During in-Cosmetics Asia, the speciality chemicals company introduced #SocMedBeauty, a concept collection featuring hair care, skin care and colour cosmetics meant to give that “selfie-ready” finish.
“[#SocMedBeauty] rides on the influence of social media on personal care. Now consumers are taking a lot of selfies, and what’s important for them is to look photogenic, because it’s shared online,” said Cedric Toh, Regional Marketing Manager of Southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand. “Beauty care products play an important part in this, to help create that flawless look instantly,”
Beauty for the digital age
With 3.2bn active social media users worldwide, the demand for products that cater specifically to these consumers are rising.
The pervasiveness of the selfie, notes the company, is driving demand for products that give flawless skin and hair, as well as vivid, long-lasting colours – formulas that keep the consumer ready for that inevitable picture perfect moment.
With its 10 prototypes, Dow showcases how formulations can be positioned to address the needs of the social media users, complete with social media-friendly names such as #ImpeccableMe and #Stylomilo
"We look to the latest consumer trends to ensure our brand owners maintain a competitive advantage in product positioning," said Curt Creed, Commercial Director, Southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand. “Our customers very much appreciate us being ahead of [the trends] and able to have creative discussions with them on how we can creatively address these trends.”
Functional and fun
These products, said Toh, were developed with the Southeast Asian consumer. “Everything was developed for our regional consumer in mind, based on the environment we face. Hair care that’s resists humidity, a long-lasting hair mascara that will stay on while partying and still look nice in pictures,” he said.
Among the prototypes, four are hair care products. This includes a gentle micellar shampoo which coats hair cuticles to prevent colour from being leeched off, a light-weight lotion that enhances the hair’s natural shine, a frizz-control hair pomade, and a fun hair mascara.
Aside from functionality and efficacy it was also important to create products that stand out and attract consumer attention, such as the hair mascara, aptly named #GoldFairy for its gold formula and the #Stylomilo hair pomade, which Toh said is trending at the moment.
“Brand owners are really looking for new trends, new ways to differentiate themselves, new funky things to do. We thought it would be a great approach since we’re talking about social media and the influence social has on products people buy,” added Creed.
Selfie-ready skin
Along with the hair care products, Dow also showcased six skin care and colour cosmetic products, which allowed them to showcase the ingredients that can help the end-consumer achieve flawless skin.
In line with the instant, selfie trend, Toh highlights the company’s optical-blurring hydro cosmetic elastomer powders which fills fine lines and interacts with light to soften the appearance of lines or pores.
Giving a more long-term, permanent solution is the #TimeFrozen face essence. The product features one of the company’s latest products, AgeCap, an active ingredient which helps to reduce wrinkles and fine lines over a minimum of 28 days. “[#TimeFrozen] is an interesting product, obviously it has a lot of Dow ingredients in it, but it’s addressing a real trend that we see in terms of aging and reducing the wrinkles,” said Creed.