lipsticks have always enjoyed the status of being one of the most popular makeup products across the world and yes they are very popular in india too but then came 2020 and things changed people are locked inside homes not traveling not eating out and women have stopped wearing lipsticks yes you read that right interestingly lipstick sales have taken a deep hit because most of the women are wearing face masks and dont feel the need to colour up their lips anymore the pandemic has forced women to wear masks not revealing much of their face except for the eyes with people opting for necessity over luxury lipsticks have also taken a backseat as women dont feel the need to wear them anymore and sales of these coloured sticks have also dipped suggest several cosmetic companies and shopping portalssales of lipsticks have been lower than usual in the last two months a spokesperson for online shopping portal snapdeal told ptistafford braganza makeup artist and trainer with loral paris india said clear or seethrough masks will be the way to gountil then the eyes are going to do most of the talking he saidsince the upper half of the face is the only visible part when wearing a mask people will explore a lot more trends in the eyes and brow category where something bold and previously unexplored is going to shine through whether its a mascara heavy look pop eyeshadows or a dramatic wing he added nykaa an indian retailer of beauty wellness and fashion products noted that eyeshadow had moved from their top 5 to top 3 category during the lockdown periodeye makeup will definitely grow as a category it will be essential for all beauty brands to concentrate their rd more on eye makeup business added umashan naidoo head of cosmetics at the westside chain of storesmuch of the makeup industry also believes the decrease in lipstick sales is nothing more than a temporary blip and is confident that coloured lips will never go out of fashion the desire for beauty is eternal and has been with mankind for 100000 years lorals experience in other countries has shown that the current situation does not call into question consumers strong appetite for beauty products which remains intact what we are seeing currently is more of a supply crisis than a demand crisis said kavita angre of loreal india with malls cosmetics shops closed and ecommerce being restricted to essential goods only access to beauty products has been a problem during the lockdown said the brands director of consumer market insights media in the short term colour cosmetics categories like lipsticks will have a temporary blip driven by the lack of out of home occasions but once people start socialising again there will be a celebration with a pop of colour she added a nykaa spokesperson agreed saying lipsticks will eventually retain their status as makeup leadersome in the makeup fraternity said the mask has not