The changing landscape of the beauty industry in times of pandemic

Despite the pandemic, Filipino women are not putting their beauty regimen in the back seat, only that demand has shifted towards skincare and hair color products rather than makeup.

L’Oréal Philippines CEO Supriya Singh told Business Bulletin that the change in the beauty industry has been induced by the pandemic.

“In the past, our business has always been big makeup, but this new normal has driven some changes,” he said, citing a boom in skincare, which has expanded the regimen. The work-from-home grooming has created less need for women to wear makeup.

L’Oréal also sees a great room for homemade hair color products, as salons are closed or people are not comfortable going there.

Two years ago, makeup accounted for 80 percent of L’Oréal’s total business locally, but with the pandemic, the share of hair and skin care products has grown faster to nearly 50 percent. .

The other growth engine is e-commerce. The company has always been quite forward thinking with e-commerce and has its own dedicated e-commerce team as it also partnered with online shopping learning platforms.

L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty company, has 36 brands serving a wider market and different consumers. For makeup, mascara and lipstick, its most popular and number one brand in the country is Maybelline.

Maybelline is a high-quality makeup brand in the US and the Philippines at an affordable price and affordable for Filipinos.

“It balances quality and price, but it’s also very ambitious,” Singh said, noting that Filipino women can relate their dreams to the New York number brand very well.

According to Singh, the Philippines is one of L’Oréal’s fastest growing markets in ASEAN. She attributed this to the very expressive beauty culture of the Philippines.

“The Philippines has a deep-rooted culture of beauty.” Singh shared how surprised he was when he came here three years ago to watch the beauty pageants being held from the barangay level.

Apart from its beauty business, Singh said that L’Oréal Philippines’ priorities and ambitions are aligned with the Group’s overall ambitions for 2030 to help build a sustainable and beautiful future for all.

Singh cited L’Oréal’s priority areas in environmental stewardship through sustainable e-commerce and green education, and social inclusion, through youth empowerment and advocacy for the underprivileged.

For example, he mentioned his biodegradable bags made from cassava instead of bubble wrap packaging for his e-commerce business. L’Oréal aims to launch this biodegradable pilot project in October this year.

Locally sourced cassava-based packaging can be small-scale because Singh sees a greater impact for communities as this helps different barangays and creates employment especially for women.

The new biodegradable cassava-based packaging is consistent with the company’s “Beauty for a Better Life” program as it creates employment for some women at home.

In education, the company is also important in green education. It aims to teach young people which products are sustainable or not. Therefore, they focus on raising awareness of the product information, not only its ingredients, but also the entire environmental impact, including its carbon footprint.

They have consumer education modules that they hope to partner with educational institutions on how to reduce environmental impact.

Singh expressed optimism that its sustainability initiatives in the country will become the industry standard for beauty products.

L’Oréal Philippines has been dedicated to meeting the beauty needs of Filipinos for over 30 years with its entry into the market in 1989 with a distributor.

Since then, we have expanded to offer a unique portfolio of 10 diverse and complementary brands that can be found across all distribution networks: mass market, department stores, pharmacies, hair salons, travel retail and e-commerce.

At the heart of our operations is a team of more than 170 talents who thrive in a culture that is agile and creative in addressing Filipino beauty aspirations and inventing the future of beauty.