Sederma’s ‘glass skin’ peptide inspired by K-beauty and selfie culture

Crystalide is developed by Sederma, an affiliate active company of Croda.

The product was inspired by the glass skin trend and Asia’s selfie-obsessed culture.

Chris Kuk, technical marketing manager of Croda, said:

“Crystalide was inspired by the ‘glass skin’ trend. Everybody loves that type of skin but the selfie trend is really hot in Asia and that’s why glass skin has become such a big thing here.”​

On the Internet, glass skin is said to be achieved through double-cleansing and multiple layers of moisturising products. However, Sederma has taken a different approach to the trend.

“It works in a slightly different way as it gives you the appearance of glass skin not only by moisturising the skin. It operates at skin texture level, fundamentally changing the structure so it will look better under light.”​

He added: “We are looking for long-term glass skin. It will stay with you for longer because we have an ingredient that takes effect on a cellular level.”​

The result is more even-toned skin that appears brighter under light.

China challenges​

Developing trendy and innovative products like Crystalide is becoming increasingly important because they “look good on a social space”​, said Kuk.

He explained that the rapid development of e-commerce and social platforms has cultivated impatience in Chinese consumers.

“They are receiving information that is fragmented and not very detailed. This has created the consumer habit to want to read short chunks of text with no patience to learn more about the technology,” ​said Kuk.

He added: “Crystalide is something the market is looking for. It is about effectiveness and getting the effectiveness for the money.”​

Additionally, Kuk highlighted that Chinese consumers were becoming more diverse.

This is primarily because they are becoming more educated. “Because they are more educated, they know what they need or want more specialised products to cater to their needs.”​

With more demanding consumers, manufacturers are pressured to produce more effective products.

“That has to come from quality ingredients and a perfect formulation. Sometimes our customers are challenged and they turn to us for a solution. We can provide the perfect package of solutions to customers,” ​said Kuk.

Future trends in China​

One of the interesting trends to take note of is the popularity of Chinese historical television dramas, said Kuk.

“Today, in China there are many historical television series and the audience are not just paying attention to the plot; they are looking at the costumes and the make-up.”​

He added: “We are wondering if that is a sign that… people are trying to fathom the C-beauty identity. It’s interesting because this is something we can claim is perfectly Chinese. It’s China’s heritage. For the younger generation, it is deemed as quite cool.”​