Make-up and beauty products stores face change – no more trying and testers after coronavirus, and less demand for lipstick

What’s a visit to a beauty store like Sephora without trying the products? After the coronavirus, they’ve had to put testers away in some countries

Stores must also adapt to a plunge in lipstick sales thanks to the wearing of face masks, but higher demand for eyeliner, nail varnish, and pampering products

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Beauty stores like Sephora will have to adapt to the post-pandemic world, with no communal make-up testers, lower sales of lipstick now most customers are wearing face masks, and higher demand for eyeliner, pampering products and nail varnish. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:15pm, 8 Jun 2020Updated: 7:20pm, 9 Jun 2020

In a post-coronavirus world, it’s hard to imagine letting a friend borrow your lipstick, much less a stranger. But major beauty retailers Sephora and Ulta Beauty became favourites of make-up enthusiasts by doing just that – letting all customers test from the same display product.

Now, as stores try to lure shoppers back from a pandemic-induced hibernation, the industry once seen as fun and indulgent suddenly needs to take on new responsibilities typically reserved for health or enforcement workers – like sanitising and controlling social distancing.

Ulta and Sephora used the two-month forced shutdown in the United States to reimagine their stores, which once allowed beauty assistants to touch guests’ faces and use communal testing products – something that now seems cringeworthy. And they’re waiting to see how customers respond.

The beauty retailers’ stores are significantly smaller than department stores, making it difficult to practise social distancing. The main reason to visiting the stores was to test products, but now both stores have thrown out testers altogether – a new safety measure that some Texas shoppers say isn’t being strictly enforced.

Customers wear face masks at a Sephora store in Paris. Demand for lipstick has dropped. Photo: Reuters

As American states lift stay-at-home orders, people may be ready to rush to the nearest Ulta or Sephora to freshen up their appearance. But they may have to wait in line. The new capacity limit for Ulta is 40 people. Sephora also has a limit but didn’t list a specific number.