When the pandemic started last year, the first reaction among many women was: What to do with beauty products? But then work from home became a phenomenon and realisation dawned. Yes, there has been a change to make-up, haircare and skincare routines with the home becoming an office, a saloon and, well, a spa for many.

We got in touch with Mrunmay Mehta, head — beauty and luxury beauty, Amazon India, to understand buying trends in the beauty sector.

What have been some of the shopping trends — in way of beauty products — on Amazon in the last six months?

As the world lives with the pandemic, customers are looking to stay engaged at home through self-pampering, spending time on grooming and experimenting with make-up. The make-up and premium beauty business had taken a momentary pause in March 2020 but has slowly recovered to pre-Covid performance with the advent of video conference calls. Some broad trends we’re witnessing on Amazon Beauty over the past six months are....

Revival of the lipstick: With eyes becoming the new lips, within make-up, the eye category has seen maximum acceleration. Brands have quickly aligned themselves to innovate in the lips category by moving from gloss and shine lipsticks to promoting matte (transfer-proof and smudge-proof) lipsticks, tinted lip balms and tint this season, only to stay in line with the new norms — they can be worn with face masks.

See the rainbow: There is an emergence of joyful colours, be it on the lips, eyes or the cheek. While minimalism as a trend continues, products will be used to add a dash of color on the eyes (yellow, blue, pink and so on)

Natural effortless glam: A naturally glamorous and glowing face has made a comeback. Customers are now going big on highlighters and bronzers that offer a glowing face coupled with dramatic lashes and blushed cheeks.

Clean beauty: Today, customers are mindful about product ingredients and formulations. With people spending more time and research on their beauty routines, there has been a distinct rise in the adoption of natural, organic and plant-based skincare and haircare as well as natural make-up products.

Salon at home: With customers facing limitations in visiting salons, the focus on professional skincare and haircare products has multiplied. We are seeing a surge in demand for professional brands on Amazon Beauty which were only popular with salons earlier.

In way of skincare, what are the highest/best-selling products at the moment?

In the recent years, especially during the pandemic, we have witnessed the epicenter of beauty shift from make-up to skincare. With the limited choice of stepping out, people started focusing on their cleansing, toning, and moisturising (CTM) more religiously and hence we saw a 1.5x year-on-year jump in the purchase of skincare products, such as night creams, sunscreen, face oils and face serums. Norms, such as quarantine and social distancing, have also enabled customer consumption habits to slowly gravitate towards products that offers multiple benefits and uses. Beauty tools and accessories too saw a 1.5x year-on-year increase as the demand for products such as make-up tools, facial massager, guasha stone and jade roller surged.

Amazon Beauty recently launched a ‘Virtual Try On’ feature. What has been the reaction?

Here customers can virtually try on colour cosmetics — something that is important in today’s context. The Virtual Try On (VTO) feature allows customers to use a photograph stored in their phone or use one of the pre-loaded models faces or even use live camera (Android only at the moment) and try the lipsticks or eye products on themselves, seamlessly bridging the gap between offline and online buying experience. Lakhs of customers have tried VTO and we see a higher purchase intent from customers who interact with it.