多様な色彩の口紅、自由を取り戻した唇が奏でる生命の賛歌　　　　　　　　　気ままなリライト７０

マスク緩和、口元に春　口紅価格が2割高 - 日本経済新聞

Bright lipstick colors on women’s unveiled lips are dancing with the joy of self-expression, reflecting their inner strength and resilience, banishing the haze of doubt that once obscured their minds. With an oxygen flow unshackled from self-inflicted muzzles, racing up to the brain like an extreme climber scaling a peak, freed from the stifling veil of CO2, a refreshing spring breeze is directly caressing the vibrant lipstick shades on women’s lips. Those delicate flower petals are savoring the touch of long-awaited sensations. The long-suppressed freedom is illuminating their unchained faces with radiant, unquenchable smiles, hypnotizing the masked onlookers glancing at the colorful display of the liberated expressions.

The decline in lipstick sales across the country has illustrated how many women succumbed to the peer pressure to comply with the unspoken consensus on the mask wearing, despite their skepticism about the effectiveness of masks in preventing the transmission of respiratory viruses like Covid-19. Prior to the pandemic, the WHO issued guidelines based on existing data on respiratory viruses, stating that there was no evidence to support the use of masks by the general public for preventing the spread of respiratory infections. The total sales of lipstick have revealed the negative impact of herd mentality, with sales decreasing from 35.28 million in 2019 to 15.69 million in 2020 and 12.92 million in 2021. The drop in lipstick sales has suggested an increase in the number of women who felt that lipstick was unnecessary under their masks.

A growing crack in the herd mentality favoring mask-wearing has led to an increase in lipstick sales. More and more women are prioritizing their personal values of beauty over the peer pressure. With the increasing awareness of potential negative effects of covering the faces with masks, many women are questioning the effectiveness of masks and finding the faces wearing masks less characteristic and less communicative. With multiple studies suggesting that masks are more likely to cause problems such as lower oxygen levels, higher carbon dioxide levels, concentration difficulties, and bacterial contamination, a large number of women are getting reluctant to sacrifice their comfort and facial beauty for the new-normal lifestyle with a barrier to interpersonal interaction. Thanks to the shift in customers’ mindsets, lipstick sales marked a 36 % year-on-year increase, with 17,61 million units sold in 2022.

The change in lipstick preferences among women has symbolized the liberation from mask-wearing habits, revealing their true colors and desires. As the duration and frequency of social gatherings have increased, the process of breaking mask-wearing habits has been taking place steadily. Lipstick has taken center stage to rekindle women’s passions for achieving their desired looks that were once hidden behind masks. Many women have stopped relying on exaggerated facial expressions around their eyes to convey their emotions, and have turned to their mouths or lips, painting them with vibrant hues of lipstick colors reflecting their inner desires. Until 2021, when women were not yet used to exposing their whole face in social gatherings, tint-type lipstick with flesh-toned colors were preferred over pigment-type lipstick. That is because tint-type lipstick is less prone to transferring onto the fabrics of masks due to its watery texture and lighter pigmentation, which leaves a natural-looking tint lasting for a few hours. With the dawn of 2023, more and more women have been embracing the freedom of showing their unmasked faces all the time, like a flower basking in sunshine. That has led to the rise in the popularity of pigment-type lipstick in dynamic colors, such as striking yellowish red, hot pink and fiery orange. Those colors are shining like the sun’s rays on the liberated lips of young girls walking the streets of Tokyo's trendy neighborhoods, such as Shibuya, Harajuku, and Ginza.