More than a year has passed since the outbreak of the epidemic and people have become accustomed to wearing masks. Under that guise, however, even the most vain of feminine beauties have reduced their lipstick use. How has the industry survived?
疫情发生一年多了，人们已经习惯了戴口罩。然而，在这种幌子下，即使是最虚荣的女性美女也减少了口红的使用。这个行业是如何生存下来的？
A couple of weekends ago, two ladies, a Ms. Zhang and a Ms. Dai, both citizens of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, went to the theatre to watch a performance. The two beauties met at the entrance, wearing full make up except for face masks. Taking off their masks, they found that neither of them had put on lipstick.
几个周末前，四川省成都市的张女士和戴女士两位女士去剧院看演出。 The two beauties met at the entrance, wearing full make up except for face masks. Taking off their masks, they found that neither of them had put on lipstick.
They are not alone. Overall, the sales volume for lipstick in China over the past year is approximately half that of the same period previously, reports Red Star News.
他们并不孤单。据红星新闻报道，总体而言，过去一年中国口红销量约为去年同期的一半。
But there remains the desire to be beautiful, even if much of the face is obscured. Consumers’ attention has shifted from lips to the parts still exposed, such as the eyes. As a result, sales of other make-up products, particularly those for eyes, have rocketed.
但即使脸部的大部分被遮住，人们仍然渴望变得美丽。消费者的注意力已经从嘴唇转移到仍暴露在外的部位，例如眼睛。结果，其他化妆品（尤其是眼部化妆品）的销量猛增。
An unnamed business manager at a cosmetics company in Guangzhou said, “It’s just that the single product of lipstick has declined, but last year’s eye-makeup products have performed well, such as eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, and eye shadow. These are all selling very well”.
广州一家化妆品公司一位不愿透露姓名的业务经理表示，“只是口红这个单品下降了，但去年的眼妆产品表现不错，比如眼线笔、眉笔、眼影，这些都卖得很好”。
For this company, having inventory across the whole range of make-up products has saved the firm from great financial difficulty. Others have been less fortunate.
对于这家公司来说，拥有全系列化妆品的库存使公司摆脱了巨大的财务困难。其他人就没那么幸运了。
Another, smaller make-up company based in the capital of Guangdong Province has lipstick as its primary offering. The face-mask phenomenon was for them very bad news indeed.
另一家规模较小的化妆品公司位于广东省省会，其主要产品是口红。口罩现象对他们来说确实是一个非常坏的消息。
A salesman at the company estimated that their lipstick sales fell by about 40 percent last year. “On the one hand, it was affected by the domestic market. On the other, some of the products in the first half of last year could not be exported, but they recovered in the second half of the year. The foreign market is not so good either”, he said.
该公司的一名销售人员估计，去年他们的口红销量下降了约 40%。 “一方面是受到国内市场的影响，另一方面是去年上半年的一些产品无法出口，下半年就恢复了，国外市场也不太好。”他说。
Generally speaking, the salary of sales managers in the make-up world is calculated based on order volumes. The salesman said that his salary last year was almost cut in half.
一般来说，彩妆界销售经理的工资是根据订单量计算的。业务员说，他去年的工资几乎减半了。
Lipstick Relegated to Become a Mere Gift
口红沦为纯粹的礼物
Some retailers are not even bothering to give lipsticks shelf space any more. Instead, all other make-up products have been given priority, together with skin-care products. For them, lipsticks are now basically gifts.
一些零售商甚至懒得再给口红留出货架空间。相反，所有其他彩妆产品以及护肤品都被优先考虑。对于他们来说，口红现在基本上就是礼物。
On the whole, the industry appears to be almost unchanged. At one of the many major cosmetics counters in the Chunxi Lu business district of Chengdu, a staff member said, “We are not much affected. There are still many people who buy [make-up products]. Our highlighters, foundations, and make-up sprays are all very popular”.
总体而言，该行业似乎几乎没有变化。在成都春熙路商圈的一家大型化妆品专柜，一名工作人员表示，“我们没有受到太大影响，买[彩妆]的人还是很多，我们的高光、粉底、化妆喷雾都很受欢迎。”
