Coronavirus and face masks are hurting love lives in Wales

Face masks are putting a dampener on the prospects of people in Wales looking for love, according to a new survey.

People are less likely to 'shoot their shot' because they can't see if people they meet are giving them smiles of encouragement, the numbers suggest.

The new survey by dating experts happn has found that nearly a quarter of Welsh singles feel it would be difficult to tell if someone was attractive whilst wearing a mask.

In fact, nearly half of people asked (46 per cent) said they couldn't fall for someone without seeing their mouth.

For those who want to find love, however, it’s all in the eyes, with almost half (47 per cent) saying they’re the most important feature whilst 33 per cent said smile.

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Unfortunately, it’s not just social distancing that’s coming in the way of us finding true love: more than a third (34 per cent) of Welsh singles feel less attractive in a mask and 40 per cent feel less confident to approach someone for romantic reasons when donning one.

Though it’s not all doom and gloom.

Of those who felt more confident around masked dating, half said it covers their smile which they don’t like, while the same felt they could be bolder in their actions and words.

Marine Ravinet, head of trends at happn, said: “Connections can be formed in all different ways, however we know that that initial moment of attraction is difficult to ignore.

"That being said, with our approaches to dating changing so dramatically over the past few months, it’s no surprise that singles are finding new ways to build confidence after being out of the game for a while.”

Younger people were more likely to say they could find someone attractive without seeing their mouth or lower face - 57 per cent of 18-34s said they would be likely, versus 29 per cent of 45-55s and similar patterns emerged when asked if they could fall for someone essentially wearing a mask: 38 per cent of 18-35s said they could if it was just a case of really fancying them.