Nailing the Pandemic - Nail Products Surge Amidst Lockdown

The NPD Group, an American market research company, reported that the UK’s nail product sales have surged, amid the global Covid-19 Pandemic.

The NPD reported a 12% growth of nail product sales in the UK’s first week of lockdown, beginning March 16th. However, on March 23rd, when the lockdown intensified, the sales increased by 24% year-on-year.

The most popular products included base coats and topcoats, which increased by 102%. Whilst colour enamel and nail care increased by 18% and 13% respectively. In addition, pink, red and beige were the most popular shades sold during the first phase of lockdown. 

The NPD believe the closure of nail shops and introduction of social distancing drove this huge surge in sales. Consumers want to maintain their nails and have “turned to at-home manicure rituals to maintain their nails and boost their mood. An application of nail polish is quick, simple and provides an instant result” the company said. Ordering the products and doing it themselves appears to be an affordable way to achieve this. 

The biggest and most well-known names of the designer beauty industry seem to have benefited the most, by driving the highest number of sales. The NPD reported that the best-selling prestige nail colours included: Chanel’s Le Vernis Long Wear 18 Rouge Noir, its Le Vernis Long Wear 504 Organdi and Le Vernis Long Wear 562 Coralium, plus Dior’s Vernis Rouge 999, and YSL’s La Laque Couture 01 Rouge Pop Art.

“The increase in sales of nail products online, particularly intense nail enamel shades, shows that nail care could be the ‘Covid-19 Lipstick Effect’,” said Emma Fishwick, account manager, NPD UK Beauty. The lipstick effect is a theory that when facing an economic crisis, consumers will be more willing to buy more inexpensive luxury goods and prefer smaller indulgences. For example, consumers may substitute purchasing expensive designer garments for expensive lipstick instead, hence the ‘lipstick effect’.