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Associated Press

Faith Zellman uses the photo editing app Facetune to spruce up her hair since all the salons in town are closed due to the coronavirus.
The 24-year-old bartender recently lost her job, and she’s passing the time by beauty blogging and posting make-up tutorials online.
“Someone called me out during a Facebook Live saying ‘your roots are showing,’” Zellman said. “I didn’t want anyone else to see that my roots have got this bad so I used the app to tint them espresso brown.”
In the age of coronavirus, Americans are editing and posting more content on social media than ever before.




















View this post on Instagram




















A post shared by Faith Zellman (@fz_mua) on Mar 16, 2020 at 8:37pm PDT



As social distancing drives people to avoid trips to the beautician, forgo events with friends and skip workouts at the gym, many are using apps to soften their appearance and create engaging videos in the midst of stay-at-home orders.
After all, if there isn’t a hairstylist around to smooth out your tresses, there are apps that can.
Content editing apps have reported a broadening user base, while apps like Facebook have seen the number of people using live-video streaming features double.
Lightricks, an AI app developer whose products including Facetune, Pixaloop, Quickshott and Photofox are used by millions of people, saw a rise in daily usage that corresponds directly with the coronavirus outbreak in recent weeks.
“As people need to physically distance themselves in these difficult times, one positive is that humans are finding outlets to fuel their creativity,” said Zeev Farbman, the company’s CEO.

Lightricks’ series of content creating apps saw a 20 per cent increase in time spent on them worldwide, while its user base tripled and people are spending 25 per cent more time editing videos, according to metrics provided to American newspaper USA Today.
“We’re humbled to see so many people keep entertained with our creativity tools,” Farbman said.
Cody Wanner, a content creator based in Harrisburg in the US state of Pennsylvania, started using a video editing app called VideoLeap three times as much since the coronavirus began shutting down events in the US.
Facebook, Instagram to cut video streaming quality in virus-hit Europe
“I normally use it twice a week, but I’ve literally used it every day since we started physical distancing and staying at home,” Wanner said. “I’m craving that human connection.”
Wanner’s most recent content includes push-up challenges and home baking videos posted as Instagram Stories.
“It can be really fun to make videos a bit more engaging for the people who are going to watch it. It’s almost like a one-on-one social connection that way.”

A study by influencer marketing agency Obviously found engagement levels spiking in the wake of the pandemic. The company noted a 76 per cent increase in daily accumulated likes on Instagram and a 27 per cent rise in engagement levels on TikTok.
Some people are using photo editing apps to touch up their skin and hair since getting face-to-face appointments with dermatologists and hairstylists are hard to come by and likely don’t comply with stay-at-home social distancing orders.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had to edit my hair,” Zellman said. “I’ve considered dying it, but I don’t want to ruin it.”
There are reports that hair dye is flying off the shelves during the outbreak, as people desperate for touch-ups try the do-it-yourself method. American media organisation NPR cited Nielsen data that found hair colouring products spiked 19.4 per cent last week.
Cosmetics products surged 57.7 per cent, facial cleansers spiked 11 per cent and nail polish remover jumped 56.7 per cent, Nielsen found.


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Fashion

Photo editing apps like Facetune offering digital touch-ups rise in popularity as coronavirus shuts beauty salons

Beauty blogger Faith Zellman used photo editing app Facetune to tint her roots espresso brown.

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Facetune is a photo editing app. Here's a before and after photo

China cosmetics sales rebound in March as coronavirus outbreak proves to be a temporary setback

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epa07195254 Workers in a TMall.com warehouse gather orders from customers in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China, 28 November 2018. Jiangmen is situated in the Pearl River Delta economic zone which is one of China's leading economic regions and a major manufacturing centre. Tmall.com is a Chinese-language website for online retail. EPA-EFE/FREDDY CHAN

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Fiona Hinds gives her sister Sophie a haircut at home in New York. Photo: Kate Hinds via AP

Jaxx Yuen hair salon in Beijing

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Beijing-based hairstylist Jaxx Yuen with a client

catherine de france hair salon in Beijing

Lauren Cooper of The Glam Room in St Louis, US

St Louis-based hair stylist Helen Petty

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Keeping fit online is proving an important way for gyms to keep their members exercising during the coronavirus home quarantine. Photo: Shutterstock

Handout image shows Gayle Higginbotham In April 2019 on the day that she ran her first 5km race at the Women's Five.  Covid-19 isnÕt stopping Higginbotham from exercising with her personal trainer as this formerly overweight Briton pursues her goal to trim down to 57kg from her original weight in 2018 of 105kg. She was down to 64kg when we spoke earlier this month.[27MARCH2020 FEATURES HEALTH]CREDIT:  Gayle Higginbotham

Handout image shows Gayle Higginbotham  in May 2018 at 105kgs and at the start of my training journey with Joint dynamics and on the right was a year later in May 2019 at 76kgs.  Covid-19 isnÕt stopping Higginbotham from exercising with her personal trainer as this formerly overweight Briton pursues her goal to trim down to 57kg from her original weight in 2018 of 105kg. She was down to 64kg when we spoke earlier this month.[27MARCH2020 FEATURES HEALTH]CREDIT:  Gayle Higginbotham

Handout image shows Gayle Higginbotham from 3 profiles and weighing 64.5kgs, February 26,  2020. Covid-19 isnÕt stopping Higginbotham from exercising with her personal trainer as this formerly overweight Briton pursues her goal to trim down to 57kg from her original weight in 2018 of 105kg. She was down to 64kg when we spoke earlier this month.[27MARCH2020 FEATURES HEALTH]CREDIT:  Gayle Higginbotham

Nick Mitchell, the Founder of Ultimate Performance.[FEATURES HEALTH]CREDIT:  Ultimate Performance

Ultrarunner trainer David Jacquier poses for a photo at Joint Dynamics in Central. 19MAY18 [FEATURES HEALTH] SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty


With social distancing in place, many people who can’t go to the hairdressers are using editing apps to change the way they look online instead
Facetune maker Lightricks report a tripling of users and people spending 25 per cent more time editing videos in recent weeks



More people than ever are using social media to keep in touch with the world, fuelling a rise in photo editing apps like Facetune and Pixaloop as social distancing keeps people from going to salons or the gym.


Beauty

Apps

Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories