More than two months into the partial shutdown in the U.S. (at press time) due to the global havoc unleashed by the devastating Covid-19 virus, and some businesses are starting to cautiously re-open.

What are a few things we’ve learned about the cosmetics industry in this period that seems more like two years rather than a few months? For one, life—both personal and professional—can change on a dime, and new realities and habits can quickly become a drastically revised daily routine. The keys to powering on seem to be flexibility and adaptability.

The multi-billion-dollar Beauty industry, temporarily shaken—has quickly shown its tremendous resilience—along with that of its consumers. When retail stores closed, online sales rose dramatically. While sheltered in place, makeup no longer seems a necessity for remotely connecting with colleagues while also tutoring the kids and trying to score a delivery window on the grocery store’s website (even relentlessly trying at midnight is no guarantee). On the street, masks and lipstick don’t necessarily sync. For office Zoom calls, beard growth, top-knotted hair and no makeup easily suffice.

On the other hand, people have not forfeited their skincare routines, giving rise to online sales of moisturizers, eye creams and other products. If they want their hair or nails done, they do it themselves—fueling an uptick in online sales of self-care items from hair dye and root cover-up to nail polish and waxing strips. How to improve the ambience in their new at-home office environment—or soothe themselves after a tiring workday? The market has been energized with sales of candles, infusers and bath products.

“The consumer finds a way to get the product they want” and “found a way to buy our product online more than usual,” CEO Fabrizio Freda told CNBC’s Jim Cramer. “Consumers around the world are buying more skincare” and it’s “thriving as a category,” he said. (See the interview here.)

“Self-care and at-home beauty treatments are where the growth is for the beauty market at this moment as consumers have no choice but to take beauty services into their own hands,” said NPD beauty industry advisor Larissa Jensen.

Looking ahead, initial indicators from Asia, the first region impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and now working its way back, show an economy on the rebound—and the beauty industry on the road to recovery. We anticipate the same in the U.S. Above all, we wish the many who have been profoundly affected by the virus a safe return to what was previously a “normal” daily life.