"no in-store product swatching, no drop-in makeup consultations, or facials, or manicures, or blow outs. And the professional beauty service providers that are seeing clients and booking work again are doing so with exaggerated sanitary measures in place"
There’s no doubt about it, beauty is high-touch business.
Yet here we are, more than 12 months in to a global pandemic where health precautions have us washing and sanitizing our hands with impressive frequency and not touching our own faces.
To say nothing of the fact that, all this time, we haven’t been touching anyone else (outside, perhaps, those in our immediate household).
All of which has meant: no in-store product swatching, no drop-in makeup consultations, or facials, or manicures, or blow outs. And the professional beauty service providers that are seeing clients and booking work again are doing so with exaggerated sanitary measures in place.
Can Beauty and Wellness be Hands-Free?
The tactile, sensorial, and compassionate aspects of touch are few and far between in beauty just now. And this has cosmetics and personal care brands rethinking, researching, and reinventing products, testers, applicators, and more.
At the start of 2021, Beiersdorf skin care brand Nivea released 2 global reports on the state of human touch. According to a media release on the German company’s site, the studies “reveal a concerning level of physical touch deprivation and loneliness, made worse by the ongoing pandemic.”
Touch is documented to have numerous health benefits including calming the nervous system, releasing oxytocin, reducing cortisol, improving healing and lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety, boosting the immune system, and more.
And it’s certainly possible that these sorts of benefits are part of the reason why skin care and beauty routines or services are enjoyed by so many people, why they’re habit forming, and why they are self-rewarding.
Still, we’re living in a safety-first season. And beauty makers are taking this as a cue to innovate!
Skincare Application Tools Just Became Very Popular
Skincare application tools were intriguing consumers before the pandemic, but are even more sought-after now. Examples include the Kinship Skincare Multi-Tool for applying masks and moisturizers, the RéVive Skincare mask brush, and skin cleaning or prep tools too, like the Yes to Tomatoes Squeeze and Spatula package—made and patented by Cosmogen—for its White Charcoal Peel-Off Mask or like the 3-piece collection of brushes from We Love Eyes, which includes a Between-Eyelash Cleaning Brush, an Eyelid Margin Cleansing Brush, and an Eyelid Margin Scrub Brush.
The Re-Nutriv brush from Estee Lauder, used for preparing the skin before application of the Ultimate Diamond Revitalizing Mask Noir fits in here too. As does Yubi Beauty’s new antimicrobial Purifiber Buff and Blend Duo Brush Set. This brand has always been about awesome beauty tools for applying makeup, skincare, or cleansing products with a very comfortable, intuitive gesture. And this latest launch from Yubi speaks directly to current consumer beauty hygiene concerns.
Touchless Beauty Products and Sampling Solutions
Products like the Super-Nutrient facial moisturizer spray from Planted in Beauty (which I mentioned in a #duviews video early last month) is part of the low-to-no touch beauty movement too. As are product sample and discovery kits now commonly available from both DTC and retail-first brands.
And of course, touchless product sampling solutions like Mineral Fusion’s new YouCam virtual try-on tech available online and in Whole Foods stores where that brand’s makeup is sold are part of this low-to-no touch beauty story also.
What changes is your business making to help make low-touch beauty a reality?
Leave a comment below and let me know!
And thanks so much for watching #duviews.
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this DUviews item was originally posted to LinkedIn and now appears on DeannaUtroske.com
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