Hair and beauty industry badly hit by import ban on wide range of cosmetic products

Hair and beauty industry stakeholders present their case to media at the press briefing held in Colombo recently. Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

The hair and beauty industry of Sri Lanka is fast losing viability with limited access to hair and cosmetic products, due to the temporary ban on cosmetic products imposed by the government.

The industry stakeholders shared that the import ban has resulted in a drop in customers opting for treatments at salons. “Most consumers are users of international brands of cosmetics and due to such products not being available and the available products being priced extremely high, the consumers are unable to use the services of salons as in the past,” the industry stakeholders said during a press briefing held in Colombo, recently.

The grim turnover at the salons has also pushed the management of such entities to reduce staff, pushing many individuals into unemployment.The shortage has also caused a black market to emerge, causing very high prices, burdening the salon as well as the consumers.

Further, as Sri Lanka has many regulated academies producing international-class beauticians, the students not having access to international brands that were available before could hamper their progress and employment opportunities overseas.

The possibility of positioning Sri Lanka as a wedding hub for foreigners and Sri Lankan expatriates is also lost, as they too prefer internationally known brands of cosmetics for their wedding looks, the industry stakeholders pointed out.

They added that in the event this ban is not lifted by the end of September, the forthcoming season is bound to suffer with an out-of-stock situation, due to the importers needing two months lead time to bring down the products.