Consumers more concerned about appearance since lockdown, according to Lycored research

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According to results from Lycored’s new ingestible skincare survey, one-third of consumers have increased their focus on beauty and the role diet plays in it during lockdown. The research, published in a new whitepaper Back to Life: Beauty and Self-care in the Post-pandemic World, surveyed 562 U.S. and U.K. consumers online in June 2021.

A total of 48% of U.S. consumers said their physical appearance had become more important to them, while only 21% said it had become less important. This also included an increased interest in the role nutrition plays in both wellness and beauty. Of the Americans surveyed, 53% said they thought more about the relationship between diet and their overall health. The same number reflected more on the relationship between diet and physical appearance.

“When lockdowns were a new thing, there was this idea that people would just give up on self-care,” said Zev Ziegler, vice president of brand &and marketing at Lycored, in a press release. “Our research shows that the opposite was true for many consumers, perhaps because the pandemic has made clear the duty of care we owe ourselves, as well as others.”

Zoom was another factor that contributed to consumers’ interest in their appearance. On camera, their most common concerns were smoothness of skin (31%), the appearance of their hair (27%), skin tone (26%), and the glow or radiance of their skin (17%). These Zoom-related concerns led to a new hair routine (34%), trying different beauty or grooming products (29%), and compliance (thanks to being at home) with a long-term skincare or beauty routine (40%).

“It’s unsurprising that so many consumers plan to purchase more beauty-from-within products in the future,” Ziegler said “Ingestible skincare is firmly in the mainstream and, as this research shows, interest in the link between diet and beauty has increased during the pandemic.”