Brand story: Top news on the big name beauty brands across APAC

1 – Smart skin care: Shiseido unveils subscription-based personalised beauty service

Shiseido has launched a new personalised skin care system​, which combines an intelligent smartphone app and a dedicated product dispenser to provide optimal skin care tailored to current conditions.

Optune is Shiseido’s first subscription-based service and costs ¥10,000 ($92) a month. This will give users access to a dedicated application that uses an original algorithm to analyse skin, environmental and sleep data.

The Optune service is currently only available in Japan, but may expand abroad depending on its local success, said the company.

Shiseido added that a key motivation behind the establishment of this service was to cater to users that have to juggle hectic lifestyles: “In recent years, there are more and more women seeking a balance between work and home life, and an increasing number of them cannot spend time on daily skincare.”​

2 – MaskiD in Asia: Neutrogena to debut personalised 3D-printed mask in China

Johnson & Johnson is planning to launch Neutrogena’s 3D-printed personalised mask in Asia​ in the first quarter of 2020, beginning with China.

The personal care giant unveiled MaskiD to China in June at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia in Shanghai, where it captured plenty of interest from visitors.

“We’re thrilled to bring MaskiD to CES Asia and share the new era of skin care personalisation with China. We believe MaskiD will bring Chinese consumers revolutionary skin care solutions tailored to their individual needs,”​ said Ellesha Kirby, vice-president of skin health, Johnson & Johnson Asia-Pacific.

Eye on China​

Neutrogena first unveiled MaskiD at CES held in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year.

The product is a micro 3D-printed face mask that is customised with personalised data from the Neutrogena Skin360 system.

3 – Virtual beauty: L’Oréal teams up with Tencent to debut ModiFace in China

L'Oréal Group has launched of its Augmented Reality (AR) make-up try-on application ModiFace in China via WeChat’s​ mini program for Giorgio Armani Beauty.

 “The debut of ModiFace's 3D makeup try-on application on China’s social media, is L’Oréal China’s new milestone under the Group’s vision to be a champion of beauty-tech,” said Fabrice Megarbane, CEO of L’Oréal China.

The AR application on the updated Giorgio Armani Beauty mini program will allow consumers to screenshot, save and share images as well as view before and after images to elevate the consumer shopping experience on the app.

The company believes its technology “breaks through the limitations of existing applications in terms of detail, accuracy, loading time and colour deviation”, allowing it to compete with smart mirrors with similar tech seen in offline retail stores.

4 – Chanel expands online presence in China with launch on Tmall’s luxury platform

Chanel launches an official store on Tmall​ Luxury Pavilion to provide luxury beauty consumers “unique and convenient” access to its cosmetics and fragrances.

This is the first time the French luxury house is working with a third-party e-commerce operator in China. Previously, its products were only available offline and on its own online store.

The flagship will launched in September, but pre-sale began on July 5 to give Chinese consumers access to its full range of cosmetics and fragrance.

Luxury features​

Chanel’s Tmall flagship offers real-time consultation by online beauty advisors and free shipping for all purchases.

Consumers can also sign up for the brand’s membership program, allowing them to receive privileges such as being the first to sample new products and attend exclusive offline events.

5 – Amorepacific taps Lazada to help Sulwhasoo reach younger consumers

Amorepacific has partnered with Lazada to extend Sulwhasoo’s online footprint in South East Asia​ and reach its younger consumers with its luxury brand.

Sulwhasoo has launched on Lazada’s LazMall, which already hosts Amorepacific brands Laneige, Mamonde, innisfree and Etude House.

This news follows the announcement that the two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to accelerate its digital presence in SEA.

“Lazada is the region’s e-commerce leader, particularly in the beauty space, and the best possible partner to take our business online in Southeast Asia. We hope to bring Sulwhasoo’s value of Asian beauty to more customers and help them experience our unique beauty solutions in a new way,”​ said Mina Kim, senior vice president of Sulwhasoo at Amorepacific.

Lazada Group president Jing Yin added: “The influence of South Korean beauty trends and culture in this region is undeniable, and we are pleased to bring one of Korea’s top skincare brands Sulwhasoo online with Lazada – reinforcing our leadership in the beauty category and in serving our female customers.”​