Photo/Illutration A woman receives eyebrow treatment at the Shinjuku 3-chome outlet of the BeauStage Eyebrow Salon in Tokyo on Jan. 7. (Keita Yamaguchi)

Demand for eyebrow treatments and sales of colored contact lenses have grown among a public increasingly accustomed to wearing masks.

“I think the area surrounding the eyes is attracting attention as an important part of communication instead of the mouth that is covered by a mask,” Kenji Arima, a Rikkyo University professor specializing in marketing, said.

“The marketing battle over ‘the eye area’ is expected to continue as many people feel that masks have benefits other than preventing infections, such as eliminating the need to put on makeup or groom their beards,” he said.

Leading wigmaker Aderans Co. opened a BeauStage Eyebrow Salon in Tokyo’s Shinjuku 3-chome district in November. Eyebrow specialists with cosmetology licenses there not only remove hair and provide styling services but also offer makeup tips.

“It’s so beautiful. I look different,” said a 24-year-old woman from the western Tokyo city of Machida after she received the treatment at the parlor in early January.

The woman, who works as a manicurist, wears a mask when she serves customers, but she became nervous about her uncovered eyebrows.

“They look much better than how I style them alone,” she said.

Aderans opened the first BeauStage Eyebrow Salon outlet near the east exit of JR Shinjuku Station in November 2020.

With fewer customers visiting its hair-care shops amid the pandemic, the company has been remodeling them into parlors specializing in eyebrows. As of the end of December, the company was operating 45 outlets nationwide with a total of 69 booths.

About 80 percent of customers are women in their 20s and 30s. Reservations for some outlets in the Tokyo metropolitan area are fully booked one month in advance, it said.

Aderans conducted an online survey in February 2021, asking about 5,000 people in their 20s through 60s which facial parts of other people they have paid more attention to since the pandemic started.

The area surrounding the eyes topped the list, chosen by 68.2 percent of women and 55.6 percent of men.

“Those concerned about thinning hair are mainly middle-aged and older people, but we have been able to approach younger generations thanks to masks that have highlighted the eyes and their surrounding features,” said Fujio Kishi, head of the department in charge of promoting shops for new businesses.

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A man wears Ocpia colored contact lenses released by FightforLife. (Provided by FightforLife)

Contact lens retailer FightforLife started online sales of Ocpia colored contact lenses for men in August 2020.

Natural in color and size, the lenses can be used in daily life and at work, the company said.

Half of the buyers are in their 20s, about 30 percent are in their 30s and 10 to 20 percent are in their 40s, the company said

“The eyes have attracted more attention than expected because of masks,” said President Taku Komatsuzawa.

About 1 million Ocpia lenses had been shipped by the end of December.

Currently, Ocpia is the only colored contact lens brand for men in Japan, it added.

Research company E.Cuore Inc. conducted an online survey about mask use in September and October, covering about 1,000 people aged between 15 and 49.

Sixty percent of all respondents, including more than 70 percent of females, said they want to wear masks on a regular or occasional basis even after the pandemic settles down.

“I think an increasing number of people have become comfortable with cutting the time needed to put on makeup and do other grooming tasks when the lower half of their face is covered by a mask,” said President Eriko Inukai.

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