Most everyone complained about wearing masks for a year. Masks are hot and sweaty once you’ve been walking around for awhile—even during cold weather outside.  But they’re worse in hot weather.  All of us breathed a sigh of relief when the mask mandate ended and we could go back to being our old selves. Wearing makeup and styling our hair again was a treat.  And yet, when the delta strain of covid-19 cases surged this week, it was deja vu.  Back to the dark days of mask wearing,  before the vaccine was available.   But a funny thing happened as I prepared to go shopping.   I realized I didn’t need to fool around with eyebrow pencil, blush, foundation or lipstick.  Didn’t even have to worry about my hair.   I could drive  to the store and walk around incognito.  I hate to admit it, but  masks make life easier for women.

Have you ever observed  the cosmetics section of a pharmacy, and marveled at all the products available?  Entire walls of lipsticks, eye liner, blush, foundation, mascara—it’ staggering. Then on to the next aisle with rows of fancy shampoos, conditioners, hair treatments and hair sprays.  No wonder Revlon and Loreal are so profitable.  With a lot of time, effort, and expensive products,  plain Jenny can become Jennifer Lawrence or Lopez.

Cosmetic manufacturing  profit margins must have dived during the pandemic, although they didn’t make any public statements to that effect. All I know is that I didn’t buy a single new tube of lipstick.  Or any other cosmetics, for that matter. And I learned to cut my own hair.

The pursuit of beauty has become a bigger business than I can ever remember back in the fifties and sixties.    Yes, there were ” beauty parlors”  where affluent women could get their hair done and nails manicured. But there were no nail salons, eyebrow threading kiosks, false eyelashes, botox bars, skin treatment parlors.. Those were the stuff of Hollywood stars, not real women.  And yet, with the help of a little lipstick, we still attracted boyfriends.  And it was a lot less work getting ready for a date.

Let’s face it.  Masks makes life easier for women. And save money, too.