Asian Skincare 101 – land of opportunity and misconception
Asians ‘want to be white like Europeans.’ Er, no, not
really...
A common throw away comment I’ve heard quite a few times
is that Asians buy loads of whitening skincare products because they want to be
white like Europeans. Having previously worked in skincare for 8 1/2 years
(including 15 months in Asia) I thought it was about time I shared my
understanding of ‘whitening’ skincare products, why it’s a $40bn business in
Asia and provide a bit more social context on an Asian woman’s ‘desire to
white.’
Having white / light skin has been aspirational in Asian
societies well before the globalisation of western consumerism and where
applicable, colonialism.
Across Asia, history provides us with much evidence of
women’s desire for fairer, whiter skin. In Japan, women have applied white
powder to their face for 400 years to connote purity, femininity and
sophistication. This is still evident today in the Geisha, the physical
embodiment of Japanese feminism and beauty with their ‘mocha-hada’ (skin like
pounded rice) complexion. In China, women have long swallowed powdered pearls
and used Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) techniques with the belief that
‘one white can cover three up ugliness.’ There is also almost universal historic
truth that if you had fair skin, you didn’t work outside labouring in the
fields and thus were well born, a notion that resonated in England from the
Elizabethans until mass commercial tourism.
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Giesha
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Now the brief and patchy history lesson is over, back to
business. The global skincare market is approaching $100bn and almost half of
that revenue is generated from Asia. Face care dominates, accounting for around
85% of Asia’s skincare revenue which is driven by the north Asian markets of
Japan, Korea and with its size and growingly affluent population, China.
Japan and more recently Korea are the powerhouses of
Asian beauty and aspiration. Japanese brands like Shiseido and KOSE long at the
forefront of asiprational Asian skincare, are more recently being challenged by
a swathe of Korean conglomerate brands such as Sulwhasoo and Iope and a real
upsurge in global skincare players stepping up their efforts to take a piece of
this enormous and ever expanding pie.
However global brands from L’Oreal to Lancome, from Clean
& Clear to Clarins have found that simply putting their existing products
on the shelf does not translate to sales. This is because:
-
Regimen: North Asians use between
6-8 products in the morning, followed by 5-7 at night. (Yes, really.) This is
much more sophisticated than the existing western product lines can cater for.
-
Skin sensitivity: due to the above
mentioned layering of products and typically higher skin sensitivity, most
(especially American) formulas irritate North Asian skin
-
Skin needs: Asian skin requirements
are different. For example, Asian skin is fortunate to not wrinkle as quickly
as Caucasians, but typically brown spots emerge much earlier. With Western
brands benefits are tailored to western needs, they don’t address Asian skin
needs
-
Quality: There is a belief that you
must pay for quality. This quality needs to be evident in the whole product
mix, from a delightful product experience to substantial premium packaging,
which is only really offered by high end department store brands in the West.
As a result, most global brands have developed specialist
lines to address Asian women’s skin type, regimen and their beauty ideal. By
understanding the benefits and claims of whitening lines from leading brands,
it soon becomes apparent that ‘whiteness’ is a very 2 dimensional understanding.
A review of the whitening lines from Lancome, Clarins, SKII and Shiseido the
skin ideal is described as flawless, translucent, crystal clear, luminous,
smooth and snow white. These benefits come from understanding Asian consumers
skincare needs, through developing products especially for Asian skin and
regimen and through an appreciation of Asian skin aspiration.
However, you will see many of the global brands still
feature Caucasian talent in their advertising. Whilst it might seem strange to
have a white woman fronting a whitening cream, heritage and reputation are also
important drivers to purchase. Brands like Lancome and Estee Lauder are global
currency. To be using sophisticated western brands, means the consumer is
globalized and sophisticated. It’s not my place to say whether Asian women find
Caucasian women aspirational. There is no doubt that Western popular culture,
fashion and attitudes continue to massively influence Asia. However when it
comes to the beauty ideal, my view is that it’s impossible to visualize the
perfect face. But Asian women know their skin, their beauty ideal and will go
to great lengths to try and achieve it.
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| Clarins advertising |
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| Sulwashoo products |
Speaking of great lengths, rather than end on how much
North Asian women spend on surgery (apparently 1 in 5 Koran women have had
plastic surgery and it’s the highest level in the world) I thought I’d share
something a little more light hearted.
The ‘facekini’ is the latest fad to hit China in an
attempt to not darken the face while on the beach. Whatever happened to
suncream and an umbrella!
Great link to an article from the Huffington Post if you
want to know more...
Other posts by Jonathan:
- Facebook Asia Versus Facebook UK
- Why Uk Jobs Will No Be Heading East Anytime Soon
- European View of Asian Beer Ads
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