HOT & FRESH

Skincare, hair care, and other means of wellness come to the fore

Even now it’s hard. What used to be so routine for us that it felt as natural and essential as breathing in air suddenly became something else: a source of anxiety, a rethinking of how things should be. Beauty’s ephemeral quality, integral to its billion-making industries, has made it extremely vulnerable to an unseen virus and fearful shadow it cast. It’s magic quality, felt by the finesse of skilled artists painting faces, styling hair, smoothing down lines, and so forth, was bogged down by shields and paranoia.

This isn’t to say that safety or hygiene are a hindrance to the industry; far from it, as skincare, cosmetics, and aesthetic clinics are often the bastions of strict cleanliness standards, and protocols. But at the human level, from the whispered gossip shared between longtime clients and pros, to the warmth of skin melting cream on someone’s face, and the act of trying on a lipstick shade at the counter—that level of intimacy was lost.

It’s the new normal they say, this way back to the essential. The struggle to get back on our feet is a challenge, but from the world that was bleak and dark, we believe it’s slowly becoming bold and brave and beautiful again. It’s as if we’re seeing it again with new eyes, touching it with shaking hands. In all that we lost, some we will fiind some again, but for the others, something new is bound to come.