With face masks, beauty industry may be dead

The global beauty industry was worth a whopping 532 billion dollars by 2019, says Pamela Danziger. That’s lots of money. Kenya’s most recent budget is only about 29 billion dollars. 

The beauty beyond appearance include products such as cosmetics, perfumes, hairstyles, attire and accessories from handbags to spectacles. It’s expensive to look presentable and beautiful to an anonymous audience that does not know you, and often doesn’t care. 

The returns on investment in beauty is usually psychic, the feel good which can’t be confirmed independently. We feel uplifted when our friends make positive comments on our beauty, rarely handsomeness. We normally believe them, how can we not? 

The thriving beauty industry follows us through our lives; we want to remain forever young and beautiful. The industry has been badly interrupted by Covid-19.

The fulcrum of beauty is the face. There are other beauty spots depending on gender, but they all come second to the face. Masks are now covering the face. We can’t discern your beauty anymore, no matter how beautiful. We can’t see you lips, your chin and your nose. We can’t see the most powerful determinant of your beauty, your smile! The smile brings out the inner beauty unlike other spots.

Could this be the reason we are trying to get masks with all the colours of the rainbow to try and sustain our beauty or lack of it?

Three things will happen because of facemasks:

1.  We might have alternative beauty points. Check next time where your friends and admirers focus their eyes on.

2. We might use less money on beauty and its related products. Why use so much money on beauty when there are no admirers? Zoom meetings have no time for such sideshows. Can ladies confirm their beauty budget has gone down?

3. Most importantly, the hustlers and affluent were far apart beauty wise. The affluent because of access to beauticians appeared younger and more beautiful. They could even go for cosmetic surgery. That is why the rich on average appear more beautiful - and in whispers because they define beauty through media.

The face mask has equalised the hustler and the affluent. We are all either beautiful or ugly. Who want to spend his or her time admiring a face mask instead of a face? To make matters worse, the traditional and time honoured ways to appreciate beauty from hugs to kisses are not allowed. My beautiful people (before Covid-19). We really need a cure or vaccine for Covid-19.