro-Aging Treatment Concentrate Serum from Founder’s Formula will help restore the skin’s collagen production. To finish off any good routine, moisturizer is must-have! Starting off with a Youthful Eye Concentrate from Alban Muller Cosmetics to target the eye area and the DNA Intense Recovery Creme from Priori Adaptive Skincare. Another bonus to really take your skincare routine to the next level are facial oils. Skincare products are supposed to be applied from thin consistencies to thicker consistencies, so some oils may be applied before serums while others are applied after. Our favorite facial oils are either the Sabrah Prickly Pear Seed Oil by Sunia K, the Luminous Brightening Elixir from Si Skin, or the Nourishing Facial Oils by Founder’s Formula.
For a day routine: I recommend starting with some ice around the eyes to really depuff the area and give you an awakened appearance. To top off the eye areas, Priori’s Tightening Eye Serum will give you a youthful glow along with Fresh Chemistry’s Glowing Serum. For [an] everyday routine, sun protection is very important to help decrease the appearance of aging and fine lines. The Kakadu Plum Vitamin C serum from Founder’s Formula will help protect your skin from UV rays throughout the day along with the Vitamin Sunscreen form Olecea Beaute for the ultimate SPF Protection. For those who want a little more coverage, the Tinted Moisturizer by Elevate CBD Cosmetics is light enough to benefit your skin but has enough coverage to smooth over any imperfections.
To learn more, visit Beautyque’s website.
