How The Pandemic Has Given Us New Ways To Love Ourselves With Beauty

After months of being locked indoors with little reason to get out of bed and ready for the day, many of us have felt demotivated and not our best selves. We’re breaking out—dubbed lockdown skin—we’ve got fewer reasons to groom our appearances, and lockdown loungewear is becoming tedious.
The pandemic and lockdown have revolutionized how we consume beauty. According to data reported in Vogue, there have been four beauty trends that have gained momentum during the pandemic. These are:

• Innovative beauty hacks
• Purple haircare products that preserve hair color
• Skin serums
• Blue-light-blocking skincare

A popular trend seems to be learning more about how to look good naturally. After all, there is less need for make-up with our plans dwindling in uncertainty due to ever-changing lockdown restrictions.

Here, we’ll look at some of the most popular beauty trends that have emerged during the lockdown.

The ultimate at-home beauty hacks

TikTok has proven useful for many different things—cooking and cleaning to interior decoration and beauty hacks. TikTok has given the creative people of the world a platform to innovate simple tasks to keep us feeling good and in high spirits, as the perfect instant tan routine. For example, Tanologist’s Self-Tan drops broke the internet during the lockdown, with users discovering a low-maintenance, effortless, and easy way to achieve a natural glowing tan with the ability to customize the intensity of the color.

It only makes sense as when we look good, we often feel good too! So much so that even those of us with poor make-up and hairstyling skills have been getting involved. Now’s the time, if any, to try some new beauty hacks to make our lives easier when things eventually return to normal.

Heat-free curled locks

eldar nurkovic/shutterstock

The hack to end all hacks when it comes to haircare—this tip works especially well for the men and women with long and thick hair who are looking for heat-free ways to curl their locks. It keeps hair in healthy condition while simultaneously being able to style it flawlessly.

All you need to do is take your robe belt, split your hair in half, and then the two halves into another two sections, so you have four in total. Then, wrap your hair around the belt in criss-crosses. Secure it at both ends and sleep in it overnight. Check out the video below for a full demonstration.

@mxchellewxThe robe hair hack!!! 🤭 #robehair #hair #hairstyles #robehaircurl #fyp #xyzbca♬ Powfu. Death Bed – 1 Minute Sounds

So, you can ditch that heat protectant spray now!

Soapy brows

Beauty trends are known for changing dramatically over time—remember pencil-thin eyebrows? For those of us—and there are a lot—who over plucked our brows, we’re constantly looking for ways to give the illusion of full-bodied and natural brows.

This is an especially great top tip for those dreaming of fuller brows when microblading might be too expensive. All you need is a bar of soap and a spoolie brush. We highly recommend using soap for sensitive skin when giving it a go—this is perfect for protecting the sensitive skin on your face and around your eyes.

For the ultimate fluffy brow look, dampen the soap with setting spray and rub the spoolie on the bar to coat all sides of the brush. Then, run it through your eyebrows to get the desired shape and style you want. Once you have applied this, press down with your finger to hold the shape, and when dried, if you want to, fill in any gaps in upward feathery strokes.

@millieleerTrying soap brows for the first time 🤔🤍 #foryoupage #fyp #viral #makeup #brows♬ original sound – SUNRAE 🌞

Not only have we got hair curling tips, but we’ve also found the perfect way to escape those brassy blonde tones without the need for bleach or toner. Blonde-enhancing purple hair products have soared in popularity—if they weren’t popular enough already! According to Google Trends data, searches peaked for ‘purple shampoo’ in April and then again in July, showing a growth of 173% from April 2019 to April 2020. These products are giving us the luscious locks we’ve been dreaming of in between our salon appointments as well as saving a bit of money too.

The bottom line

Beauty and wellness post-COVID is set to revolutionize everything we thought we knew about the beauty industry. Although we’re no less interested in making ourselves look and feel good, our needs are pushing global brands to innovate their offerings and adapt to the new normal our new habits are driving.

Want to know more?

With masks now becoming a norm, now is the perfect time to up your eye makeup game. That said, here 7 Eye Make-Up Tricks For When Wearing A Mask.

Who is the author?

Lucy Victoria Desai graduated from Northumbria University in B.Sc. Psychology then went on to study M.Sc. International Marketing at Newcastle University. Lucy is currently a copywriter, creating high-quality content across many diverse industries, with an interest in psychology, technology, and culture.