Beauty was at odds with the pandemic, since the crisis discouraged the purchase of items; however, a recovery is now logged and the creation of new ventures.

Data from the National Chamber of the Cosmetic Products Industry indicate that annual sales losses in the beauty sector were 4.5% in 2020, but in 2021, net sales grew 8% compared to the previous year, according to the Mexican Association of Direct Sales.

“Our line of business continues to grow because consumers are coming back to buy the products. Something peculiar is that skin and personal care items had significant growth (35% and 21% respectively), while cosmetics have a greater chance of being considered as before because consumers are looking to feel comfortable again”, said Javier Valencia, Senior executive of Shopper & CI Mexico, at NielsenIQ.

This interest in the sector and products represents an opportunity for entrepreneurship, as is the case with Zyanya Macias, founder of I luv it, who has had her business for 10 years and sees important changes due to the pandemic that she can take advantage of.

In an interview with El Economista, he explained that the sector was affected during the pandemic, but it represented a revolution for brands and many offers arose, with only one entrepreneur, because looking for extra income.

“Everyone started selling through social networks and different channels, but many of those stores closed with the return to face-to-face activities because they no longer had time to attend to it or it was something they did alongside their work.”

In his case, he started after looking for tutorials on YouTube to learn how to apply makeup where she discovered in the comments that many of the products were only concentrated in Mexico City. Thus, he went to the center of the city to stock up and sell through social networks. Today that business has become his greatest purpose, although he has experienced challenges, he remains firm.

beauty for all

Entrepreneurship in the sector is not exclusive to women, as more and more men join.

“The number of men in the sector is growing. Before, only women bought but now there are more men and it has to do with the products that exist and how we communicate with the brands so that they see themselves as protagonists, that they see that they can use skin care products and can even put on makeup”, explained Sharon Alarcón, Marketing Manager of Avon Mexico.

In this Zyanya agrees, who has registered on his portal that 2% of buyers are men, that although it may seem like a low percentage, it is an important growth because before there was none, mainly because of the prejudice they received.

Zyanya and Sharon agree that the products they buy the most are skin carealthough interest has also grown in the make-upespecially from the Drag community that is inclined to seek more shadows, eyelashes, makeup removers and cleansing wipes.

“Every time I see more makeup boys, in addition to the Drag community, who use more eyeshadow and lipsticks, and there are others who want to look good, who take care of themselves and want to feel better and buy care products and know that they will not be less for that,” says Zyanya.

Also many women buy from their partners and then they look for the product because it helped them. For Sharon this has also been favored by the digitizationsince customers can choose their purchases online without feeling embarrassed.

Another trend is the preference for organic products, cruelty freefriendly to the environment, natural, with a mission and that also have good presentations.

beautiful undertakings

For Zyanya, the most important thing when starting a business is to define the sales channel, which, in his case, was inclined towards a predetermined web portal.

“It is a challenge to find the pages that make your life easier because you can have your product or designer, but if there are people who can do this for you, it is much better.”

It also indicates having an adequate presentation of the offer. Something that also changed in the pandemic is the interest of sustainable and in the design of the products, so now more is invested in the image, which is not just a bag or delivery box, but also has details, decorations and gifts, among other elements.

Las eyeshadow and skin care palettes They are always sold, but with greater boom at the beginning and end of the year and you have to be aware of new products, such as licenses for Sailor Moon, Mickey Mouse, Scooby Dooamong others.

Los lipstick They were among the most affected in the pandemic, but now is an opportunity to relaunch them and create special promotions.

Finally, according to Javier, it must be considered that although the sector has shown improvement, buyers are very cautious, especially due to inflation issues and cases of Covid-19 that are still present. In this sense, 33% confess to feeling financial insecurityso if they buy products, they will be reduced.