In her new blog post, Curious About Color: What’s at Play In 2020’s Color Cosmetics, Stella Rising’s Elizabeth Timmis notes that the “Zoom beauty boom” has sent ecommerce sales  skyrocketing. She cites a report from Ulta Beauty, the online cosmetics vendor, indicating that their ecommerce sales were up more than 200 percent for the quarter ending August 1.

However, that surge has neither fully made up for in-store losses nor impacted segments equally. Consumers’ strong interest in skincare has persisted, haircare is on the rise, and color cosmetics are—just as they were pre-pandemic—declining.

That said, Timmis believes that makeup will recover and its current role in the lives of beauty consumers holds important lessons for brands. She points out that women are increasingly on camera—and also looking for an extra dose of fun in their lives—the color cosmetics brands that are strong digitally and communicate appropriately will outlast and then thrive.