Despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us to adapt, not all beauty product sales were negatively affected by lockdown and shelter-in-place guidelines. Items such as eye shadows, hair dyes, and face masks continued flying off the shelves while other categories such as lipsticks and foundations fell out of favor. 

Now, more than two years since the pandemic first began, folks have returned to wearing lipstick and other beauty favorites. Unfortunately, as the inflation rate has risen so have the prices for beauty products, according to a report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. 

The report separates personal care products into two main categories: one that includes hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal care products and another for cosmetics, perfume, bath, and nail preparations and implements. From August 2021 to August 2022, the report states that prices for the hair and dental category rose 7.6 percent while prices for the cosmetics and perfume category rose 4.2 percent. 

The cosmetics and perfume category had a price increase of 2.3 percent just from July 2022 to August 2022, the report states. The cost for products in the hair and dental group rose as well but only by 0.8 percent. Beauty services are also getting more expensive. Haircuts and other personal care services now cost 4.4 percent more than they did in August 2021. There was an increase of 0.7 percent from July 2022 to August 2022 as well. 

Some industry experts are already feeling the effects of this inflation. “Every brand I regularly order from has sent out an email regarding a price increase due to supply, demand, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” makeup artist Lavonne Wood shares with Allure. She’s noticed the costs of foundations, skin-care products, and beauty tools, in particular, rising. 

Because of the higher prices, she says she tries to wait for sales, tradeshows, or special events to buy what she needs for her studio and kit. Now, finding substitutes for her favorite products that are verging on too expensive is not easy. “If something isn’t available or the price seems too high, I have to go with a less expensive option or substitute,” she says. “And sometimes I’m disappointed and realize it was a waste of money.”