What’s trending? The most-read stories on APAC beauty market and consumer insights

1 – Make-up ‘renaissance’: How Estée Lauder expects colour to trend based on China’s COVID-19 recovery

Beauty major Estée Lauder Companies has revealed how the rapid recovery of colour cosmetics​ in China has informed its global make-up strategy.

While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disproportionately impact makeup usage, with net sales declining across nearly all its brands, the company is preparing to welcome a make-up ‘renaissance’.

“Looking ahead, we are preparing a renaissance in make-up, and we anticipate that momentum will gradually build around the world, driven by local reopening and social and professional occasions,”​ said Fabrizio Freda, president, CEO and director of The Estée Lauder Companies.

“We are strategically well-positioned to grow our sales and capture prestige beauty share make-up recovery with our hero products, robust innovation pipeline, analytics engine, driving aspirational intelligence, and enticing in-store and online activation centred on the omnichannel consumer.”​

2 – From Asia to the world: Why the next wave of niche fine fragrance brands will come from Asia

The unwavering appetite for niche perfumes and brand mastery of digital communication are some of the reasons why we can expect more niche fine fragrance brands from Asia​ vying for the international spotlight.

In the last decade, the fragrance market has been disrupted by the arrival of niched fragrance brands such as Byredo, Le Labo, Diptyque, and Jo Malone.

While the big brands may still dominate, they are facing stiff competition from these so-called cult brands as consumers lean towards a more personalised and intimate fragrance experience.

In 2019, Estée Lauder Companies reported that its fragrance category benefited greatly from the growth of Jo Malone, Le Labo and Tom Ford, which pulled in net sales of approximately $81m.

3 – Emerging trends: Cica creams, hair oils and eyebrow make-up among most popular products in Japan

Cica creams, hair oils and eyebrow make-up are among the most sought-after product​s among Japanese consumers today, according to new data.

Owned by Japanese beauty retail and media firm istyle Inc, @cosme is a cosmetic portal that has amassed over 15 million product reviews from around 16 million monthly visitors.

Its latest report looked at over 80,000 purchased item reviews posted on @cosme in the past three months to root out the emerging keywords and analysed their rate of appearance from 2015 onwards.

In the skin care category, the term ‘ancient Japanese’ increased 6.5 times in the past three months, alluding to a desire for safety and security among Japanese consumers, said the report.s

4 – Top performers: High-end skin care brands domination expected to continue post-pandemic – Lazada

Lazada expects demand for luxury skin care brands such as Estée Lauder, SK-II, and Sulwhasoo to continue on an upward trend​, even as the COVID-19 pandemic eases.

Lazada is an e-commerce platform headquartered in Singapore. It is the South East Asian flagship platform of the Alibaba Group and operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the platform saw a surge in demand as customers and sellers turned to online sales channels amid various offline disruptions.

According to Lazada, sales of products in the beauty category more than doubled year-on-year in the first quarter alone.

5 – Polish push: Nail Deck expects higher trajectory of growth for home manicures spurred by COVID-19

Singapore-based nail care company Nail Deck is expecting to see higher demand for at-home use nail polish products after witnessing a boom in demand​ last year due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Nail Deck owns multiple nail care brands, including its eponymous brand of conventional nail polishes that are vegan and cruelty-free.

It also owns Light Lacquer, a nail polish that mimics the effects of gel nail polish that does not require extra base and topcoats.

The polish also dries down in seconds under any UV lamp and can be removed easily by peeling it off, reducing the damage on the nail bed.