Founder Marie Amiand was inspired to create a tea-based skin care brand after experiencing first-hand the healing powers of Chinese tea while overcoming bouts of illness she attributed to urban pollution.
Her journey to recovering led her to realise that many women like herself are very concerned about the negative effects of factors such as urban pollution, blue light and poor lifestyle.
“With precious teas and our innovative Tea-Remedy, Lu Ming Tang helps to free urban skin from oxidative stress caused by external assaults like pollution, UV rays and ozone stress,” said Amiand.
Power of tea
Amiand spent four years collaborating with a top Japanese skin care research and development centre.
With the help of experts, she developed the Tea-Remedy trio Complex. “The innovative Tea-Remedy Trio Complex features high concentrated EGCG with 18 times more antioxidant capabilities than Vitamin E.”
Lu Ming Tang uses four types of tea in within its product ranges: white, green, tieguanyin and pu’er tea, each with its own unique properties.
For instance, the white tea used in Lu Ming Tang’s The Blanc range is a silver needle white tea, which are harvested under moonlight to ensure the leaves do not oxidise.
This allows the leaves to retain an abundant Theanine, an amino acid naturally found in tea, as well as Vitamin C, which contains skin brightening and soothing properties.
East meets West
Amiand believes that what sets Lu Ming Tang apart from other international beauty brands is how it has successfully blended traditional Eastern beliefs with aesthetics and ideas of the West.
“Lu Ming Tang appeals to customers as an interesting ‘hybrid’ that combines two cultures – French and Chinese. The store design concept in itself attracts customers – Asian consumers are attracted to the fresh French design and our European consumers are attracted by the Chinese elements within our stores.”
With an interesting concept to draw customers in, the next step was to educate consumers on customers on the benefits of tea in skin care in order to win them over. “With the growing trend of consumers becoming more health conscious, both Asian and European consumers are aware of the benefits of tea, thus allowing us to easily connect with our consumers.”
Lu Ming Tang’s flagship store, which Amiand dubs the “soul” of the brand, is located at the historic Qianlong Imperial Library.
“I came across the library during a hiking trip in the Longjing Tea Valley, where I learned that this was the place where the late Qianlong Emperor spent his time enjoying tea and writing poetry,” she recounted.
“The rich culture inspired me to use it as the flagship store… I spent two years repairing and decorating, hoping to rebuild the historic Chinese tea culture through the newly remodelled the Qianlong Imperial Library.”
Expanding in Asia
Lu Ming Tang recently unveiled its first international outlet in Singapore, at the TANGS departmental store.
Amiand believes tea as ingredients in skin care will continue to rise in popularity, and Lu Ming Tang’s in-depth expertise will ensure it stays ahead of the curve.
“Tea itself is a growing trend in skincare products. Over the years there has been an increasing number of brands adding tea into their products. We have spent a large amount of our time researching and developing our Tea Bio-Remedy Complex. We believe that our extensive research and understanding on tea in skincare will give us edge.”
As for the future of Lu Ming Tang, Amiand said that the brand will be focusing on strengthening its digital presence. “Being a young brand, we have made it a goal to increase our reach on e-commerce platforms, retailing our products on T-mall in China and just recently on Shopee.sg and Lazmall Singapore.”