L'Oreal also slashes prices as China reduces import tariff

The revised tax applies from June 1st and includes the cosmetics, fashion and hygiene industries, with most imports seeing a reduced tariff of 50 per cent.

On the back of this news, L'Oreal was among the beauty brands to welcome the decision and even announced it was also going to lower the prices of its imported products.

"We have decided to actively respond to this decision by lowering the prices of most of our imported products, as we believe it will encourage domestic consumption,​" L'Oreal said in a statement sent to Reuters.

According to that publication, China's government is lowering the tariff as an "important measure to create stable growth and push forward structural reform"​ at a time when Chinese tourists are splurging overseas.

L'Oreal's presence in Asia​

The international cosmetics giant recently launched its' beauty app 'Makeup Genius' in Hong Kong which allows customers to test the brand's products using their mobile phones or tablets as a virtual mirror.

Mobile apps are offering a strong marketing platform for beauty players like L’Oreal, whose virtual mirror has proved successful among consumers looking to ‘try out’ the brand’s cosmetics.

The app first launched last year in Paris has since expanded across Europe, the US and Asia; now giving shoppers in Hong Kong the opportunity to mix and match make-up looks by scanning bar codes at tills.

According to L'Oreal reps, 'Makeup Genius' has racked up 9 million downloads globally, which breaks down as "​one download every 4.2 minutes​" via a virtual reality experience that helps to personalise products.

“By combining our knowledge of consumers and the science of colours with technologies for monitoring facial expressions, we have been able to produce an extremely realistic colour-rendering in real time using just an iPhone camera​," says Guive Balooch at L’Oreal Research and Innovation.

In markets like France and China, the app already facilitates online purchases but has yet to offer this service in Hong Kong.