Put your hand up if you’ve stopped wearing deodorant during COVID-19.

Actually, don’t. You (and your b.o.) are not alone, as Butterly’s recent COVID consumer survey tells us. Many of our consumer behaviours shifted during COVID, some more “impactful” than others.

Let's go au-naturel

Deodorant and antiperspirants marketers saw a dramatic decline in sales during COVID as consumers opt-out of their everyday hygiene routines, except for one category: natural deodorant. As it happens, there’s no better time to try a natural deodorant than when you’re working from home with only your cats (or kids) to judge you. Natural deodorant sales have soared over the past year.

In fact, the top five ranked deodorants on ChickAdvisor are all-natural brands, headed by Unilever’s Schmidt’s Naturals .

It’s all about the eyes

The cosmetics industry has been limping along as well, but Generation Z (seriously, look at what they’re doing on TikTok) has abandoned full face makeup. Despite living on Zoom, most of us have embraced the bare-faced look, except for a couple of essentials.

In the summer of 2020, we surveyed over 5,000 consumers to see how COVID-19 impacted their beauty routines. 72% said they were still buying and wearing lipstick, but primarily just for special occasions. Mascara and lip balm are the top two items consumers say they’re still wearing daily.

What is a marketer to do with this information?

My opinion? Continue sampling.

• 47% of our consumer survey respondents said they are actively trying new products right now
• 41% of respondents said they would be interested in trying new products during COVID but haven’t yet
• 79% of our respondents said they would be willing to answer surveys for any brand even if that brand was unknown to them

Beauty Budgets

COVID-19 has been great for most skincare and haircare brands. 62% of our survey respondents said that most of their beauty budgets are going toward skincare (38%) and hair (24%). Boxed hair colour is flying off the shelves as our poor stylists are forced into lock-downs. Without professional help, we’re all having to DIY our hair colour.

“Maskne” has been a boon for acne products. Like deodorants, people have come to embrace their natural skin, focusing more on self-care and pamper routines than conceal.

COVID-19 presents a massive opportunity for marketers as consumers sit at home and are willing to try new products. Instead of rushing around, we’re home, anxious and grateful for a pleasant distraction. Brands can build community, connect directly with their fans, and launch more consumer-driven products.

Happy to chat about where we see things going with consumer behaviours as we (hopefully) return to regular life. But I place my bet on the future of natural, eco-friendly products where quality, not price, is the priority.