Lipstick sales down, mascara sales up. What other products have seen a clear covid-era tradeoff--one up, the other down?

Tops and shirts are selling more because people are getting fat from staying home and banking.

But pants are not selling as well because you don’t need pants in a Zoom meeting.

Beauty parlor revenues near zero.

@Tropical_Willie, what’s the other half of that? What’s up in its place? That’s the question: tradeoffs. Seesaw.

Less gas. More pools, trampolines, playhouses, and general backyard fun.

Why more mascara?

Cinema ticket purchases down.
Netflix, etc. subs up.

Sorry . . . . . . . . . home perms and hair dye sales are up!

Got distracted dogs want to go out and bark at the 12 pound Shih Tzu walking down the street on the other side of the fence.

That cigarette sales are up doesn’t surprise me, once people no longer spend a significant portion of their lives in public. The same applies to lipstick, but the revelation at your telling me is that mascara is regarded as more essential by women than lipstick. Perhaps it’s the age anxiety game: unlike lipstick, which you can neglect til time to appear in public (and is useless behind a mask), your skin is at risk of wrinkling and cracking whether you stay home or not. I will bet you that bottled alcohol consumption is way up compared with pre pandemic figures, just as surely as the bars are all closed. Until quite recently I was growing alarmed over the disappearance of butter pecan ice cream from the local supermarkets, but I cannot concoct a pandemic conspiracy theory which might explain this.

Why mascara? Because behind a mask, your lips don’t show, but your eyes do. I have certainly noticed more and heavier eye makeup, especially on young women, in the months since people started wearing masks.

Corroboration of my intuition and direct observation:

https://fortune.com/2020/07/07/lipstick-index-face-masks-coronavirus-nail-polish/

https://www.businessinsider.com/eye-makeup-sales-rise-lipstick-dips-due-to-mask-wearing-2020-8

https://www.globalcosmeticsnews.com/goodbye-lipstick-effect-hello-mascara-index-how-covid-19-may-have-changed-the-beauty-landscape-for-good/

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/beauty-products/a32406560/end-of-lipstick-index-coronavirus-recession-mascara-index/

etc. (Search term: “lipstick sales down, mascara sales up”)

As for the disappearance of butter pecan ice cream, @stanleybmanly, that’s not something I track, but I do see that slower movers are being dropped from stores and also that some things have become scarce because supply lines have been disrupted. I can’t find RC cola’s zero-cal line, Diet Rite Cola, anywhere any more, unless I want to pay for shipping, which I don’t.

Do you think I’m making up conspiracy theories?

No I don’t. Diet Rite is one of the wife’s standards & it IS hard to come by. But you can still find it at Smart & Final and Lucky’s (I think).

people are getting fat from staying home and banking.

BAKING not banking.

Simultaneously, exercise equipment like weights and bicycle is in short supply. Balanced by the closing of gyms and fitness clubs.

@stanleybmanly, not in my area, including two S&Fs (repeated checks at both), a Lucky’s, a Safeway, a Target, and the drugstore chains.

@Jeruba You can have my Diet Rite. I bought that when I got diagnosed with Diabetes. Def not for me. I switched to Diet Cherry Coke.

Beauty products down, masks up. At least this is the situation in my country. Since everyone is wearing masks, no one feel the need to show their face, so no makeup is needed.

Also brick-and-mortar shop sales down, online shopping up.

@Mimishu1995 Did you know that you’re still in Chat?

If I look around at my friends, paint sales are up and gym memberships are down.

Are we supposed to actually research if what we say is correct statistically?

So many of my friends are painting the interior of their houses, and I guess that is taking up their time rather than going to the gym.

From what I understand bicycle sales are way up also. Bikes are backordered. That also would go with a decline in gym memberships.

Large kitchen appliance sales are up, especially things like freezers. Restaurants sales are down.

@Brian I’m still waiting for someone to come :)

Sex toy sales have increased, while brothels have seen a severe loss of business.

Gas prices down, new car prices up.

New home prices up, people able to rent down.

On the news, they said sales of high heels are down, sales of sneakers are up.