Interest in beauty and wellbeing is soaring as people look for respite from coronavirus

The so-called lipstick effect which has taken hold during the current crisis is a small slice of luxury bringing much-needed joy, writes Harriet Hall

In the age of coronavirus, filing our nails or applying make-up brings mindful calm to an anxious period (iStock)

“Self-care” has long felt like a term conjured to encourage people (read: women) to preen, trim, dye and paint in a desperate attempt to adhere to patriarchal beauty standards – and spend their hard-earned cash doing so.

But over the past five weeks of lockdown, these small acts have taken on new significance in our lives. No longer necessary (if you ever deemed them as such), since we won’t be seeing other humans outside our households for quite some time, they are now a ritualistic process, done to create calm and – vitally – distraction. In the age of coronavirus, filing our nails, taking a long bath or applying a face mask brings mindful calm to an anxious period.

As hairdressers are expected to be closed for months to come, many have expanded their beauty repertoire, taking to trying their hand at highlights, buzz-cutting their partner’s hair and attempting DIY fringe trims.

The lockdown makeover has made Zoom calls ever-more entertaining, but perhaps it isn’t just that five weeks into lockdown we so desperately need our hair done (for whose hair grows quite that fast?) so much as the demand to exert some control over ourselves during a time so completely out of our control.

Though utterly – here comes that word again – unprecedented, the idea of grooming ourselves during inclement times is nothing new. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, industrial production in the US swiftly plummeted, yet sales of cosmetics steadily rose. Ever since, economists have noticed the so-called “lipstick effect” take hold during times of economic downturn – a small slice of luxury bringing much-needed joy.

We’ve certainly felt the lipstick effect on the Lifestyle desk, where between myth-busting, interviewing people affected by the pandemic and sharing stories about people’s new and challenging romantic relationships, our beauty and wellbeing content has provided much-needed respite from the doom and gloom. When things get heavy, we all need a little lightness – and self-care can really hit the spot.

Yours,

Harriet Hall,

Lifestyle editor