Lipstick sales drop, eye makeup sales rise as face masks shift beauty priorities

Elif Ergu – ISTANBUL

Face masks are changing beauty consumptions significantly, as the sales of lipsticks have fallen by 10-12 percent, while eye makeup items have been on the rise since the pandemic started.

“The pandemic has not put a halt on the cosmetics industry. But changed the sales of products,” said Cem Şenbay, one of the bosses of cosmetic giant Flormar.

“The sales of lip products have decreased, while the sales of eye products have increased,” he added, stressing that mascaras especially were drawing most of the demand.

According to the businessman, shopping habits also changed due to the outbreak.

“Before the outbreak, we were opening a new shop every four days and delivering around 250 products a minute,” he said, adding that they had shifted their focus on e-commerce as visits to shopping malls nosedived.

Flormar is a cosmetics chain, established in 2008, that has 180 shops in Turkey and 670 stores around the globe.