Scrolling through Instagram, you may notice people posting at-home facial tutorials and upped skincare routines, right alongside #makeupfree selfies, while the world stays at home. It would seem just by glancing that people are prioritizing skincare products over bronzer and lip kits right now. People may be home more, but some certainly have more time on their hands, and perhaps more sheet masks on their faces, than others.

In a CivicScience study of more than 3,500 women 18+, 15% of women surveyed say they are focusing on their use of skincare products / their skincare routine more during the coronavirus crisis. However, 21% say they are doing their skincare routine less.

Moms, who may be at home with their children while working right now, are less likely than their non-parent counterparts to be paying more attention to skincare right now. However, the numbers aren’t too far off.

Guess who? Gen Z are the most likely to be paying more attention to their skincare routine than other age groups by a large margin, with Millennials six percentage points behind them. 

And, while correlation is not causation, those who are paying more attention to skincare while staying home are much more likely to report being less stressed than usual over the past week or so.

What’s interesting is that those who are leaning into skincare more right now are slightly more likely to be not working and not getting paid than the other groups. Perhaps skincare is not only something that’s being done due to more spare time, but as a way to combat the worry and stress that uncertainty, and losing income, brings. There is also a strong showing of people who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19 among those paying attention to skincare less, which intuitively makes sense. It seems women are dealing with job uncertainty or loss in different ways, some diving in to skincare more to combat the worry, and some less perhaps due to cost and bigger concerns.

While those who are still working the same or remotely are paying attention to their skincare on varying different levels, the study uncovered a correlation between wearing makeup and skincare routines. 

Those who indicate they are paying more attention to their skincare routine are more likely to report they usually don’t wear makeup at all. 

CivicScience data from the past year has found that Gen Z at large wears a whole lot less makeup than Millennials and older age groups do, so this makes sense. Skincare is to Gen Z what makeup is to Gen X. Of all age groups, Gen Xers wear makeup the most often.

Makeup During a Pandemic

Practically no one reports wearing more makeup amid the coronavirus pandemic. And the majority of women who wore makeup pre-coronavirus – a whopping 63% of them – say they’re wearing less makeup during the crisis.

The daily die-hard makeup wearers are most likely to be wearing makeup more or the same amount as usual right now. 

Overall, those wearing makeup the same amount or more are more likely to still be working as usual. When it comes to the remote workforce, they are more likely to fall into the ‘wearing less makeup’ category, along with those who are now out of work. Zoom calls may look a little less made up than before the crisis, but can you blame anyone? 

Overall, skincare seems to be a priority over makeup during this crisis, most likely as a self-care practice, and Gen Z may lead the way with the ‘no makeup’ trend in general.