Recent research from natural ingredient supplier, Lycored, has suggested consumer focus on beauty, and the role diet plays in it, increased during lockdowns.
The company, which produces carotenoids for ingestible skincare, surveyed 562 consumers online in the US and UK in June 2021. More than a third, at 35%, said their focus on looking after themselves had increased during lockdown, while 28% said it had decreased. Nearly half, at 48%, of US respondents said their physical appearance had become more important to them, while 21% said it had become less important.
Another trend was increased interest in the role nutrition plays in both wellness and beauty. More than half of the Americans surveyed said they had thought more about the relationship between their diet and their overall health. The same number (53%) had reflected more on the relationship between their diet and physical appearance.
Zev Ziegler, VP of Brand & Marketing at Lycored, said: “When lockdowns were a new thing, there was this idea that people would just give up on self-care. Our research shows that the opposite was true for many consumers, perhaps because the pandemic has made clear the duty of care we owe ourselves, as well as others.”
The research also provides new insights into the so-called ‘Zoom effect’. More than half of the US respondents said spending more time on video calls made them think more about their appearance. The most common concern was the smoothness of their skin (31%), followed by the appearance of their hair (27%), skin tone (26%), and the glow or radiance of their skin (17%).
These concerns translated into changes in consumer behaviour. More than a third, at 34%, of respondents had changed their haircare routine, while three in ten (29%) had tried different beauty or grooming products. Four in ten said spending more time at home meant they were able to commit to a long-term skincare or beauty routine.
Going beyond the pandemic, nearly four in ten (38%) consumers globally said they expected to purchase topical skincare products more often, with only 10% saying they would do so less often. One in three also said they would purchase more ingestible skincare products.
Zev Ziegler added: “It’s unsurprising that so many consumers plan to purchase more beauty-from-within products in the future. Ingestible skincare is firmly in the mainstream and, as this research shows, interest in the link between diet and beauty has increased during the pandemic.”
Lycoderm is Lycored’s proprietary blend of tomato phytonutrients and rosemary leaf for skincare. Its concentrations of lycopene, phytofluene and carnosic acid are designed to help balance the skin’s response to environmental stress and support the maintenance of natural collagen.
The company published its research in a white paper entitled, ‘Back to life: Beauty and self-care in the post-pandemic world’.
