How our skincare purchases changed in lockdown

This time last year we were facing into the first lockdown. Everything has changed about how we live, from working to shopping, socialising and travelling. With stores mostly closed for the last 12 months, shops and brands pivoted to online to stay afloat and give customers what they wanted.

What we bought has been tracked through sales with insights by the beauty buying team at Arnotts, which now has the largest beauty hall in Ireland. These are the biggest trends they have seen from 2020 into this year.

‘Skin minimalism’ is a trend the store is seeing — buying less but choosing wisely. ‘Arnotts skincare business grew by 376% last year online. Customers are turning to ingredient-focused products such as niacinamide, which saw a website search increase by 700% in the past year.

Other new popular ingredients customers are searching and shopping in 2021 so far include polyglutamic, succinic acid and tranexamic, as well as more established ingredients notably, vitamin C, retinol, hyaluronic acid, ceramide, squalene and glycerin,’ the Arnotts team tells us. Brands like The Ordinary, Niod, and The Inkey List cater for a lot of these products, and they are budget-friendly too.

Not travelling to work has utterly changed how we wear make-up. The team says, ‘With people working from home over the past year, we have witnessed a change of habits.

The time once designated to long commutes has been replaced with new beauty regimes. Make-up with skincare benefits has seen CC creams, BB creams, concealers and tinted moisturisers now appear as staples to achieve this “no make-up make-up” look.’

Supplements for hair, skin, and nails are also increasing in popularity. ‘We saw a 740% increase in sales following the introduction of beauty supplement brands such as The Organic Pharmacy, Advanced Nutrition Programme and The Nue Co.’

While samples and testers are out of bounds for now, Arnotts says individual brands are changing their approach.

‘With tester and sample options now unavailable, we’ve seen brands like Sunday Riley, Kate Somerville and Dr Barbara Sturm adapting with the creation of discovery kits and targeted skincare kits, offering a way for customers to trial new products before committing to the full size item.’