After spending more two decades in exile, the biggest cosmetic brands in the Western world are returning to Iran, ready to please women who are eager to adorn their faces.
Iran can already boast the second largest cosmetics market in the Middle East- after Saudi Arabia- a phenomena most likely fueled by the required hijabs that leave only the face exposed, according to AFP Relaxnews. The makeup offers a chance for women to express themselves individually.
"Iranian women wear makeup as soon as they get up in the morning," fashion designer Tina Zarinnam told AFP. "Even if they feel ill, they know that they must look beautiful in the street."
Cosmetic giants such as Lancome were forced to cease sales in Iran following the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Now, Lancome has returned, welcomed by consumers ready to support the makeup industry in a country where women are required to cover up the rest of their bodies. A recent event at a major hotel in Tehran saw nearly 400 industry representatives and artists celebrating the French brand's return.
"It's a booming market, which is roughly several hundred million dollars," a brand representative told AFP. Iran's cosmetics market is the seventh largest in the world.
With an official market, however, comes an illegal one. Most of the market is controlled by those who sell bootlegged brands and others who smuggle makeup into the country, Pegah Goshayeshi, chief executive of the perfume chain Safir, which represents Lancome in Iran, told AFP.
American makeup brands are still officially banned from the country under U.S. trade embargoes that were implemented in the '80s, AFP reported.
But until their return, makeup sales will soar in Iran where makeup and perfume is neither outlawed nor against Islam.
"The Prophet Mohammed himself used perfume," Goshayeshi told AFP.
